Indonesian guitar maestro Dewa Budjana was featured amongst these pages not so long ago and I found the warmth and musicianship on Dawai In Paradise of the highest calibre. So it is nice finding another Budjana album on my doorstep. Again accompanied by some jazz greats (Larry Goldings on organ and piano, Bob Mintzer on sax and clarinet, Jimmy Johnson on bass and Peter Erskine on drums) we are treated with 8 tracks that might even top the previous CD.
Part of that is due to the vocal song As You Leave My Nest where Janis Siegel stars on. A lovely and intense if laidback tune that creeps under your skin. And that sensation happened to me more often. Now matter how stellar all musicians are, at the end of the day I want to be touched by music and emotion, and not by some fingerlicking impressive shredfest. And any band that can perform songs like the title track or Borra´s Ballad with such finesse and projection, achieves just that. And that is not saying other songs are less. No, even if this is music that is way beyond some peoples´ comprehension (used as they are to only bubble gum pop), I am confident that anybody willing to infest the time, will be rewarded with an album they will never let go of. Impressive, MoonJune Records clearly know what they are doing…
