...Sacred Fusion. A Fusion of Gregorian Chant and East Indian Dhrupad (Sacred Fusion Productions 1999)

Originally a clever experiment, the combination of these two very different, sacred, traditional singing styles has come to full fruition in Sacred Fusion, by Annette Cantor and Shanti Shivani. It is Cantor's and Shivani's first CD release. Loreena McKennit move over.
Filling their sound with a spectrum of instruments from the ever-present doumbek to tablas, zither, tambura, sitar, flute and violin, Sacred Fusion takes the listener on a journey that bridges the sacred sounds of East and West. It is uncanny how exquisitely it all fits together.
Cantor's training in Gregorian chant and Western classical music provides a familiar soothing base on top of which Shivani lays in her raga-related ethereal vocals. This is sacred singing as healing balm, the instrumental support propelling that balm into all crevices of the body, mind and soul...

 

 

Music E 15 (Albuquerque Journal, 11/19/99)

Annette Cantor and Shanti Shivani

Sacred Fusion

Annette Cantor and Shanti Shivani
****

7pm today, St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, 601 Montano NW, $12

Sometimes the musical union between cultures clashes, sometimes it's a silly one. Annette Cantor and Shanti Shivani's new album "Sacred Fusion", is a happy union of East - East Indian dhrupad - and West - the Gregorian chant. The sacred part of the album title refers to the chants that the women interpret vocally and instrumentally largely through the prism of dhrupad, a style that's part of Hindu classical music. Hence, the fusion of the title. But there's more. Two selections bring together a Gregorian chant and an East Indian raga and two cuts present the eerie shakuhachi flute of Japan, giving a third cultural overlay. This is a surprisingly rich listening experience, one that qualifies in my book as New Mexico's Best World Music Album of the Year..

- David Steinberg

 

 

 

 

 

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