So The Journey Goes by autorickshaw

The repertoire on the album is diverse, journeying from Leonard Cohen to Bollywood, tabla solos to breakbeats and south Indian classical to Bitches Brew-style improv, with multiple stops in between.

Highlights include the title track, So The Journey Goes, an autobiographical song based in a bluesy south Indian raga, complete with a train rap from a south Indian railway line; the 1970's Bollywood classic Aaj Ki Raat, featuring a horn section from The Hannaford Street Silver Band playing an arrangement by the UK’s acclaimed Bollywood Brass Band; Manju Nihar, a north African-tinged Tamil folk song with electric bass and gimbri; Nalina Kanthi, a new traditional composition by master drummer Trichy Sankaran, commissioned by autorickshaw; and Heavy Traffic, a multi-layered improvisational work featuring virtually all the guests on the album.

Since their inception in 2003, the band has been frequently on the road, performing dozens of dates across Canada from the Sound Symposium in St John's to the Jazz Festival in Vancouver, including performances at the Montreal Jazz Festival, Stratford Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Glenn Gould Studio and Sunfest.

The band broke into the US market in 2006 with performances at the Rochester International Jazz Festival, Joe's Pub in New York City and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

Recent tours: India (with performances in Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and at the prestigious Jaipur Festival in Rajasthan) in January 2007, and on Canada’s west coast (9 performances) in January/February 2007.

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Sample review:

“Our favorite Canadian-Indian-fusion group returns with a third album following their delightful Four Higher in 2004.

This one opens with the title track, in which a rippling, funky bass line from Rich Brown is soon followed by Suba Sankaran's confident voice. She sings "I'm looking at the people / Who stare back at me / About to start the journey / of self-discovery." Listening to this album is indeed to witness the group's self-discovery and evolution, from the strong title track right through to "Nalina Kanthi," a piece commissioned from the singer's father, percussionist Trichy Sankaran.

Along with original tunes, the album includes adaptations of Bengali and Tamil folk tunes, an effective 7-beat version of Leonard Cohen's "Bird on a Wire," and a Bollywood offering penned by the legendary RD Burman.

Concluding the album is something of an improvisation and editing experiment. A variety of guest artists were given "guide vocals," bass, and drums, and asked to play along. Sankaran and Ed hanley then spent a week weaving together the 64 raw tracks into the track "Heavy Traffic."

While a comparison to the recent work of Susheela Raman seems inevitable, the music of Autorickshaw maintains more Indian roots and makes fewer forays toward pop and rock idioms. So the Journey Goes takes the listener to a bustling global train station, where Autorickshaw can guide you through the jostling mayhem.

-Scott Allan Stevens, Soundroots

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