World music has been getting more and more popular with each year, and the quality of the offerings has been increasingly better. With Jordan, the third album from Brooklyn, NY-based Raquy and the Cavemen we have a new addition to the ranks of the excellent. Raquy Danziger, who plays the Iranian Kamanche (a rare and exotic bowed instrument) and the Dumbek (an Arabic hand drum) teamed up with rock musician Liron Peled, a dominant figure in the Middle-Eastern music scene in the United States, and what we are given is an explosive dose of Middle Eastern-Rock-Fusion.
Jordan is a testament to great music merging together to create oneness. Raquy and The Cavemen will electrify you with their rhythms, and progressive drum playing; it's great belly-dancing music. The overall feel is that of a great hour long live show – high energy, smooth beat changes and innovative songs based on intricate drumming. With added grooves from guitars, various percussion instruments and a synthesizer appearing alongside ‘guest shots’ from various regions of the Middle East, Asia and Africa, the group en masse forms a collective sound that makes the drumming portion of a Grateful Dead show seem like an opportune time to get a fresh beer and buy some souvenirs. (Don’t tell me I’m not old enough to know that – I saw the Dead at least six times in high school and college.)
The first time I played the album I just let it run through at an ordinary level. It was pretty good, but not spectacular. One the advice of another reviewer (who said, “The more volume I put behind this, the more earth-shaking and powerful it felt”), I played it again. . . LOUD. The vibrations sang through me and I needed to get up and dance. Much, much, better.
This is a great album.
~review by Lisa Mc Sherry
Artist: Raquy and the Cavemen
Meef R3ecords, 2005
www.raquy.com/cavemen
