Tribal Trance - Minjahra (1998)

We Begin with the latest release, Minjahra. This cd is named for Minjahra, the daughter of Penny and Matt, and features Nick Potts on the electrified 5 string Celtic fiddle. Peter informs me that the name Minjahra is similar to a Hindi word loosely translated as angel of God. "Minnie was born late in the recording cycle for the CD and her name was given to the CD and her picture, wearing headphones, is included in the cover art".

Minjahra features soulful sax, tribal percussion rhythms and beats with female vocals... or chants I should say, as there are almost no lyrics. I asked Peter about the animal sounds heard on this track, to which he replies, "There are some bird sounds in the track Minjahra... but most of the things which sound like animals are barks and growls which are traditionally part of the didgeridoo playing. They are produced at the same time as the main didgeridoo tones and are not over dubbed. This continuity and variety is part of the magic of good didgeridoo playing."

My favorite tracks on Minjahra would be the ethereal title track, and The Celtic One, which features a bit of a faster pace and absolutely lovely guitar and sitar. Peter states that many people find the sitar difficult to identify because Matt plays sitar so gently... "most people expect sitar to be strident as in the traditional Indian raga". Minjahra is almost minimalist... but certainly not lacking in any way.

The track, Bharat, has a bit of a middle eastern flare. Peter understands that Bharat is a term related to Indian Tabla percussion.

Minjahra leads out softly with gentle flutes and lovely poetic lyrics in Ancient Lines