"I took each song as it came. In the west, with jazz you are expected to play these elaborate solos. But in this album it was more organic. I experimented in 20 different ways before I found the right mix. I never thought of merging our sounds when I began. I wanted to place myself in the players' seat and see what comes off it."
Namaste (also known as Namaste, India) is a collaborative studio album by American soft jazz saxophonist Kenny G and Indian musician Rahul Sharma. The album was issued in two different formats in India (2011) and the United States (2012), with elements of both musicians' styles,[1] with original compositions by Sharma that contrast string instruments and woodwind instruments.[3]
Reception
Editors at AllMusic rated this album 3 out of 5 stars, with critic Thom Jurek writing about the American edition "sound[s] geared toward club music as a world fusion exercise throughout" and he praised Sharma's performance, hoping that "Western listeners will take notice of Sharma's talent and become interested enough to seek out the original mix of this record and his other albums to boot".[1] A brief review from Selwyn Harris of Jazzwise scored this album 1 out of 5 stars.[4]
Track listing
All songs written by Rahul Sharma, except where noted.
American edition
"Namaste" – 5:26
"Brhama-Vishnu-Shiva" – "5:29
"Dance of the Elephant God" – 4:54
"Lotus Lovers" – 4:57
"Transcendental Consciousness" – 5:13
"Valley of Flowers" – 5:58
"Silsila" (Shiv-Hari) – 6:38
"Om Shanti" – 4:10
"Transcendental Consciousness" (Walter A Remix) – 3:44
Namaste entered the contemporary jazz charts at first place[1] and the title track reached second place on Billboard's world charts and number 4 on the smooth jazz charts.[5]
