_ Abstract Logix_

Ranjit Barot is a world renowned drummer from India who has specialized in producing artists, collaborating with other musicians as a sideman, and composing film scores, among other supporting roles. Alas, the musician has never created his own record, highlighting the many dimensions of his sound outside of that secondary auteur status.

Until now, that is. On Bada Boom, a six track work with four original compositions, Barot collaborates with numerous musicians, including guitarist John McLaughlin and percussionist Zakir Hussain, to produce his own visionary statements. Of the Barot-penned exploratory pieces, “Singularity” features sublime guitar work from McLaughlin and Mattias IA Eklundh and keyboard and solo work by Harmeet Manseta, “Supernova,” contains fine tabla work from Hussain and an endearing vocal solo from Chandana Bala, while “Dark Matter” is a highlight with a multi-layered arrangement by Barot, Manseta, who also appears on electric piano and Tim Garland, whose Underground Orchestra is featured as the horn section, and the closing “Origin” which contains keyboards from Scott Kinsey, Wayne Krantz on guitar, and the formidable talents of Barot on drums, keyboards and lead vocals. The two traditional compositions derived from older Indian themes are also quite enticing—“T=0” showcases Marc Guillermont on guitar and Palakkad Steram on flute and VLI physical modeling synthesizer, while “Revolutions” contains some memorable work by Suzanne D’mello on lead vocals and Sridhar Parthasarthy on djembe and the Indian percussion arrangement.

Overall, Barot’s debut album is a self-contained marvel which offers stimulating imagery, shaped and transformed by the drummer’s innate gift of finding the underlying humanity and warmth underneath the percussive layers of a tune. In a sense, Barot has found his voice by shifting his focus from the outside world of collaboration, and back within the inner collective glow which has always seemed to ignite his own playing. And on Bada Boom, that certainly lights his way.