by Alex Henderson
At 67, veteran Indian music master Ali Akbar Khan successfully blends tradition and technology on Journey, a moving CD produced by his protege and student Jai Uttal. Journey, however, isn't modern secular Indian pop, but rather is best described as traditional Indian spiritual and devotional music using high-tech elements. Under Uttal's direction, Khan's sarod and other acoustic Indian instruments like the sitar, the tabla and the dholak successfully interact with electronic synthesizers (none of which sound forced or mechanical). Uttal had learned a lot from Khan, and showed his appreciation by seeing to it that technology was used soulfully throughout this album.