Broto Roy Quartet

A note on the cover of tabla player Broto Roy’s new recording, “American Raga,” explains, “All of the instrumental music on this album is inspired by Indian ragas and jazz.” That alone may be enough to put off some listeners who’ve been disappointed by other forms of jazz fusion, whether they were championed by classical music or world beat advocates.
Yet, unlike many of those trendy experiments, nothing seems half-baked on “American Raga”. The emphasis, after all, is on improvisation, and since that’s a subject Roy and his collaborators are well-versed in, their performances seem to flow naturally, like conversations between old friends. So much so, in fact, that it’s easy to lose sight of the different cultural forces at work here or the intricately structured ragas that inspired the fluid exchanges between the players. A case in point is “The Reason Why”, which finds Roy collaborating with guitarist Paul Bollenback and soprano saxophonist Carl Grubbs on both a spiritual and visceral level. - Washington Post