Sangria CD Reviews

Ancient Future, the world’s “first and longest running band dedicated exclusively to the mission of creating world fusion music” has brought out Sangria, the first album in its World Jazz series.This debut recording features original compositions of multi-instrumentalist Mariah Parker, who has drawn musical inspiration from Brazil, Cuba, Spain, and India. Her Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble accompanies her and includes musicians from the bands Ancient Future, Oregon, Sun Ra, and Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters. Of particular note are Debopriyo Sarkar, the […]

This is the impressive solo CD debut of a pianist-composer known primarily for her performances with the longtime Marin world music group Ancient Future. Parker, who worked with Mickey Hart on his “Planet Drum” project when she was completing her music degree at UC Santa Cruz, describes her style on this eight-track instrumental album as Indo Latin jazz. And just as the Spanish drink sangria is a blend of wine and brandy and other flavors, “Sangria” is a fusion of […]

As we can read on the cover, Sangria promise is “An Indo Latin Jazz Musical Experience’ yet often these both these ethnic flavors are so intimately fused that the result turns into a new and fresh sonority. The Latin and Indian rhythms come together naturally, blending smoothly into the sound tapestry, making Sangria a delight for mind and spirit. The album reveals Mariah Parker’s compositional and instrumental prowess, she plays with delicacy piano and santur(a Persian dulcimer) and signed all […]

Like the festive wine and fruit drink the album takes its name from, the music on Mariah Parker’s “Sangria” is, indeed, an intoxicating melange of diverse sonic ingredients. The album’s subtitle: “An Indo Latin Jazz Musical Experience” further hints at the heady fusion contained within. Mariah shines on piano and santur, a Middle Eastern hammered dulcimer. She is joined by a stellar cast of musicians which includes Paul McCandless on sax and English horn, Matthew Montfort, who is well-known from […]

Sangria is billed as an Indo Latin Jazz Musical Experience. While we weren’t quite sure what to expect, we were pleasantly surprised as the opener “Waterwheel” bathed us in relaxing harmonies. The blending of musical cultures here works extremely well! Parker plays piano and santur with support from Matthew Montfort (g), Kash Killion (b), Duru Demetrius (percussion) and several others. “Debajo De La Lluvia” had a light bossa move feel. We also enjoyed “Pente” in a sort of 5/4 time […]

Sangria: An Indo Latin Jazz Experience Mariah Parker, Ancient-Future.com Records If Seven Serenades for Scalloped Guitar were considered the original, then Sangria: An Indo Latin Jazz Experience by Mariah Parker would certainly be a sequel of sorts. Parker produced this debut recording with Serenades Matthew Montfort. She composed and played on the track “Sangria,” which originally appeared on Montfort’s latest release. On Parker’s “world-fusion music”-influenced CD, the track “Sangria” appears again in a full band version, and as just one […]

Smooth Jazz Now (SmoothJazzNow.com) is an Internet radio station based in Calgary, Canada, with a worldwide audience that generates over 4 million hits per month. Two tracks from Mariah Parker’s 2009 debut release, Sangria, “Pente” and “Waterwheel,” made the SmoothJazzNow.com Top 100 Songs of 2009 list. Mariah Parker joins an elite group of musicians, including George Benson, Tom Braxton, and Diana Krall, who had more than one song in the top 100.

Translation: The subtitle of Mariah Parker’s album Sangria reads “An Indo Latin Jazz Musical Experience”. Parker also plays in the world fusion group Ancient Future led by Matthew Montfort, and Montfort and members of the band also perform here, on Parker’s solo-album. Parker wrote all compositions, and plays piano and santur (a kind of Indian dulcimer played with hammers – similar to the instrument known as the Dutch hakkebord). Light oriental rhythms of the tabla are combined with heavy, dark […]

Pianist Mariah Parker cooks up a heady stew of jazz/world fusion on Sangria, a spicy intoxicating mixture of straight-up jazz inflected with ’70s era fusion (think original Return to Forever, circa Light as a Feather) and global influences from both South America and India. The CD cover reads “An Indo Latin Jazz Musical Experience” to which I would add the words “..that kicks all kinds of ass!” Anchored by (but not dominated or overwhelmed by) Parker’s great work on the […]

This album with its mixture of East Indian and Latin rhythms was a terrific audio surprise. Ancient Future pianist Mariah Parker throws some quirky jazz into her World fusion mix and the results are quite appealing. Overall, the music has that upbeat Latin tempo, but it is created with Middle Eastern percussion. Rather novel I should say. Sangria is the everything goes wine and fruit mixture made popular by the Spanish and the heady concoction’s name applies to this rather […]

Parker, on piano and santur, explores the exciting sonic terrain that blends the driving rhythmic syncopations of Latin jazz with the entrancing, asymmetrical meters of East India. Add intriguing melodic ideas to the mix and the result is compelling, at once adventurous yet accessible. Features original compositions that draw musical inspiration from Brazil, Cuba, Spain, and India. She is accompanied by her Indo Latin Jazz Ensemble that includes musicians from the bands Ancient Future, Oregon, Sun Ra, and Herbie Hancock’s […]

Prolusion. As the press kit of this release says, Mariah PARKER is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist who has degree in music at UC Santa Cruz and has also studied with jazz great Art Lande and Latin Jazz pianist extraordinaire Rebeca Mauleon. The document also suggests she is currently a member of Ancient Future, but has her own ‘Indo Latin Jazz’ ensemble as well. However, it is unclear from it whether “Sangria” is Mariah’s first solo album. In any event, […]

Other Licks, by Margaret Coble Instrumental albums rarely catch my ear, but this world fusion set by the acclaimed California jazz pianist is a hypnotic tour of global grooves, melding Indian and Middle Eastern instrumentation with Latin rhythms. Indian and flamenco music collide via cello and tabla in the title track, while Hindustani vocal scatting spices up “Tenth Journey.” (www.ancient-future.com)

My first reaction to Mariah Parker’s Sangria was “Muy caliente!” Joined by a stellar cast of guest artists, including luminaries such as scalloped fret board guitarist Matthew Montfort and renowned saxophonist Paul Mc-Candless, Parker infuses enough heat, passion, sultriness, and sass into Sangria’s eight tracks to power the city of São Paolo for a week! The music on the CD is a unique amalgam, drawing influence from Brazil, Cuba, Spain, and India. The cover uses the phrase “An Indo Latin […]

CD Reviews Sangria (Ancient Future, 2009) Delving into Indian musical culture and incorporating elements of the Middle East together with Latin and Brazilian influences, Parker and her collective leave a very good impression at the first listening. And like well known critics say, the first impression is what counts. Parker’s eight tracks are her own original compositions and, thankfully, we are spared from worn out jazz standards. There are several pieces that need to be followed closely. First, the sensual […]

MARIAH PARKER — “SANGRIA” This gifted, San Rafael-based multi-instrumentalist/composer earned a music degree at U.C. Santa Cruz. She makes a dazzling debut, joined by musicians who have played in such luminous ensembles as Ancient Future, Sun Ra’s Arkestra and Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters. Parker’s subtle and sensuous sounds reflect exotic flavors of India, the Middle East and Latin America. — Palo Alto Daily News

This debut as a leader by pianist/multi-instrumentalist/composer Mariah Parker (who performs regularly with the trendsetting world music collective Ancient Future) unveils a collection of eight original instrumental scores. Labeled as an Indo-Latin jazz musical experience, Parker and friends blend the rhythmic syncopations of Latin jazz music with the entrancing, asymmetrical meters of East Indian rhythms resulting in first-class world music. Intriguing melodies that draw musical inspirations from the tempos of Brazil, Cuba, India, and Spain make for an uplifting serene […]

Sangria, Mariah Parker’s debut CD, is a lushly lyrical tapestry of Latin jazz and the enchanting rhythms of East India. Mariah is a stunning composer and multi-instrumentalist who plays piano with graceful abandon. Having worked with Mickey Hart (from the Grateful Dead) on his Planet Drum project as well as touring all over the United States and Europe, Mariah now performs with the groundbreaking world music group Ancient Future. Combining elements of flamenco guitar along with Indian, Cuban, Brazilian and […]

Spicy tantalizing flamenco melodies cross pollinate with East Indian rhythms that beg to be imbibed in while a gentle warm breeze rustles your hair. Jazzy flirtations permeate the world music foray and are focused by Parker’s poignant piano (or santur) accentuations.

Featuring musicians from the bands Sun Ra, Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters and Ancient Future, Mariah Parker’s debut blends rhythmic syncopations of Latin jazz, hypnotic East Indian cadences and driving Brazilian and Afro-Cuban percussive beats. Although entirely instrumental, Sangria speaks. Maybe it’s the technical virtuosity abounding in the multiplicity of sounds — in the santur or sarangi, or the tabla or timbales. Maybe it’s in the emotive resonance of what’s behind the sounds, like the longing of separation in “Between the Lines,” […]

The album “Sangria” isn’t just a collection of Mariah Parker’s (piano and santur) original compositions. This is music-prayer, music-meditation. A wonderful company of first class musicians have been gathered to record this project. All of them deserve to be mentioned. Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard and flamenco guitars), Mindia Devi Klein (bansuri and flute), Kash Killion (bass, cello and sarangi), Debopriyo Sarkar (tabla), Duru Demetrius (percussion and congas) Anuradha Pal (tabla), Brian Rice (percussion and timbales) and Paul McCandless (soprano sax […]

Little question that this issue will be chock-full of inspiring music… the packages I received from the Ancient Future (Matthew Montfort) and Facing East (John Wubbenhorst) labels alone had true gems for fans of world/jazz/fusion in them.  I still haven’t quite figured out Mariah’s reason for titling this CD as she did, since in both Portuguese and Spanish it means “bloody”… though, of course, it does also mean a rich red wine… that’s more what I hear on her compositions […]

A review written for the Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange by Mark S. Tucker (progdawg@hotmail.com). I’m one of the few critics who has been singing the praises of the chamber World group Oregon for decades now, an ensemble composing the true genesis of refined world jazz music. That’s the main reason I’m so tough on genre releases, much to critic John Diliberto’s dismay, an emotion he’s more than once hastened to apprize me of. Tough. I demand artistry in my […]

“…this is an excellent album from pianist Mariah Parker, whose work is best described as world jazz. Parker brings a wide variety of influences to Sangria, ranging from Indian and Middle Eastern music to Afro-Cuban salsa and Brazilian samba. Parker obviously appreciates the Eastern-influenced spirituality and mysticism of John Coltrane, Yusef Lateef, Pharoah Sanders, and Lonnie Liston Smith, but her composing also contains elements of everyone from Pat Metheny to Chick Corea. And while Spanish flamenco is an influence on […]

CD Review: ‘Sangria’ Bubbles with Rhythm The CD cover describes the musical content as, “An Indo Latin Jazz Musical Experience”. That is probably a pretty good summation of Mariah Parker’s debut release, Sangria, which is Spanish for ‘bloody’. Notably, ‘sangria’ is usually referred to as a red wine. In that case, Mariah’s piano and santur playing is definitely intoxicating. Mariah is joined by Matthew Montfort on scalloped fretless guitar/flamenco guitar, Kash Killion on bass/cello, Debopriyo Sarkar and Anuradha Pal on […]

When a CD is titled Sangria, one automatically assumes that there is going to be a strong Spanish influence. Sangria wine, after all, is as quintessentially Spanish as flamenco, bullfights, paella, the Prado Museum, Pedro Almodóvar films, and scorching heatwaves in Sevilla. But the Spanish influence isn’t as strong on this early 2009 release as its title indicates. Regardless, this is an excellent album from pianist Mariah Parker, whose work is best described as world jazz. Parker brings a wide […]

To heat things up on Valentine’s Day, consider adding a little sangria to the menu – and your iTunes playlist. Sweet and juicy, and leaving you with a warm glow, Sangria is a melodic mix blending Latin jazz and East Indian music. This brand-new recording features original compositions by Mariah (composer, pianist, and santur player) that draw inspiration from Brazil, Cuba, Spain, and India. The result is an album that is at once uplifting, peaceful, and passionate. – Erica Gehrke

This collection of eight original instrumentals by Mariah Parker is just one of many examples of the infusion of East Indian music into Western music, but to my ears one of the most successful.  There are also influences of Spanish folk, flamenco, Afro-Cuban and Persian music.  Indian tablas and bansuri flute are heard on many of the tracks, and noted English horn/soprano sax artist Paul McCandless graces two of the tracks.  Guitarist Matthew Montfort plays a special scalloped fretboard guitar, […]

“…Parker kicks off her solo career with a well textured world beat date that finds her multi-instrumentalist abilities and her wide open ears leading the way.  There’s nothing but pros on board here who know what to do and they do it in a lively, spontaneous fashion that really grabs you.  First class world beat that really covers the bases.“

This 49-minute album is recommended for fans of world music (“Waterwheel”, “Sangria”, “Tenth Journey”) and jazz (“First Flight”, almost like Weather Report, “Between the Lines”, with a soft touch and a beautiful piano solo, “Debajo de la Lluvia”, which is Spanish for “Under the Rain”, and “Milo’s Moment”, both with a Latin feeling). The two genres are fused in “Pente”, which sounds as if from Ian Anderson’s Divinities. Half of the eight original compositions are in 7/8. The others are […]