Transcendence (2025), by Shambhu

I reviewed a couple of guitarist Shambhu’s albums in the 2010s when I was actively reviewing contemporary instrumental jazz/new age/fusion releases, but I had since lost track of his work. Now I’ve found myself back on the path again, thanks to Shambhu’s radiant and illuminating retrospective collection, Transcendence.

Comprised of ten choice cuts culled from the last fifteen years of Shambhu’s solo career and remixed in the spatially expansive sonic resolution of Dolby Atmos, the album truly lives up to its title in elevating listeners above the chaos and confusion of the crazy times we are living in. But regardless of when and where we find ourselves listening, the music is spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically therapeutic, as well as inspirational and uplifting. In this way, the album is timeless.

 

The primary instrument here is Shambhu’s acoustic guitar, sometimes by itself and other times accompanied by notable guest artists on guitar, bass, keyboards, flute, violin, cello, horns, percussion, and voice.

 

The album is consistent and flawless from beginning to end, never underwhelming or overbearing, just right. As varied as each track is, from beautifully simple to intricately lush, all of the tunes are thoughtful, sensitive, and, yes, transcendent.

 

Whether you are familiar with or are new to Shambhu’s work, or you just need something to take you away and reset you, this album delivers the goods.

 

Shambhu’s Transcendence exudes peace, love, and kindness.

 

--Raj Manoharan

For the Love of George (2025), by Robin Nolan

George Harrison reaches out from The Great Beyond to bless us all with a gift that infuses his memory and his legacy with new vigor and energy. That gift is literally and figuratively For the Love of George, an album of acoustic instrumental covers of classic Harrisongs by acclaimed and accomplished gypsy jazz guitarist Robin Nolan.

Nolan brings his ambidextrous six-string skills to bear on clever reinterpretations of nine Harrison tracks, the Paul McCartney and John Lennon Beatles song “And I Love Her’ – whose inventive guitar riff McCartney credits to Harrison – and a completely new composition based on chords that Harrison wrote on an envelope that was found shortly after his passing in 2001.

The spirit of Harrison permeates the album, not only because most of the songs are his, but also because the album was recorded at his Friar Park estate in England, with Nolan exclusively playing several of Harrison’s guitars. Harrison was also a friend of Nolan’s and became sort of a musical father figure to Nolan in the years before Harrison’s passing.

 

I am remiss that I had been previously unaware of Nolan’s career all these years. He has been performing and recording professionally since the early 1990s, most predominantly in the gypsy jazz guitar style made famous by the late, great icon, Django Reinhardt.

 

But Nolan is far more than just a gypsy jazz guitarist. He is a fantastic and all-around versatile musician, easily and effortlessly adaptable to any style and genre. Just based on this album alone, I now consider him one of my favorite guitarists, up there with greats such as Andy Summers, Allan Holdsworth, Pat Metheny, Eric Johnson, Hiram Bullock, Paul Speer, and Shambhu.

 

Nolan’s adaptations of Harrison’s music are generally faithful and recognizable while brimming with Nolan’s unique and flavorful flourishes. The only jarring tune is Nolan’s take on “My Sweet Lord,” but only because the new version is so different in tempo and style compared to the original. While Harrison’s song is a reverent, heartfelt, and loving pop hymn to The Supreme Being, Nolan’s take is jaunty and upbeat and jazzy and snazzy. In and of itself, Nolan’s version is perfectly fine. It’s just that this apple falls the farthest from its tree.

 

The title track, while mostly original, completely exudes the feel and sound of Harrison. This is obviously partly due to the fact that it’s based on Harrison’s chords, but Nolan completes it totally in the style of Harrison while imbuing it with his own sonic footprint. In the end, both the song and the album become both of theirs, labors of love in which Nolan and Harrison become synonymous. For the Love of George is literally Nolan’s love of George.

 

George Harrison would be proud.

 

--Raj Manoharan