Susheela Raman Delivers “Ghost Gamelan”

Susheela Raman has delivered an extraordinary album entitled Ghost Gamelan. Recorded in Solo, Indonesia, the album is a collaboration with Javanese contemporary gamelan composer Gondrong Guanarto and his team of virtuoso gamelan players.

Gamelan, for non-initiates, is the music of Bali and Java, played mostly on tuned gongs. It has long inspired smart western music makers from Debussy, Messaien, Philip Glass, Steve Reich and Sonic Youth.

This is Raman’s most evolved songwriting work to date.  ’Going Down’ and ‘Beautiful Moon’ are enigmatic but seductive songs while ‘Rose’, with words by William Blake, really push the boundaries harmonically and sonically. All tracks are sung in English.

They took the risk, not knowing if the musical bridge would hold, and spent a month with Gunarto in Java building gamelan housings for their songs. Experts in traditional music these Javanese multi-instrumentalists also follow their own avant-garde ‘kontomperer’ adventures. Their music is a multiplicity and their references are global.