Travel the world in your home and delight your stereo to
some unique and varied melodies on and with a broad range
of instruments.  Jazz is far from the only style of music that
allows and calls for improv, this album has plenty of room
left in its score for individual style and interpretation. A wonderful celebration of music, lots of grand percussion, bold and powerful.  Plenty of Zen like melody mixed with some
lovely rhythm.  A pleasure to listen to and absorb.
 

A.R. Rahman 

India’s Top Film Composer And One Of The World’s Most Popular Musicians, Rahman Creates His First Full Work For Symphony 
Orchestra, With An Array Of Ethnic Guest Instrumentalists

(New York, NY April 22, 2004) — Fresh from his first Western theatrical success with the musical Bombay. Dreams, Indian composer A.R. Rahman creates his first full work for symphony orchestra in Sony Classical’s Between Heaven and Earth, a richly evocative concept album that captures the cultural drama, grandeur and mystery that exists along the historic link between East and West known as The Silk Road. Between Heaven and Earth will be released on Tuesday, May 4, 2004.

Between Heaven and Earth is drawn from Rahman’s score for the Chinese film Warriors of Heaven and Earth, which depicted an epic clash of deeply spiritual Asian cultures. Creating this music was a new challenge for Rahman, whose remarkable gifts, prolific output and phenomenal success in composing songs for Indian films have earned him the title “the Asian Mozart.” No less an authority than Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber has hailed him as “a melodic genius,” and it was Lloyd Webber who conceived the idea of the musical Bombay Dreams, to introduce Rahman’s music to Western audiences. Bombay Dreams opens on Broadway this spring, after a successful run on London’s West End.

For Between Heaven and Earth, Rahman employs a full Western classical orchestra and draws on the sounds of ethnic music found all along The Silk Road, which extends from Turkey to China. Top ethnic instrumentalists 
— including Wong On Yuen (erhu), Choo Boon Chong (dizi) and Martin Robertson (duduk), with percussionists S.Sivamani, Raja Tirupathi and Kumar Vuuri — join the Czech Film Orchestra and Chorus, led by Matt Dunkley, on the recording. Also included is a Hindi version of the song “Warriors in Peace,” which Rahman wrote for the Warriors of Heaven 
and Earth soundtrack.

Rahman is one of the most sought-after composers and music directors in the international film industry today. Only 38 years old, he has sold more than 100 million records worldwide. Rahman was born into a musically gifted family, the son of K.A. Sekar, a well-known music director in films, based in Southern India. After scholarship study at the Trinity College of Music (London), he returned to Madras, India to begin his professional career in music. Soon after, his 1995 soundtrack for Bombay surpassed sales of five million units, and Rahman had arrived as the “King of Indian Pop” with sales of more than 40 million albums over a period of three years.

Rahman began his association with Sony Classical with the international release of the West End original cast recording of Bombay Dreams, and 
he has also composed a track for the upcoming Sony Classical debut of violin sensation Vanessa-Mae, to be released in early 2005.

Between Heaven and Earth will be featured on Sony Classical’s Web site at www.sonyclassical.com.

A prodigous composer and songwriter whose music has sold more than 40 million units worldwide, India’s A.R. Rahman has been hailed as “a melodic genius” by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, and his phenomenal success in Indian films also has earned him the title “the Asian Mozart.” He makes his Western debut as an orchestral composer on Sony Classical’s Between Heaven and Earth, to be released in Spring 2004.

Lloyd Webber conceived and produced Rahman’s musical Bombay Dreams, which opens on Broadway in spring 2004 after a successful run on London’s West End. The musical is only the latest success for Rahman, whose remarkable filmography includes the international hit Lagaan, an Oscar nominee in 2002. His work has won him a slew of international prizes and citations, including MW and Filmfare Awards, as well India’s National Film Award. A native of southern India, Rahman attended London’s Trinity College of Music, where he was studied Western classical music, before returning to India and becoming a key figure in that country’s vast film industry, popularly known as “Bollywood.”

Rahman won international acclaim for a worldwide musical world tour, and — in addition to Bombay Dreams -- his international projects include a concert with Michael Jackson in Munich, the original score for the Chinese film Warriors Of Heaven and Earth (which inspired his new Sony Classical recording), and the opportunity to conduct England’s City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Rahman is at work on a stage musical version of The Lord Of The Rings for London’s West End, and he has created a track for Vanessa Mae’s upcoming album for Sony Classical. A.R. Rahman is also actively involved in several philanthropic and charitable organizations — including the Save The Children Project, as well as cancer and tuberculosis foundations — and he frequently performs charity concerts to raise funds for them.