When you integrate one proficient acoustic guitarist with select vocalists and instrumentalists, along with the skillful production talents of Windham Hill Records founder and Grammy Winner Will Ackerman, the final product might expectedly be a top rated album compiled by dedicated music professionals that virtually everyone would love and appreciate.

Shambhu is the proficient guitarist clearly asserting in his website news pages that his first album has truly been a “ labor of love “ while composing, performing and co-producing with Will Ackerman, along with his time spent working beside other top music professionals.  This I can believe since at the end of the day, Shambhu and his insightful selection of collaborating musicians has paid off rather handsomely, and by their collective time spent together, have helped convert this debut release into a commodity of premium value.

Sacred Love – Feel The Journey is New Age Fusion, Contemporary Instrumental, and Jazz, having East, West, and World elements which help facilitate the conversion of artful melodies into solid gold entertainment that requires only simple involvement for the rest of us to acquire the appreciable benefits of this grand endeavor.  Sacred Love has already achieved a quantifiable amount of success, where at present Sacred Love – Feel The Journey is # 1 for the month of October 2010 in ZMR’s Top 100 Chart, but I also have a feeling this album will appreciate in value even more over time.

Shambhu is an esteemed musician in his own right performing concerts or on albums with top music entertainers like Bob Hope, Carlos Santana, John Anderson and on Whitney Houston’s multi-platinum album titled simply Whitney.  The list goes on since Shambhu has also been involved in projects with many of the respected musicians I continually write about like Will Ackerman, Jeff Oster, Eugene Friesen, Ann Licater plus many more.

Sacred Love – Feel The Journey on the Acoustic Shine label has an impressive cast and crew since many have toured or recorded with top musical groups themselves.  Some of these artists on Shambhu’s album include Tony Levin of Peter Gabriel on bass, Jeff Haynes of Pat Metheny on percussion, George Brooks of John McLaughlin on saxophone, Celso Alberti of Steve Winwood on drums, and then Premik Tubbs of Santana and John McLaughlin on flute.

Together is the first of 12 songs total and what a memorable impression it creates.  The center stage guitar and violin pairing established securely alongside flute and reflective instrumentation is magnificent, plus it is easy to visualize this song and others in a Cinematic role since the warm, sincere, and dynamic atmosphere echo the characteristic essentials for a multitude of made for the big screen movie settings.

Natural Moment is a warm and casual song that positively takes off and ascends to new heights.  First expressed during the initial sequences, xylophone and numerous percussion enhancements become the lively components that merge into a free spirited narrative complete with smooth and graceful electric guitar rhythms which intensify and progress neatly into a picturesque arrangement.

Maiu Breeze is refreshing by exhibiting a jazzy tropical presence.  First conveyed by acoustic guitar highlights, the integral xylophone rhythms and harmonious vocals filled with energy and vitality are a natural accompaniment to the guitar arrangement.  Together they merge perfectly to bring out the compositional fascination of this album and its entirety, creating a dynamic atmosphere that leaves one with an impression of total harmonic refinement.

This first release by Shambhu will always be termed a debut as one might expect, but when you consider his proficiency as a guitarist, the impressive number of outstanding talents on this extraordinary album, and their combined lifework totaling a significant number of decades as esteemed music professionals, then this masterful first album by Shambhu truly does amount to a rewarding and appreciable “ labor of love. “

Full musician credits are Eugene Friesen – cello, Charlie Bisharat – violin, Ravichandra Kulur – flute, Michael Manring – bass, Jill Haley – English horn, Claytoven Richardson – lead vocal, Jeff Oster – flugelhorn, Noah Wilding – vocals Todd Boston – sarod, mixed and engineered by Grammy Award winning Corin Nelsen.

Visist shambhumusic.com to sample / purchase or go to his CDBaby.com page and Amazon.com page.

Big Stock Photo – rkasprzak.

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