being an amateur instrumentalist & an avid rock,metal progressive lover...i was captured by the power of the carnatic music elements & jazz elements,the mix of the elements is just perfect !!!!
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The inside sleeve of Be the Change says “This album may represent certain fantasies that a young kid may have had growing up in South India”; combining South Indian Carnatic music with a jazz sensibility that includes fusion, funk and a bit of straight-ahead swing, guitarist Prasanna delivers an album that, for all its diversity, manages to sound cohesive; the cogent result of a vivid imagination indeed.

Building layers of electric and acoustic guitars, with a solid understanding of a multitude of styles he creates world music with a distinctive sound. Much like Pat Metheny, who merges the folk music of his Midwestern-US upbringing with a stronger jazz sensibility, Prasanna does similar things with his native South Indian roots. Also, like Metheny, Prasanna is less interested in songs where the theme is simply a way to get into improvisation; his pieces have a stronger sense of composition, each one telling a story. Be the Change is a fine new release from an artist who truly understands the concept that fusion, rather than being the dirty word it has become, is truly about integrating seemingly disparate styles of music into a new whole.
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This album is pure genius. It combines at once two very serious improvisational art forms, carnatic
(south indian classical music) and jazz, and brings it to an audience which is bound to have a very
unique experience. This album is bound to change your view of jazz -- forever. Never before has
multicultural collaboration been attempted at this honest and serious a level.  Ok, maybe Akamoon is
probably as serious (apparently Prasanna plays with them regularly in Europe), but how often do you
hear odd-signature songs this accessible? If you are an avid Shakti fan and are wondering what to 
listen to next, not only should you listen to this album, but also check out Prasanna's "Peaceful,"
which I believe is available through his website at guitarprasanna.com. In "Peaceful,"  you will find
Prasanna shining in a freer setting, with some renditions of traditional carnatic -- meant clearly to
showcase his absolute genius as a guitar player and his very creative ideas as a musician.

Pick up "Be The Change" for compositional integrity, pure genius guitar playing, the grammy-winning musicians, and the use of (musical) vocabulary which you will hear only very rarely.
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This album is an exquisitely crafted work of art by an extremely gifted and skilled musician. To me, it's a must hear/keep for all world/jazz listeners. It is very different because in Prasanna we have a very unique guitarist so well versed with the nuances of both the eastern carnatic and western jazz. All the songs in the album convey the artist's strong and very melodic carnatic message packaged in the overall jazz & blues context. The fusion is totally seamless. So to a listener unexposed to this form of eastern music, it may also come accross as a new exotic expression to jazz, which it is in many ways. And guess what, the singing too by both Prasanna and his wife Shalini sound very smooth and fit well in the album.
Not to forget,what makes the album stand out is also the top brass accompanying artists on the rythm,bass,wind sections. The excellent arrangement of it all makes the album a sure winner. 
Kudos to Prasanna for this beautiful piece of art.
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