"FIVE STARS (Highest Rating). Fills the heart and soul unlike anything you've ever heard before. Beyond beautiful."      

 --- Todd David Schwartz, CBS Radio
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Touted as “peaceful sounds from the axis of evil”, Reza’s “Ray of the White” is indeed a ray of light from a torn region. Former Doors drummer John Densmore produced this eclectic Middle Eastern album that features Persian musician Reza laying a foundation that could help bridge the gap between Western music and Middle Eastern culture. With fantastic bass lines that groove to the percussion and superb sitar play, “Ray of the Wine” is both inspiring and dauntingly familiar with its catchy melodies that will turn pop on its head. The lyrics consist mostly of Persian ancient poetry with a peppering of his own penned words as he plays sitar, the tar, ney, and kamanche. Sprinkle in some didgeridoo, strings, organ, and piano and you’ve got the perfect recipe for success.

- J-Sin
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Reza’s music is interesting. That’s probably the only thing that came to my mind when I first came to listen to “Ray of the Wine”. The only Persian-American that I’ve ever reviewed, Reza mixes eir two heritages incredibly well, placing in a traditional set of instruments with more American ones (bass, electronic keyboard). What first emanates to listeners’ ears is “Wild Hair”, a foreign-language track that skillfully mixes the ancient and new, the east and the west to create a cross-cultural amalgamation that will play as well in Peoria as it will in Tehran. The title track is much more contemplative, but still uses the extraordinarily complex arrangements by Reza to push forward the track even with the slowish tempo threatening to hold matters back. The infusion of blues lines (on piano) gives the track two distinct histories, that of Reza’s own past and that of the culture in which ey sees eirself. To listen to the complete disc is daunting, as unlike more contemporary American music, Reza places an innumerable amount of layers over one another and also uses eir voice as one of the key instruments on every track of “Ray of the Wine”.

The building action of a track like “I’m Back” shows an individual who has invested all eir can into this disc, and will draw listeners in not just by the music on the disc but on the emotions espoused in every line ey sings and every arranged note. Moving into the epic “Masnavi”, Reza takes a huge risk in creating such a Spartan soundscape for the opening, crucial moments of the track. Of course, the meat of the track is found much later with the interplay of didgeridoo, flue, bass and percussion, but those opening moments are most likely the least instrumented a song can still get and maintain its hold on an audience.

This combination that Reza succeeds with in “Ray of the Wine” is a revolutionary move for both traditional and popular music. The incorporation of so many different styles of music in a snowball effect that creates a brand new style of music happens very rarely on a single disc, much less an entire lifespan of a band. However, Reza is able to create this new Frankenstein’s monster in the space of fifty minutes. Look for this album to be the taste of the town for music fans in the know and NPR, but it will take a loosening of musical xenophobia here in America to allow this album to get the publicity it deserves.

Top Track: Masnavi

Rating: 7.0/10
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I would describe this record as the Middle East meets the blues. Persian-American Reza, worked with the Doors' John Densmore to produce the most unique album that I've heard in years. First off, it retains the feel of Middle Eastern music while still mingling in influences of this Western world. Reza jokes that his album is "peaceful sounds from 'The Axis of Evil."' It really does help give you a different light on the current world. Instead of looking at the Middle East as a foreign world, his music makes it feel as if it's close and common. 

Reviewer: Michael Mardings 


Reviewer's Rating: 8.5
Reader's Rating: 9.00
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