PURIFY by paTala: A Music Sampler

[Please read] Surveying one of the most outstanding recordings of the 2000 decade in any genre.

Essential: view and hear this 16:9 video in High Quality.

"paTala"—Sanskrit for "blossom"—refers to the duo of British female singers Sam Bonner and Frances Ruffelle. PURIFY, the group's debut recording, was originally released on the Lovechild Music label in 2005. Produced with obvious passion and much precision by George de Angelis and Morgan Visconti, PURIFY features "a fusion of traditional Sanskrit chants with unique arrangements of contemporary Western beats." Remarkable contributing artists include Bodhi, Melanie Williams, and Celloman. Thanks to all, paTala's PURIFY is that 21st-century rarity in the arts: a masterpiece.

According to the liner notes: "chanting stills the mind, dissolves worries, and opens the heart." Chanting, mysticism, Sanskrit, Hinduism, etc., may appeal to some. But theres nothing mystical about my admiration for paTala's PURIFY. I love the beautiful, heartfelt singing: the blending voices of Sam and Frances glide and sweep the skies like birds on the wing. I love the beautiful, resonant music: the instrumentation is virtuosic, multi-layered, and rich—rewarding the ears like a lit casket full of precious jewels would reward the eyes. PURIFY is vocal and musical art of the highest order.

paTala's PURIFY features uniquely individual songs that will evoke different images (or nothing) in the minds of its rapt listeners. The images seen in this YouTube video reflect MY choices/tastes alone. They are not the only images I could have used, but I liked them best for this video. Frankly, I consider the images extraneous----the music's the thing. But because this IS YouTube, I wanted to employ some sort of visual complement. I think the means (the variety of my chosen images) are worthy of the ends (eloquent presentation of the music). But just remember: they are not the only means. 'Nuff said.

Frances Ruffelle first became famous for her performance as the original "Eponine" in both the London and American stage productions of the musical LES MISERABLES in the 1980s. (Hear her passionate contributions on both original cast recordings.) She has since released three solo recordings: FRAGILE (1994/Virgin), FRANCES RUFFELLE (1998/Dress Circle), and SHOWGIRL (2004/Lovechild). A new in-concert jazz recording of hers will apparently see the light sometime in 2009. More recently, she performed some solo gigs in London in a show she provocatively christened "Beneath the Dress." I am a tremendous Frances fan and recommend her work without reservation. Her official website is: http://www.francesruffelle.com/

paTala's PURIFY may be outstanding, but its distribution is not. It remains frustratingly elusive on CD. If you like what you hear—and I hope you do—and would like to own a copy of PURIFY, I suggest that you search on the Internet perseveringly until you find one.

IMPORTANT: Questions or comments are sincerely welcome—but only if they are nice, clean, and comprehendible. If you are a professional and prefer that I delete this video, please contact me and it will promptly be done.

Thanks for viewing.

VIDEO DEDICATED—WITH ADMIRATION—TO FRANKIE RUFF.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Frances Ruffelle
• paTala
• Sam Bonner
• India
• Sanskrit
• Chant
• Mantra
• Yoga
• Hindu
• Les Miserables
• Debra Paget
• Bollywood
• Rekha
• Umrao Jaan
• Aishwarya Rai
• Madhuri Dixit
• Devdas
• 2000s
• Exotica
• Sensual
• northbreed1

[kfag101]

love frances!

[electricvalentina]

something about her voice, so much emotion in it...I'm in love too :)

[rayzw]

thanks for sharing this. i'm a big frances ruffelle fan as well, and i think she deserves at least 100 times as many fans as she does now. in fact, if she were 20 years younger, i'd be fully convinced that i'm in love with her :) such a wonderful person too... i have her on facebook and she actually takes the time to update it and share with her "friends" - but face it, how many of us are actually her friends :P