MEER Muhammad Taqi "Meer" has penned some of India’s best loved poetry, particularly ghazals. His intriguing mixture of self-mockery and self-assertion has been given voice by many top singers down the decades. The latest to do so are Roopkumar and Sonali Rathod. They do not end up outshining anyone, but manage to hold their own.

Their attempt has been to ensure that they present "Meer" in a style all their own. This difference needs some getting used to, particularly in highly popular numbers like Patta patta boota boota haal hamara jane hai`85 The usual flow is missing. Ghazals are juxtaposed with some of Meer’s couplets and pieces from Zikr-e-Meer, his autobiography.

The selection has been done by Salim Arif, a well-known theatre personality.

The simplicity of "Meer’s" expression was born out of his dazzlingly confident use of the language. The same cannot be said about the singing of Roop and Sonali. And yet, the poetry is so powerful that it is not at all difficult to like the album.

Taufiq Qureshi is the son of tabla wizard Ustad Alla Rakha and brother of percussion maestro Zakir Hussain. Here he presents a fusion of various percussion styles. He is accompanied by Karl Peters on bass guitar, Nishad on keyboards, Sridhar Parthasarathy on south Indian percussions, Bondo on Goan percussion and Niladri Kumar on the sitar. The mastery of each comes together in a harmonious jamming.

The title track is the longest at over 16 minutes. It is an electrifying interface between Taufiq, Sridhar and Bondo.

But the signature tune actually is the first track, Peshkar, in which the mridangam of South India and percussions of Goa complement the beats of Taufiq.

Flight of Freedom based on raga Puriya Dhanashree begins sedately and ends in a furious tempo. It has been composed by the fiery sitarist Niladri.

The entire band comes together in Beyond the Seven Seas. The album comes to a close with Madhuli which boasts of the peppiest tempo among the total five compositions.

Don’t be taken in by the picture of a couple on the cover which appears straight from the film Asoka. This cassette has nothing to do with ancient India. The music here belongs to today and that too from typical Punjab.

Romey Gill sings in the style of folk singers whose idiom is popular in the rural interior. Lyrics are also of the same type.

Music has been composed by the group Kiss ‘n’ tell.