Sitar Player Ashwin Batish has followed his Sitar Power album with a sequel that further shows his ability to take the instrument around the world with only an occasional guitar and tabla part for accompaniment. He improvises off hip-hop, bluegrass, Latin and rock'n'roll rhythms with scary dexterity. At its least, the CD is lightweight fun like the New Delhi Flatt & Scruggs picking in "Cowboys & Indians." At best, some really unique fusion comes up, like "Surfing with the Sitarman," where Batish dances around some burrowing hard rock guitar, and "Misty," which sounds like a '60s British pop instrumental rearranged for sitar. This is fun, boundary-stretching music.
