Well, this is certainly an interesting one. Self-proclaimed 'indo-jazz world music' Autorickshaw have combined jazz with Vedic chant and South Indian classical music, a first for me, and an absolute delight. Normally, the kind of forced fusion that he has me running, screaming away from hordes of Guardian readers, but here it works.
A mixture of original material, rearrangements of some South Indian classical pieces and cracks at a couple of jazz standards, the band have sidestepped the trap door to dull chill out and created a fascinating hybrid.
Suba Sankaran has a hypnotic, inviting voice, and her fellow band members, Ed Hanley, Rich Brown and Debashis Sinha just seem to flow in and out of each other. The originals are of uniformly high standard, but if you're feeling a bit jaded with poor interpretations of classic jazz (hi, Jamie), take a listen to their run though of Duke Ellingtons "Caravan". Fabulous.
-Zeitgeist & Co, UK