5.0 out of 5 stars Kronos Cross-Cultural Creativity at its very best!

b. · 4 March 2002

The Kronos Quartet are four geniuses. By taking Eastern European Romany influences and putting them into the classical context of a string quartet, they create something wild, frenetic, soulful, free ... feel the wind in your face, the rumble of the galloping horses and listen again and again. The second track is one of the most haunting pieces of music I have ever heard.

4.0 out of 5 stars 'Caravan' from where... ?

A.F. · 19 July 2017

I refuse to give this only 3 stars and would prefer to give this 3.5 but... I am becoming an increasing fan of Kronos Quartet's versatility and use of complementary musicians and musical styles/genres. So this has to better than "just okay". My favourite KQ album is 'Pieces of Africa', which has a stronger coherence in its draw from African roots and rhythms. This 'Caravan' album is from the 2000 incarnation of KQ: Culp-Sherba-Harrington-Dutt which may help explain its eclecticism and sources. I play it and enjoy it - it will stay in my collection. It is delightfully challenging musically, bearing regularly repeated playing and grows on me... if not on you. There's a lot of north African harmonics and Middle Eastern rooted music, with a tad of mid-European/quasi-Slavic rhythms. One to try before you buy.

4.0 out of 5 stars Kronos take a world tour

P.R.S. · 26 February 2008

Kronos records are usually more conceptual or based on some artist work. Unlike the usual trend, this one is an interesting collection of pieces of world music, very well chosen by the way.The second track (Verdes Anos) is a chamber music version of the portuguese guitar genius, Carlos Paredes.

Le meilleur

D. · 26 April 2015

Cet album est un des meilleurs du Kronos avec "The Fountain". Je l'avais sur mon ordinateur, mais je l'ai acheté rien que pour le plaisir de posséder l'objet.

Have owned it for years - still love it

R. · 24 November 2013

Such a beautiful collection of music. Some of the tracks don't fit in as well (the jarring Cortejo Funebre en el Monte Diablo) and others seem to go on repetitively for days (Gallop of A Thousand Horses), but they still have their own appeal. I love the way the music was transformed by the Kronos Quartet: La Muerte Chiquita, for example, goes from a dated pop song to something that feels like what one would expect to hear at the medieval Castillian court. This album certainly deserves a listen.

Geniale Musik

A.K. · 30 May 2017

Wie erwartet einfach eine fantastische Gruppe mit genialer Musik. Teilweise nicht ganz einfach und nicht zu jederzeit anzuhören, aber insgesamt sehr gut.

‘Caravan’ is a real Crossover album

j. · 26 June 2015

Crossover into popular music structure: the performers may be a string quartet, but the formal structure of the selection of pieces here is popular. They typically are constructed from a verse and chorus, with some bridges and introductions thrown in. To me this is the defining aspect of this album: it doesn’t have the formal variety found in classical or art music, but hews to the typical verse/chorus structure of pop songs. The listening experience is far closer to taking in a Paul Simon album than Dmitri Shostakovich.Crossover into the polyculture: Most other compositions or albums grow from a single musical culture, often a very specific, localized one. “Caravan” is different in character and telescopes out to bring us flavors from many regions. Not rooted in place, it is a “travelogue,” the styles originating from Eastern Europe, Bollywood, Argentina, California, Mideastern Arab culture and Iberia.Any compilation of recent music will be of uneven quality. Several of the compositions have been very rewarding. I’ll point to the two numbers from Carlos Paredes, an older composer from Portugal, the mournful “Cancao Verdes” and the Romance No.1, which to my mind is closest to an “art” composition of any of the selections in “Caravan.” I also enjoyed “Aaj Ki Rat” from Indian composer Rahul Burman quite a bit. Many of the selections were arranged for the Kronos by well-known Argentine/US composer Osvaldo Golijov.I have great respect for the Kronos Quartet, a very high quality ensemble both technically and artistically, and they live up to their high standards here, providing engaged, musical and accomplished playing pretty much through the entire disc. For example, the playing of the sliding intro to “La muerte Chiquita” from Mexican rock songwriter Enrique Rangel is beautifully executed. They are also recorded well – the disc sounds very good. Is the album perfect? No, there are some clunkers here. In particular, I will point to the abomination from Terry Riley (“Cortejo Funebre”), an artist the Kronos have long championed. I also thought the final track, “Misirlou Twist” from Nicholas Roubanis, is a yawner. But there are also some really fine efforts from little-known composers. It also serves well as background music, if you are able to skip over the Terry Riley track. I enjoyed getting to know this album.

fast

M.H. · 7 July 2020

very fast delivery