Jai Uttal: “Monkey” Triloka

Does the thought of Indian music--East Indian, that is, not Native American--bring to your mind interminable sitar jams made palatable only by ingesting illegal substances? Not to worry. Jai Uttal has concocted a mix of mildly exotic musical flourishes melded with clean jazz lines that should draw in those very listeners who don’t know a bansuri from a dholak.

Both those instruments, along with such old standbys as sax, guitar, mandolin and cornet, are played by the house band for this journey, the Pagan Love Orchestra. Meanwhile, New York native Uttal brews atmospheric synthesizer effects and coaxes delightfully twangy sounds out of the dotar, a stringed instrument similar to the sarod played by his Indian musical mentor, Ali Akbar Khan.

Most of these songs fall in the five- to seven-minute range, which is a good thing--it gives Uttal and ensemble just enough time to unfurl soundscapes that aren’t so tightly wound as to seem formula-driven, or so loose-ended as to induce snoozing. Uttal’s voice, heard on only half the tracks, is a pleasant, slightly melancholy surprise that adds its own flavor of mystery to the traditional Hindu prayer “Govinda” and the stately love song “Soldiers.”

Think of this album as an aural passport that lets you simultaneously travel through Indian jungles and jazzdom without working up a sweat or getting sand in your shoes.