Imagine what would happen if fusion met up with John McLaughlin's Mahvishnu Orchestra or Woodstock-era Santana, and then decided to jam on some mellow Vai? That is one way of describing what the MHB sounds like. In truth, they have to be heard, and heard live, if one wishes to truly grasp the sonic depth of this group's musician ship. The brainchild of guitarist Mekaal Hasan, the band and the album are the realization of his dream. Consisting of 8 sprawling, atmospheric tracks, Sampooran is an album way, way ahead of its time.

A host of local and international musicians grace the record, lending their dexterous talents to Hasan's compositions and improvisations. MHB live and MHB on record are two different entities. On record, along with Hasan, Javed Akhtar is featured on keyboard; Gumby on drums on selected tracks; Javed Bashir, vocals; Michael Mondesir, bass on selected cuts; Ahsan Papu on flute while Sameer Ahmed (not Karavan?s bass wizard) plays bass on Raba.

Sampooran has Mekaal Hasan reworking traditional kaafis and classical ragas into modern, jazz-infected fusion rockers. The band's strength, other than Hasan's remarkable playing and the overall tight sound formed by different floating versions of the band, is the vocal talents of the classical singer Javed Bashir. While the guitarist's six-string deliberations take one away into high flying prog-rock reveries, Bashir's sonorous vocals bring the wandering mind back to the wet earth of sub continental music.

It's hard to pick favourites from such a delicious assortment of grooves and melodies. Raba beckons with its lazy intontations, dressed in the outwardly course cloak of Sufi expression, while Darbari is pure, melancholic ecstasy. Attitude, in the form of revved up riffs and humility, mix in the dervish's call to arms, Ya Ali, while the record wraps up with the instrumental, Late Moon, a Latin jazz flavored gem that takes one straight to the Florida Keys.

Though the record is nearly faultless, one isn't quite sure whether the masses will respond, for hit singles don't immediately jump to mind. Sampooran is an album one has to savor slowly but rest assured, this one goes down real easy.