Petal by Avaatar (Sundar Vishwanathan's band) is an interesting album that mixes jazz (Bebop & West Coast), ambient sounds, electronic music with a healthy does of Indian classical music And, if you like all these different musical strands coming together in an interesting way then this album is for you.

Viswanathan is a Canadian musician, who has played with Wynton Marsalis, Vijay Iyer & others. He play the saxaphone and bansuri (Indian flute).

1. Agra has neatly bottled the raucous sounds of India with a dose of cool jazz.
2. Banda Aceh pays homage to those hit by tsunami in this Indonesian town. An interesting interplay b/w sax & vocals (Felicity Williams.)
3. Soulful start & then a burst of bright sounds just like the downpour of monsoon rains. The track is called Monsoon.
4. A moderately paced track that lives up to its name The Long Dream.
5. Fast paced opening by tabla (Ravi Naimpally) & then other musicians join in.
6. An Indian inspired track. The interplay b/w Samidha Joglekar Indian classical vocals with Vishwanathan's sax makes for an interesting listen.
7. Petal - the title track is an interesting & unusual jazz composition.
8. An interesting & different kind of jazz composition that catches your ear.Fast paced
9. Beautiful opening notes of bansuri (Indian flute). The Indian sounds give way to the jazz sounds.
10. An unusual musical collage that combines the "philosophical speeches," of various gurus with music.

Kamla June 2016