The Baluch are a people without a geography, a culture that has connections to India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, and they are purported to have been influential in Iran in the 10th century. An argument could be made (and is in the liner notes) for their predecessors being proto-Gypsies, although there is plenty to suggest otherwise. But the music bears traits similar to Middle Eastern Gypsy music, as well as the music of Rajasthan. The ensemble here consists of singers, sorud (fiddle), tamburag (lute), and a unique mechanical dulcimer called benju. The central instrument is the sarud, a fiddle made of wood and a goat skin for a sounding board. It has a bright, thin, open sound that dominates the tone of the music throughout. The songs recorded for this CD include wedding and social songs and lively festival numbers, some danceably rhythmic, others slightly trancelike. The playing is often vivid and passionate, but a few tracks sound like they were walked though in a haze. --Louis Gibson