Jai Uttal has been immersed in Indian music for decades. He traveled with the Bauls of Bengal, singing their chants, and he plays the dotar, a baby brother to the Indian sarod, which he studied with Ali Akbar Khan. His 1991 album, Footprints, essayed a heady, mostly instrumental world fusion full of atmosphere and improvisation, including a guest appearance from jazz trumpeter Don Cherry. For the most part, each succeeding album has found Uttal moving in the pop direction, emphasizing his vocals, in which he alternates emotional ballads in English and adaptations of the chants. Mondo Rama continues the trend as Uttal rummages through the bazaar of global elements to enliven his songs, turning sacred chant into pop. From the opening "Narayama," with its vaguely calypso groove, soul choruses, and Beatles-esque guitars, to the turntable effects of "Sri Krishna," Uttal mixes raga-rock nostalgia with just a touch of ethno-techno ambience. At times, however, he falls short of similar fusions by singers like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Shafqat Ali Khan, and Sheila Chandra. When his spiritual chants get undercut, rather than reinforced, by all the competing elements, his hymns can become trivialized, and the pop sounds can become forced and even clichéd. --John Diliberto