Allain Bougrain Dubourg & Arno Elias
Buddha-Bar Nature

In the heart of Paris in the second half of the '90s of the 20th century, an innovative venue was born, characterized by ethnic and oriental settings, cuisines, and music: the Buddha Bar. For the past ten years, the best Parisian DJs have been mixing oriental music while customers enjoy the refined dishes crafted by creative chefs.

After the fame and success achieved by the venue, the creators of Buddha Bar decided to produce a series of compilations with the collaboration of DJs Claude Challe, Ravin, and David Visan, containing collections of tracks with sounds that relax and promote meditation, although there are more engaging rhythms that more deeply involve the listener. The eighth collection of Buddha Bar does not follow the sequential numbering that characterized the previous works: instead, the title is "Buddha Bar Nature."

The call to nature is evident in the DVD included in the package: in fact, the authors have selected a series of images depicting natural landscapes that fit perfectly with the oriental, Arabic, and Spanish nature music composing the 12 tracks of the album. Even by simply listening to the CD, which of course is without images, the musical atmosphere is not lost because music has a reason to exist even on its own. The most interesting tracks in my opinion are "El corazon", a piece of strong pathetic intensity, "Deep Believe", a track with strong Arabic influences, and "Guide Me", a blend of ethnic sounds.

This album, truly of exquisite craftsmanship, is a musical gem with, in my opinion, a strong documentary value that allows us, who unfortunately are unfamiliar with these musical genres, to broaden our horizons in the immense panorama of music.