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Reviews

Jee & Bee — Shankari
(Bandcamp Castle Records (FR), 2024, CD / DL)

Jee & Bee — Fifth Element
(Bandcamp Castle Records (FR), 2025, CD / DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2025-07-20

Shankari Cover artFifth Element Cover art

Jee is sitarist Joyeeta Sanyal, Bee is guitarist Bernard Margarit, and together they form the core of this French duo with guests providing some additional instrumentation and vocals.   So far they have produced a full album Shankari (so named for Joyeeta’s mother) and more recently the five-song EP Fifth Element, each with a slightly different lineup of guests. Fred Martin does keyboard programming, recording and mixing on one track of the album and all of the EP, while Yves St. Germain does keyboard programming and mixing for the remainder of the album; Tania Margarit (Bernard’s daughter) sings on the EP and plays keyboards and sings on the album, while Leo Margarit plays drums on some of the tracks on the album. Yeah, it’s all pretty confusing, I agree. Before I say anything else, it should be noted that Joyeeta and Bernard are both outstanding players, and Tania’s vocals certainly rise to the level of their music. The possibilities given the caliber of these players are pretty much endless, and at times the brilliance is clearly in evidence, but on almost every track there is a steady programmed 4/4 dance beat of drums and bass, which for me is a big disappointment — a piece will start with a collaboration of some beautiful sitar and guitar elements only to re ruined by the thump-thump-thump of a steady programmed beat, reminding me a bit of the Ashwin Batish Sitar Power albums that came out in the late 80s. That being said, there are some definite high points, especially on the EP: “Ganesha Mantra” has some beautiful harmonized vocals and a brilliant dual solo of sitar and electric guitar, while “Song for Mom” has a gorgeous sitar and percussion intro before the programmed beats kick in, and even at that the piece remains interesting, with splendid sitar and guitar solos amid some wonderful vocals, as on the closing title track as well. While both of these stop far short of their full potential, there are still plenty of enjoyable moments. My only suggestion for future endeavors would be to ditch the programming and get some real players to accompany them. Listen to the EP at the link below.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Jee & Bee

More info
http://jeebee.bandcamp.com/album/fifth-element

 

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