Cello Circles reviews and comments
from around the world

"A big and hearty congratulations on your orchestral and sonic triumph of sound and soul with your gifted as well colleague Kalyan. You are both genius of creating a sonic tapestry that is masterful.

Each of you give us so many voices to listen to and as a cellist I would have to say that Kalyan is a first rate modern jazz and world music cellist… and like you exhibits gifts as a multi instrumentalist…. You are both stunning and profound…congratulations."

David Darling
Grammy Award Winning Composer and Cellist and
Founder of Music For People, USA

about David Darling

“I really enjoyed listening to this music, innovative and very beautiful”

Sebastian Comberti
Cellist of the London Mozart Players and
Artistic Director of Cello Classics, UK

“cello circles is a breath of fresh air.
now and again we find an example of musicians coming together for no other reason than to play for the sheer pleasure of making music..
these two musicians, sambodhi prem and kalyan, are such people.
they are not screaming for your attention.
nor have they created this music seeking recognition.
they simply share their experience of the friendliness they feel for each other, through their instruments.
a unique, relaxing statement.
simple, yet complex, eloquent music.”

Miten & Deva Premal

"Cello Circles is really amazing - such a good music; the more I listen, the more I go deeper. The melodies create vast insights deep in my heart.
I stabilize in that beingness. It's certainly a kind of healing music in the sense that the sound vibrations give me the inner attitude of having gained all knowledge, having understood what is what. A kind of quietude prevails, a wonderful tranquility. Beingness is transcended yet available at the same time. Thank you Kalyan."

Patrick Bernard,
author of Music as Yoga, Discover the Healing Power of Sound

"Cello Circles is best appreciated in the same way one approaches a 20-year single malt, a 5-course meal in a fine Parisian restaurant, or other pleasures which should be savored, not devoured." more

Bill Binkelman
Zone Music Reporter

This review appeared on the Reiki Help Blog:

I was having a conversation on Twitter with someone about my love for the cello when Sambodhi Prem friended me and introduced me to this collaborative album. Entirely composed and performed by Sambodhi and Kalyan, and produced by Sambodhi, Cello Circles also instantly stopped me to listen and opened my heart. Then my mind opened too!

Kalyan is a classically trained cellist, and can also be heard here as a multi instrumentalist on dilubra, recorders, kena flute, Japanese kyotaku flute and fretless bass.

Sambodhi is on acoustic and electric guitars, bass and sound modules.

Seven years in organically coming together, this is richly evocative music. Textured, layered and endless; when a track or the CD finishes there’s a palpable resonance in the room and in the listener.

It’s remarkable that this music is driven by improvisation. When it’s of this quality, mastery is the only word that comes to mind. Living on separate continents, Sambodhi and Kalyan meet in the circle of creativity, and add sheer beauty to the world.

In the literature Sambodhi supplied me, he says, “I love the cello because it’s able to express great depths of sadness and is equally able to reach the heights of joy…” I agree, and cello is just so warm to me and brings a fullness of heart.

I’m partial to the fretless bass too, and the slide trombone. I think I just like instruments that don’t show you where your fingers go. It adds a dimension of actually feeling where the notes are.

The Hindu dilubra is plucked on Leaving Space, and bowed on Spring Water. The Japanese kyotaku is heard on This Moment. Kalyan’s cello is faultless and elevates this instrument. He plays it with a passionate authority, and the sound it yields is full and liquid.

To break down Cello Circles to its individual tracks would be a disservice. This album is a continuous journey, aesthetic and exquisite. There are moments of quiet reflection and surges of celebration.

This music is without genre. There are subtle hints of contemporary jazz, orchestral music, studio sounds, meditative music, tributes to nature sounds, and other soundscapes.

While the compositions are built around the cello, what’s built around it has its own value and voice. Sambodhi shines on his guitars. There’s a delicacy to his fret work that’s unmatched, and the ease of spaciousness that comes from stillness. It’s obvious that he put in countless hours in his studio too, flowering the acoustics this music lives in; a labor of love.

The cover art by Sandipa is also gorgeous, appropriately titled “Harmony in Lily Flat Major.” In fact, Sambodhi has quite a few creatives around him and his website is well worth a visit.

What else can I say about Cello Circles? I can’t stop listening to it! Every time I think I’m ready for another mood, this album provides it. To go out to the edge of the known like this is courageous and true artistry.

Now go buy it! Cello Circles

Pamir Kiciman, USA
Reiki Help Blog

"Australian Sambodhi Prem is a seasoned new age artist, who has produced a string of beautiful, relaxing albums. Like Karunesh, Deva Premal and Miten, Anugama, Prem Joshua and the great nestor Deuter, he has his roots in the fruitful musical melting pot that originated around the mystic Osho. He has also worked with the illustrious Maneesha James, making background music to her guided meditations.

On this album he collaborates with the fine cellist Kalyan. A seasoned musician and a accomplished improviser, the album is really centered around his demanding cellotones in fine interplay with Sambodhi's profound soundscapes. Kalyan also contributes some Eastern instruments like dilrupa and kyotaku flute, providing a nice touch of the exotic, as well as making his presence felt on recorder and some fine fretless bass playing.

This may not be new age at it's most daring and psychedelic. though it certainly have depths and moments of great beauty frozen in time, coming from the heart. Clearly reflecting the musicians' authentic meditative and spiritual experiences and transmitting them effortlessly to the listener.

Ideal for yoga practice,relaxation, massage,meditation."

Bodhi Heeren (Denmark)

"Un petit mot pour vous féliciter vous et vôtre ami pour cet album magnifique que vous avez fait. . Je vous souhaite de ne cesser de créer car vous n'avez pas seulement du talent, vous donnez, (si je peux m'exprimer ainsi) à ceux qui ont la chance d'écouter vôtre musique, une paix intérieure qu'on avait parfois oublié que nous possédions. Mes mots sont trop petits pour expliquer la grandeur de vôtre musique. Mais j'ai le sentiment qu'avec vôtre musique, mes mots peuvent grandir avec moi et surement d'autres qui l'écoute. J'aime tout les genres de musique et je suis un danseur avant toutes choses. En l'écoutant, j'ai toujours envie de fermer les yeux et de danser ou de rêver. C'est évident que si vous pouvez vendre cet album à plus de gens possible sur cette terre, vous aller apporter la paix dans ce monde. Je crois encore que mes mots sont petits pour exprimer ce que je ressent."

Michel et Nancy (Quebec, Cananda)

"I am enjoying your latest CD... j'aime beaucoup, j'avais envie d'une nouvelle musique calme et vibrante... Je vais l'utiliser pour mes traitements énergétiques et massages... Merci!"

Marie Josée (Quebec, Canada)

"Félicitations pour ton nouveau CD, je l'ai écouté plusieurs fois et je l'aime beaucoup. Le choix de pièces est très bon et je m'en sers en massage."

Alice Veillette (Quebec, Canada)

Ein klingendes Cello, das sich im großen weiten Raum ausdehnt -das ist das Bild, das in mir entsteht, wenn ich dieser Musik CD von Kalyan und Sambodhi Prem zuhöre. Ein klangvolles Cello vor dem Hintergrund sanfter, sich ausbreitender Töne. Das singenden Cello, das eine unsichtbare Spur im Wasser hinterlässt. Sanfte Töne aller Art, die den Cello-Gesang umfassen und umarmen. Eine gelungene Kombination!

Samarpan (Germany)