"Umanee consists of five Melbourne musicians who are influenced by a wide range of the world's cultural heritage. While much of their repertoire is European, they also venture into Nordic and Persian melodies and back in time to the music of the Cathars. The group play both familiar instruments: clarinet, percussion, flute, cello and guitar, and some that are less well-known: saz, hurdy-gurdy and kushtar. While both these instruments and the songs are associated with specific traditions and histories, Umanee's music adapts and builds on this from their own experiences and ideas. So, while the music is respectful of tradition, it is also distinctly their own. It can be mystical, but it can also be earthy and danceable. Some tracks on this CD - Dragon's Booze and A Fern on the Lumberjack's Grave - link those ethereal and temporal concerns in one song, while others such as Strigas Hunter and His Dog draw more obliquely on vampiric European folklore or, in Mount Hekla, take us to the gates of hell in Nordic mythology. And the very title of this CD - Fravashi - takes us elsewhere into Persian mythology to experience the 'creative essence of all beings'. Shakira Searle joins Umanee to provide guest vocals on this CD and, through her voice and the engaging playing of this group, you "know that you will hear my tale/through dawns of ruby, dusks of pale/even beyond the far horizon " - Review by Roger Holdsworth, 2007

"Many of our songs may be associated with a specific culture or region, but they are not simply traditional folk music. And while each of our instruments - like hurdy-gurdy, tabla, saz, clarinet or cello - has its own history, the way we use them is enriched by our own experience, taste and imagination. These factors, together with a knowledge of classical and contemporary forms, and a respect for forgotten musical traditions, help to create the shape of our sound - an 'earthy' fusion: from very energetic dance forms to mystical 'landscapes'..." - Peter Nowotnik, Umanee.