“Shiva in flagrante” by Jacques Bailhe

What do you get when you mix years of touring on bass with the “Folk-Baroque-Rock” band Big Lost, hundreds of soundtracks for award-winning short films and commercials, a drum solo behind a fire-breathing stripper in a Bangkok roller rink, sitar lessons in India and Nepal, and the meditative chanting of a Buddhist monk?

You get “Shiva in Flagrante” a bold, genre-defying instrumental album from multi-instrumentalist and sonic storyteller Jacques Bailhé. Named after the Hindu god Shiva, caught in the flames of passion, the album is a striking fusion of jazz, global textures, and mythic narrative.

With a style Bailhé dubs “reckless abandon,” the album explores the divine romance between Shiva and Parvati, culminating in the birth of their child in the epic finale, “The Facts of Creation.” Bailhé declares, “That story had to be told in jazz.”

Through fiery improvisations, intricate harmonies, and rhythmic firepower, Shiva in Flagrante offers a rich listening experience that’s as wild as it is deeply composed. With a background steeped in performance, spiritual practice, and cinematic scoring, Bailhé channels every chapter of his journey into this dazzling work of narrative music.

Now streaming on all major platforms, Shiva in Flagrante introduces Bailhé as a distinctive new voice in instrumental music, with a forthcoming release this fall that will again blend music and dance into transcendent expression.