Fire Flower. Ananda Project’s highly-anticipated follow up to Morning Light has finally blossomed. Brainchild of Atlanta-based genius producer, Chris Brann, this third full-length artist album on Nite Grooves, solidifies his standing at the forefront of modern dance music production. Fire Flower contains 14 original works and blends such styles as Future Jazz, Neo-Soul, Deep House, Ambient, R&B, Broken Beat, Salsa, & Funk into a cohesive listening excursion setting sail in a new rhythmic era. Having issued albums on Nite Grooves since 2000, Brann wanted to experiment more with pure rhythm & its varied forms of energy and its moody effect on the dance floor, doing so with superb quality & genuine class. Ananda Project supports a revolving cast of outstanding vocalists with mainstays Terrance Downs & Heather Johnson having top-billing. Terrance’s stellar vocals grace the beautifully produced “Space & Time”, “Into The Sunrise”, “Fireworks”, & the funk-jazzy forget me not, “Where the Music Takes You”. We hear the delicate voice of Heather Johnson on the deeply smooth, simple-bassed & equally as percussive, “Let Love Fly”. Other singers who in the past contributed to Ananda’s veritable musical bounty have included Lydia Rhodes, Naked Music’s Gaelle Addison, Kudu’s Sylvia Gordon & Marta Gazman. This time the dynamic group welcomes Chicago stage actress, keyboardist & songstress Denise White, whose extraordinary vocal range and musical skills grace 3 songs including the frenetically jazzy “Free Me”, “Stay As You Are” (who, on this song, critics have compared her voice to Karen Carpenter), and the infectiously hook-y “Stalk You”, destined to be one of the stand-out cuts off the album. There are also 2 instrumentals of pure groove. Brann brings a healthy mixture of new styles, new artists, and fusions thereof culminating into what will surely become Ananda Project’s most celebrated artist albums to date.