专辑简介:
"This work is dedicated to Bill Monroe & Baba Allaudin Khan." There you have it in a nutshell: Monroe the figurative father of bluegrass & Khan the classical Indian music master, teacher of Ravi Shankar & literal father of Ali Akbar Khan, 2 of the most famous Indian musicians. Dobro wizard Jerry Douglas, a veteran of the "newgrass" or "new acoustic music" crowd that includes B閘a Fleck & Tony Rice, meets Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, the Indian master of the mohan vina, his modification of the lap steel guitar, with more than supplementary assistance by bassist Edgar Meyer on 3 songs. Douglas plays your standard issue dobro lap steel, while Bhatt's mohan vina has many added strings which resonate sympathetically with the melody played on the main strings. Douglas & Meyer have worked & recorded together many times (they have a great trio with guitarist Russ Barenberg) & Bhatt recorded the Grammy-winning A Meeting by the River with Ry Cooder, also on Water Lily.
In many respects, I enjoy this album even more than the fine Cooder/Bhatt outing. The playing by all 3 musicians is wonderful, & Bhatt & Douglas sound like they have been working together for years. Douglas has an incisive sound which meshes well with Bhatt's clean musical lines, & he seems to have adapted his playing substantially to the Indian style. The album is evenly balanced between Kentucky & Delhi. Most of the tunes have folk/bluegrass melodies & structure, while the playing by both guitarists features the microtonal note-bending & rapid phrases of Indian music. The result is wholly enjoyable.
The 3 songs written by & featuring Edgar Meyer are, for me, the highlights of the album. "Bourbon & Rosewater" kicks the proceedings off with a rush. Meyer's bass sets up a rollicking ostinato train rhythm with an irresistible feel of fast triplets. Some dazzling fretwork by both Bhatt & Douglas keep things a-hummin'. Meyer also contributes "Many Miles from Home," which starts with a subterranean bowed bass line supporting Bhatt's snaky improvisation before chugging down to a frisky down-home duet between Douglas & Bhatt, & "Resurrection," a shadowy mood piece like a slow late night tango.
Bhatt wrote the aptly named "Gypsies from Rajasthan," a duet with Douglas which explores the connection between Indian music & gypsy dances. Meyer returns on Bhatt's "Bent Notes of the Bauls," a light, upbeat, almost classic sounding piece. (The Bauls are Bengali mystics whose songs describe the spiritual world with very physical metaphors.) "Desert Winds" is a mesmerizing solo improvisation by Bhatt on an Indian folk tune.
Douglas contributed "Overtones & Stained Glass," a slow country number that breaks into quick parallel runs on the 2 guitars that recalls John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra. He also has a solo number, "Mississippi Mud," to close the album with a slow bluesy reverie. With 1 exception, the recording is a knockout, as usual for Water Lily. The recording was made on analogue tube equipment, with no compression, equalization, limiting or noise reduction. The care taken in the recording definitely shows, or rather sounds, in the way it captures both the percussive attack of the guitars as well as the subtle ambience of the recording space. On the duets & trios, Bhatt is on the left, Douglas on the right, & Meyer's bass is just a little to the right of centre. The 1 small blemish is the slightly too loud, too close recording of Douglas' solo guitar on the last track.
~Glenn Brooks 曲目列表:
1. Bourbon & Rosewater 4:10
2. Gypsies From Rajasthan 3:25
3. Overtones & Stained Glass 5:22
4. Bent Notes Of The Bauls 3:53
5. Many Miles From Home 4:33
6. Resurrection 7:34
7. Desert Winds 8:38
8. Mississippi Mud 4:57 试听: