The guitar, especially one that is played with the neck of a broken bottle or a silver tube called a slide, is one of those sounds that seems to be most at home in the Mississippi Delta. Its association and contribution to the classic delta blues sound is fundamental. It is the sound of Muddy Waters, “Mississippi” Fred McDowell, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bonnie Raitt and countless other blues pilgrims across the ages.
In 1993, one of America’s (nay, the world’s) greatest living musicians, guitarist and musical adventurer Ry Cooder, hooked up with a still-unknown Rajasthani guitar maestro Vishwa Mohan Bhatt to give the blues a distinctly Indian interpretation. Bhatt, of course, is now a global star. His mohan veena, a personalised adaptation of the slide guitar, has won fans across the globe.
Ganges Delta Blues with Ry Cooder
This collaboration with Cooder called evocatively Ganges Delta Blues started Bhatt sahib’s amazing international yatra when it was released in 1993.
Tabula Rasa with Bela Fleck
After his initial successful collaboration with Cooder (their album won a Grammy in 1994), Bhatt became to go-to-guy for further cross-continental jugalbandis. He collaborated with Taj Mahal, another giant of contemporary American blues, Chinese violinist Jie-Bing Chen and the Badshah of banjo, Bela Fleck, who has redefined the boundaries and possibilities of that most American (and traditional) of instruments.
Mists (Saltanah) with Simon Shaheen
Mists, a duet with Palestinian oud/violin player, Simon Shaheen is another testament to VMB’s artistic sense of adventure. It is also a testament to the universality of the musical language and reiterates that it is not tongues or traditions that create impassable canyons, but mind games alone. In recent years South Asian musicians have turned to Iran and the Middle Eastern musical heritage to find new ways to express that inner universal truth, and this track is a brilliant example of just how seamlessly the two streams can come together.
Desert Winds with Jerry Douglas
Jerry Douglas has developed one of the most distinctive guitar sounds in contemporary roots music. His work with Alison Krauss and Union Station is perhaps his best known but he’s been a prolific producer of others as well as collaborator and accompanist. Like Bhatt, he plays his resonator guitar on his lap, face up. In 1996, riding on the wake of Cooder and Bhatt’s stunning album, Douglas joined Bhatt to make the wonderfully titled Bourbon and Rosewater album from which this Indo-Mississippi blues number is lifted.
Meeting By the River
We end up with a stunning rendition of Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt’s classic composition Meeting By the River recorded live in Portugal. His introductory comments sum up this great Indian’s philosophy very neatly as well.
Listen to these songs as a single playlist on our YouTube channel.
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In 1993, one of America’s (nay, the world’s) greatest living musicians, guitarist and musical adventurer Ry Cooder, hooked up with a still-unknown Rajasthani guitar maestro Vishwa Mohan Bhatt to give the blues a distinctly Indian interpretation. Bhatt, of course, is now a global star. His mohan veena, a personalised adaptation of the slide guitar, has won fans across the globe.
Ganges Delta Blues with Ry Cooder
This collaboration with Cooder called evocatively Ganges Delta Blues started Bhatt sahib’s amazing international yatra when it was released in 1993.
Tabula Rasa with Bela Fleck
After his initial successful collaboration with Cooder (their album won a Grammy in 1994), Bhatt became to go-to-guy for further cross-continental jugalbandis. He collaborated with Taj Mahal, another giant of contemporary American blues, Chinese violinist Jie-Bing Chen and the Badshah of banjo, Bela Fleck, who has redefined the boundaries and possibilities of that most American (and traditional) of instruments.
Mists (Saltanah) with Simon Shaheen
Mists, a duet with Palestinian oud/violin player, Simon Shaheen is another testament to VMB’s artistic sense of adventure. It is also a testament to the universality of the musical language and reiterates that it is not tongues or traditions that create impassable canyons, but mind games alone. In recent years South Asian musicians have turned to Iran and the Middle Eastern musical heritage to find new ways to express that inner universal truth, and this track is a brilliant example of just how seamlessly the two streams can come together.
Desert Winds with Jerry Douglas
Jerry Douglas has developed one of the most distinctive guitar sounds in contemporary roots music. His work with Alison Krauss and Union Station is perhaps his best known but he’s been a prolific producer of others as well as collaborator and accompanist. Like Bhatt, he plays his resonator guitar on his lap, face up. In 1996, riding on the wake of Cooder and Bhatt’s stunning album, Douglas joined Bhatt to make the wonderfully titled Bourbon and Rosewater album from which this Indo-Mississippi blues number is lifted.
Meeting By the River
We end up with a stunning rendition of Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt’s classic composition Meeting By the River recorded live in Portugal. His introductory comments sum up this great Indian’s philosophy very neatly as well.
Listen to these songs as a single playlist on our YouTube channel.
