Ravi Shankar has been described as one of the greatest musicians on the planet. This record, one of his classic World Pacific albums, clearly lends credence to that statement. But the thing that makes this record interesting is the fact that it contains a unique fusion of Shankar and his group performing with respected jazz flutist Paul Horn. It's an extremely gratifying combination, and Horn plays with a true jazzman's restraint on the five short selections that open the record. The second half is devoted to one long (20 minute) traditional raga, "Raga Multani," in which Shankar's awesome ability and stamina is matched only by that of his ensemble, especially Alla Rakha on tabla. Essential for any fan of Shankar or Indian music. Awesome.

Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar was an exponent of Dagar vani Dhrupad of Indian classical music. He represented the 19th generation of Dagar Tradition. Ustad Rahim Fahimuddin Khan Dagar was known not only for the power and spontaneity of his alaap, but also for his rich repertoire of compositions, some of which are believed to date back to the 12th and 13th centuries. It is the quality of music which has taken him to many countries like the United States, France, Germany and Italy for performances before select audiences. His recordings have been released in Switzerland, Germany and Italy.

'Om Suite Ohm' is the first CD from Harry to feature his 'Bollywood style' electric slide techniques. Harry is joined by a fantastic group of musicians playing on Indian, African and western instruments. Produced by Harry Manx, Hans Christian (Daniel Lanois, Robbie Robertson) and Wynn Gogo,l recording began in Wisconsin in 2011. From there Harry went to Victoria, Australia to record then back to Vancouver Island Canada to finish the record. Guest musicians include Australian Didjeridoo player Ganga Giri (Peter Gabriel); African inspired musician Yeshe on co-writes, N'goni and vocals and Hans Christian on co-writes, bass, strings, percussion, nickelharp, sarangim cello and sitara. Harry sings and plays electric and acoustic slide, national steel, Mohan Veena, banjo and guitar. There are two covers on the record, the traditional "Reuben's Train" and the John Coltrane penned "Love Supreme" with additional lyrics by Harry. 'Om Suite Ohm' is Harry's 9th solo record.

Awesome reissue! The world famous Impulse jazz catalogue is so cavernous you truly need a music-minded flashlight to uncover its deepest and darkest secrets. Thankfully Light In The Attic has recently acquired such luminescent technology and the first discovery is Hungarian guitarist GABOR SZABO’s 1967 Indo-fusion landmark, Jazz Raga. combines Szabo's distinctive 6-string touch & open-minded ideas. It brings together jazz, pop-rock & his native European influence, along with hypnotic sitar, stoned bass vibrations, occasional psychedelic vocals & the laidback. Totally essential!

In a live setting at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto, Hary is joined by a dazzling array of musicians who perfectly complement his style, allowing the music to successfully venture all over the world map. Harry Manx built a career putting a unique spin on the blues, serving up his distinctive and hypnotic brew of Eastern and Western sounds to audiences worldwide. Combining the sensuality of traditional blues with transcendent Eastern sounds has become his trademark. It’s in a live setting that this bridge between “heavenly” India and “earthy” American blues is most effectively built. As Harry says, “My goal has always been to draw the audience as deep as possible into the music.”

'Om Suite Ohm' is the first CD from Harry to feature his 'Bollywood style' electric slide techniques. Harry is joined by a fantastic group of musicians playing on Indian, African and western instruments. Produced by Harry Manx, Hans Christian (Daniel Lanois, Robbie Robertson) and Wynn Gogo,l recording began in Wisconsin in 2011. From there Harry went to Victoria, Australia to record then back to Vancouver Island Canada to finish the record. Guest musicians include Australian Didjeridoo player Ganga Giri (Peter Gabriel); African inspired musician Yeshe on co-writes, N'goni and vocals and Hans Christian on co-writes, bass, strings, percussion, nickelharp, sarangim cello and sitara. Harry sings and plays electric and acoustic slide, national steel, Mohan Veena, banjo and guitar. There are two covers on the record, the traditional "Reuben's Train" and the John Coltrane penned "Love Supreme" with additional lyrics by Harry. 'Om Suite Ohm' is Harry's 9th solo record.

With each album Manx releases, his deep Indo-Canadian roots music becomes more defined and further accomplished. The title West Eats Meet is a play on Ravi Shankar's West Eats Meat, a nod both to an Indian musical giant and Manx's own western usage of Indian instruments, folk melodies and styles. Manx strays a bit from his standard blues idiom with this album and introduces gospel flavours with the help of backing singers Emily Braden and Australian trio the Heavenly Lights. The latter add depth and a churchy soul to The Great Unknown and, along with Manx's banjo, Sitting on Top of the World becomes a down from the mountain call to worship out of an as yet undiscovered Baptist/Hindu hymnal. One of two covers on the album, Sonny Boy Williamson's Help Me features an under pad of delicate drones and a slinky slide solo injecting a little Rajasthan into this Chicago standard…

Slide guitarist Harry Manx was born in the U.K., raised in Canada, and lived and worked in Europe and Japan before spending five years studying Indian slide guitar under the great Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. This is his first solo album, and as one might expect, it's a fascinating hodgepodge of differing musical traditions. Happily, Dog My Cat has none of the hippie-dippy multicultural piety that afflicts so many East-meets-West musical experiments – Manx's approach to the blues is gritty and straightforward, his original songs are tight and tuneful, and when he pauses to play a raga (as he does twice on this album), he manages to imbue the Indian musical form with a soulful depth that somehow has nothing and everything to do with the blues. Highlights are hard to identify on this album because its quality is so consistently high, but his rendition of the Muddy Waters standard "Can't Be Satisfied" is especially fine, as are his own "Love Ain't No Game" and the traditional "Reuben's Train."

To call Harry Manx a wizard of slide guitar is perfectly true, but not the whole story. Add banjo, harmonica, and the Indian veena to that, and you're approaching the real story. On Wise and Otherwise he demonstrates the full range of his talents, which are firmly based in the blues, but extend far beyond – all the way to Indian music, with his own "Raga Nat Bhariav," a short, but beautiful journey for the veena. As a writer he continues to improve by leaps and bounds, making songs like "Roses Given" fit well with his version of "Death Have Mercy" or his covers of "Crazy Love" and "Foxy Lady" (where his acoustic playing has all the intensity of an electric Hendrix).

Five years after recording the amazing Karuna Supreme, John Handy and Ali Akbar Khan reconvened for a follow-up. This time out, Shyam Kane performs on tabla in place of Zakir Hussain, and Carnatic violinist L. Subramaniam is added as a soloist. Subramaniam turns in some fine playing, and Shyam Kane does a decent job in support on the tablas, but he lacks the excitement and attentive reactions that Zakir Hussain supplied…

Harry Manx’s life journey has taken him all over the map, both musically and literally. His ninth album, “Bread and Buddha”, is a musical meditation on the ephemeral nature of the human experience and is a culmination of thirty-five years of world exploration. Harry covers all four compass points of the world music map on this outing, from the rolling guitar groove on “Love is the Fire” and “Walking Ghost Blues”; he revisits traditional blues territory for the covers “Moon Goin’ Down” and “Long Black Veil” and blends in his trademark sensual raga flavours with “True to Yourself” and the instrumental “The Unspoken Quest”.

Ravi Shankar - Concert For Peace, Live At Royal Albert Hall, London (1993) {2CD Set, Moment Records MRCD1013 rel 1995}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 562 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 271 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 85 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1995 Moment Records USA | MRCD 1013
Indian Classical / Indian Raga / Meditative / Sitar / Sarod / Tabla / World Music

This is a live recording of a concert given by Ravi Shankar in 1993 and released to commemorate his 75th birthday a year and a half later. He is accompanied on tabla by virtuoso Zakir Hussain and on sarod by his own student (and virtuoso in his own right), Partha Sarathy. He begins the evening with his own interpretation of a rare raga, that of jait. He chose the version played here after researching a few possible forms of the raga that have appeared over the centuries (families, essentially, of ragas). After exploring the grounds of jait thoroughly, he moves on to kirwani, a raga adapted by Shankar from the Carnatic system. He draws out a mood of romanticism, eroticism, and happiness mainly, his preferred method of dealing with some of the madhur ragas.

Chora(s)san Time-Court Mirage - Blues Alif Lam Mim (2021) {Blank Forms Editions}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44.1kHz - Digital Download -> 477 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 191 Mb | Cover | 5% repair rar
© 2021 Important Records / Blank Forms Editions
Experimental / Modern Classical / Raga / Electronic / Avant-Garde

Fathoms deep, kaleidoscopic devotional drone that channels Catherine Christer Hennix's passion for Arabic poetry and her studies alongside Hindustani raga master Pandit Pran Nath. Originally released in 2016, "Blues Alif Lam Mim" is the recording of a 2014 performance of Swedish composer Catherine Christer Hennix's just-intonation ensemble, featuring brass, electronics and voices.

As is usually the case with Shankar, the music is quite accessible to Western ears. The jor section of the piece "Dhun" is quite tuneful, for example. And the brevity of the raags (five, ten, 16, and 21 minutes) really helps. The five-minute track is a stirring tabla solo by Alla Rakha with minimal accompaniment by Shankar. Highly recommended for Indian music beginners.