john_kidder
Senior Member
Went to a gig last night. Friend Doug Cox on slide guitar (weissenborn all-aluminum hollow neck and a beautiful koa-bodied dobro), playing with two musicians from India: Ramkumar Masra, an astonishing tabla player; and Salil Bhatt doing unbelievable things on an instrument he'd designed himself called a "Satvik Veena", with 7 plucked strings and 19 resonant strings underneath. He played this as a slide guitar as well, with metal thumb and fingerpicks.
The concert was called "Slide to Freedom". They played some Delta-blues style tunes - Doug would lead with a straightforward intro and verse, and then pass it to Salil who would develop a full-blown raga along the theme, with Ramkumar doing the magic that great tabla players do with their two simple little drums. They wove in some ragas, when Salil would lead and Doug would bring his guitars in as counterpoint. Salil tuned that monster machine before each tune, while commenting on the tunings and their emotional effect and place in the Indian system. Remember George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh and how the audience applauded Ravi Shankar when he was tuning his sitar? Like that - wondrous to hear it come together. An amazing evening.
Here's a recent review from Downbeat:
I bring this to the attention of other Canadians - these three have just started a cross-country tour:
If you're in any of these areas, don't miss this. This is how the music of the world is born, from intuitive and sympathetic collaborations among great musicians.
The concert was called "Slide to Freedom". They played some Delta-blues style tunes - Doug would lead with a straightforward intro and verse, and then pass it to Salil who would develop a full-blown raga along the theme, with Ramkumar doing the magic that great tabla players do with their two simple little drums. They wove in some ragas, when Salil would lead and Doug would bring his guitars in as counterpoint. Salil tuned that monster machine before each tune, while commenting on the tunings and their emotional effect and place in the Indian system. Remember George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh and how the audience applauded Ravi Shankar when he was tuning his sitar? Like that - wondrous to hear it come together. An amazing evening.
Here's a recent review from Downbeat:
- "When roots guitarist Cox sat on the floor mats of a studio barn in British Columbia to perform with three Indian classical musicians - Salil Bhatt, on satvik veena (a 20-string instrument, played with a metal bar); Salil's father, V.M. Mohan, master of the 19-string mohan veena (on two songs); and tabla player Ramkumar Mishra - he engaged in an act of liberation from the conventions of the blues. The Canadian lost himself in the details and dvelopments of his lines and in the overlaps and intersections with the the others' virtuosic patterns. Five non-categorizable instrumentals, each inventive and thrilling, make the Cox blues "Beware of the Man" and curry-spiced treatments of two old country blues numbers (Cox sings these three) sound like pleasant nothings." Frank John Hadley - Downbeat Magazine
I bring this to the attention of other Canadians - these three have just started a cross-country tour:
- Friday, April 11th Regina SK
Saturday, April 12th Ottawa
Sunday, April 13th, Octave Theatre in Kingston
Monday, April 14th, Hughs Room, Small World Concert - Toronto
Tuesday, April 15th, Private Concert in Perth
Wednesday, April 16th, Winnipeg West End Cultural CTR
Thursday, April 17th, Epcor Centre in Calgary
Double bill with Bill Bourne and Eivor
Friday, April 18th, Whitehorse The Old Fire Hall
Sunday, April 20th, 2008 Muttart Hall at Alberta College Edmonton
If you're in any of these areas, don't miss this. This is how the music of the world is born, from intuitive and sympathetic collaborations among great musicians.