Label: Pandora (7) – JPL-1078
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: Japan
Released: 1980
Genre: Folk, World, & Country
Style: Indian Classical
Earth shattering display of traditional Indian music on this scarcely spotted, privately released collaborative LP from Japanese sitarist Tadahiro Wakabayashi and Indian Tabla player Keshava Rao Nayak recorded in Kichijoji, Tokyo 1980. As expected from the unrivalled attention to detail from the Japanese, the recording is CRYSTAL clear - although that's the not only selling point.. I'm struggling thru inexperience to fully extrapolate as to why THIS one stands out amongst the vast ocean of live Hindustani recordings of this ilk. The A-side long-form piece Raga Ahir-Bhairav is a dark, brooding passage of interwoven overtonal fabric and bright tabla hits, with the pair seeming to telepathically allow each other the space to swell in intensity and retreat to more tranquil pastures. Almost twenty four minutes of this complex interplay. Other-side - the 'Tabla Solo' is exactly that - a rapid fire, onslaught of frightening dexterity.. the kind reserved only for the people on Street Fighter who know all the special moves, set amidst shimmering, spine-chilling tampura flourishes whilst the rendition of the classically melancholic 'Raga Bhupali' is as wistful and beautiful as ever. (NM/NM).
