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| I first heard of Debashish Bhattacharya from guitar master Nels Cline, who raved about this album on the “What I’ve Been Listening to Lately” section of his website. Cline gushed, “What a find this man is! He rocks!! Besides his amazing phrasing and melodic invention (common among scary Indian classical players...), he adds some chording and fingerstyle to his improvisations with great effectiveness.” Trusting Nels’ taste, I bought it cold, figuring that with a name like Hindustani Slide Guitar, it had to be good. Upon hearing the first few ultra-mellow minutes of the opening Raga Saraswati, I experienced a brief feeling of buyers’ remorse. In a snap judgment I thought, this doesn’t rock, this sounds like the spacey Indian mood music they play at the Bodhi Tree (an irritatingly Hollywood New Age megastore that sells such indispensable accessories as the chakra pillow, “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success” video, and of course, the Tao-Sex Decoder). I lit some Nag Champa incense, picked up a magazine, and decided to accept the album as pleasantly exotic background music. About 20 minutes into the lengthy, three-part Raga Saraswati (named after the Indian goddess of music and learning), my magazine (and jaw) hit the floor, as fiery licks from the Jimi Hendrix of Indian guitar swirled hypnotically out of my speakers to mingle with the incense. Like a mystic reaching for a holy book, I opened the CD booklet and read: “Debashish says that when he is playing this raga he visualizes the goddess, golden in color, riding gracefully on her customary vehicle, the swan.” As the kaleidoscopic waves of sounds washed over me, I felt strangely like Peter Sellers in the 1967 film, “The Party.” With meditative flights of mind-boggling virtuosity, Debashish and his self-designed 22-stringed acoustic instrument have boldly reshaped a vibrant and distinctly Indian guitar form, the Hindustani slide. Since the age of four, this accomplished musician and singer has studied intensively with some of India's greatest musical gurus, learning to master not only the slide guitar, but also the tabla, sitar as well as several Indian classical vocal styles. Because of his broad musical training, Debashish is able to draw upon a wide array of sounds, techniques and impulses in his playing. As he explains, “I am not doing anything new right now—I can tell you—because it is already in the history of Indian classical music. But the synthesis of it is what is new…I have tried to synthesize all the possible [styles of] music whish is already in our tradition.” Debashish plays his instrument like no other, sitting cross legged, guitar held on his lap, sliding a small steel bar across the stings with one hand while metal finger and a tortoise shell thumb picks pluck furiously away on the other. Combining this inimitable technique with the deepest spiritual feeling, Debashish’s guitar speaks with all the expressive nuance and melodic range of the human voice. While few outside his native land have ever heard of him, Debashish ranks among the greatest slide guitarists in the world. Regarded as a national treasure, he was awarded the President of India award at the age of 21. His incredible talents even reached the ears of guitarist John McLaughlin, who invited Debashish to join him in the studio and on tour with his acclaimed Indo-jazz band, Shakti. Like McLaughlin’s more meaningful work, Hindustani Slide Guitar is all about feeling, with masterful technique eclipsed by sheer emotion. Richly satisfying and heavy with mood, it showcases one of India’s most radiant musical voices at the peak of his powers, making it background music for the gods and goddesses. —John Ballon (email) May 13, 2002
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