Strings for Peace

This is a pretty unusual jugalbandi, as they call it when two Indian soloists duet together. I don’t think there have been many sarod and guitar duos and this is further complicated because it’s three sarod players, although only one at a time! Amjad Ali Khan is sarod royalty from many generations of players and his two sons, Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash, are continuing the tradition. Sharon Isbin is a Grammy winning American guitarist well able to dialogue with these illustrious musicians to produce something new.

The novelty is most noticeable in ‘Love Avalanche’, the second of the four tracks on the album, each composed by Amjad Ali Khan in a different raga. In this case it’s Ayaan on sarod in ‘Raga Mishra Bhairav’, which adds a Gypsy feel with its augmented intervals and gives Isbin the opportunity to throw in some chords, which create the most innovative sounds on the record. The other three tracks follow the structure of Indian music more conventionally, although the guitar and sarod, both plucked, are always distinctive. In the opening ‘By the Moon’ in the largely pentatonic ‘Raga Behag’, the guitar and sarod alternate phrases, first short and then longer. The guitar is clear and singing, while the sarod has a darker sound thanks to the aura of its sympathetic strings. The third track ‘Romancing Earth’, with Amjad himself on sarod, is gloriously stately and the closing ‘Sacred Evening’ in ‘Raga Yaman’, again with Ayaan, has a warm evening sound.

This is a groundbreaking record, but probably would have been better with one sarod player rather than three. Either Amjad and Isbin or the guitarist with one of the sons. It’s good, but seems too much of a committee.