Customer Reviews

A Meeting by the River

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The album truly encompasses the spirit of the confluence, of different worlds, different music, different thoughts, united in harmony, in the cool shade of the banks of the ganges.

Vishwa Mohan Bhatt is as effortlessly beautiful as ever. The flowing quality of his music, with delightful legatos splashes as his solos meet the solid boulders and branches of Ry Cooder's slide guitar. If anything I feel Ry Cooder was too quiet on this album, though, the blues/jazz influence was underplayed a little.

The title piece is one of my favourites, though Isa Lie is equally wonderful.

Magical music from another place and time.

"Isa Lei" is my favourite piece on this cd. It is a FIJIAN farewell song, not Hawaiian like most people tend to think. Being a Fijian myself, I couldn't help but cry when I first heard Ry Cooder and Bhatt's rendition.

Ry Cooder has made a lot of music that's nice to listen to as 'background music.' All of his film soundtracks are enjoyable, but they never strike one beyond that.

In Meeting by the River, Cooder and Bhatt create music that is at once unique and interesting. Bhatt, as always, is outstanding on his own mohan vina, and Cooder gives one of his best performances.

Interestingly, this CD was recorded in one take, in an LA church with outstanding acoustics. This is an impromptu session, but the musical ideas seem very refined.

One of my all-time favorites, and a must-have for any Cooder fan.

This album contains a particular mix of Western and Asian instrumental styles that I had not heard elsewhere. The playing is lyrical, sensitive, and subtle. While there is a strong, moving rhythmic line underneath the melodies, that is very engaging, the album has a meditative feeling. It restores a sense of peace and optimism after I have had a hard day. Since purchasing this album, I purchased another by Ry Cooder, and listened to other albums by V.M. Bhatt. This effort by V.M. Bhatt is more successful than some of his other ones. I am also keeping an eye out for other offerings on this label. This album exemplifies some of the best qualities of World Music. The artists blend different musical cultures very deftly. There is a keen sense that they are conversing with one another. They reassure me that personal and cultural boundaries can be transcended.

if you;re anyway involved with slide guitar playing, then get this one. cos it's one of the most outstanding slide-blues-fusion albums ever made. even if you have never heard indian music, it'll still grown on you, pretty soon. VM Bhatt is a master at his music & his instrument. And Ry Cooder is no less. i love both these guys' playing. But be warned that this is a VM Bhatt album featuring Ry cooder and not the otherway round. So apart from the fact that Ry's playing is always minimalistic, there's pretty little of Ry's sound on this album. But it still manages to keep me riveted for some reason. but his blues licks are so well timed and phrased, there's no words to describe what he does. and the chords he uses to accompany VM Bhatts passages, are so colorful. and for the real hardcore blues fans theres atleast one tune ' ganges delta blues' . man it's just awesome, with all the precussion and stuff. it amazing. i got more than i expected.

They come from worlds miles apart. Yet, within a few hour after their first meeting they are able to come up with such deeply emotional 'impromptu' concert (no rehearsals)?!? Beats the hell out of me!! Full credit must go to Kavi Alexander (of Waterlily Acoustics) for having made the event possible and for having documented the event with such natural accuracy. "Buy it Now" is the only way to go.

God help me, I just keep listening to this. Gentle... Lyrical... Rhythmic... Gives you that feeling you get when exposed to any paradigm of the form: "Yeah, so _this_ is what good music is! I forgot!"

Chillingly good.

I'll leave technical remarks to one more musical if I may. Suffice to say that listening to this album evokes such feelings of harmony, peace and acceptance in me. This is due partly to the beautiful, soulful quality of the music, and partly to an understanding that this is two musicians meeting in a world which seeks to be rid of such arbitrary boundaries as culture, nationality or 'style'. The music that these two create represents, for me, a very powerful unifying force in all things. And if that sounds too esoteric, just give it a listen!

If you love tender, meaningful music, I can't recommend this highly enough.

My favorite is Isa Lei .... packed with emotion....and so beautiful ... had me in tears... The combination of hawaiian melody and indian harmonics is superb - a work of transcendence. 10 stars from this listener...

Friends of mine have suggested that I get one of his CDs since I love guitar and I attempt to play this instrument. I have read reviews of his work in guitar magazines.But only until I bought his and V.M. Bhatt's A Meeting by the River did I realize what I've been missing.Ry and VM do a wonderful job of blending the beautiful sweet sound from bottle neck guitar and the Mohan Vina Indian mystical sound( the Mohan Vina sounds similar to a sitar). Though I hear more of the Mohan Vina, the bottle neck seems to melow ,to the western ear, the pure Indian classical sound.Moreover besides getting those almost unreal, mystical sounds and rythms of the Mohan Vina, an unusual subtle playing of western rythms(like blues))is laced thoughtfully through out the work.This is a masterpiece. For us who love guitar and are moved by the sitar, how can we go wrong with a cut like Ganges Delta Blues which is my favorite. Before I forget, let me thank Ry and VM for including druming from tabla and dumbek players-no Indian sounds are complete without them. My only regret is that I wasn't more patient by buying this through amazon where the is a lot cheaper than my local retailer. Vina