Customer Reviews

Tabula Rasa

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I began my journey with V.M. Bhatt with the Ry Cooder disc Meeting by the River. A VERY nice disc. However, to most musicians it will be immediatly clear that Bhatt and Cooder really did record this disc on one evening. They are NOT tight. Beautiful yes... tight no. This disc, on the other hand, is finely crafted. These musicians worked together, finely honed, and perfected together. I am most impressed by the cuts with the Erhu, an instrument I found somewhat irritating in the past. Here it sings. As I type this I am listening to a tune written by Fleck, the banjo player, called Jade Princess. It alone is worth the price of the disc twice over. I can't get anymore enthusiastic about a disc. Wonderful.

Waterlily Acoustic's custom recording gear (made by Esoteric Audio Research) shines on this elegant, rich recording of Fleck and his fellow musicians made in an old Santa Barbara church. The in-depth liner notes are a comprehensive companion to the music and the history surrounding it. They stuck to the basics for this one - single stereo pair of mics, pure 2-track analog w/no adulteration. It sparkles! The music is a joy to listen to, the various flavours of each musician's style mixed together to make for a colourful, melodic album. Definately a rare colaboration that shouldn't be missed!!

Bela Fleck has successfully (even prior to this recording) taken the banjo out of its bluegrass/hillbilly context and inserted it where it seemingly should not be welcome: jazz, classical. For this performance he has taken the "twang" out of the sound of the banjo and replaced it with a rich tonal quality that can only be described as the pure, untainted sound of the instrument itself. The Master of the Banjo plays with music masters of the far east and together they have created one of my favorite cd's. Tabula Rasa is stunningly beautiful.

This cd here represents what the word miracle defines,three main musicians of all diffrent genres,the unusual sounds combine to create a melodic paradise that engages in eternal harmony and groovy rhythms,kept by percussionist Srinivas and Violin queen sangeetha shankar.Ronu does a great work too on the flute,but as we know the core roots of this albums is fleck and bhatt with cheing providing the finishing touch!

It's no rare event these days when great musicians from opposite sides of the planet come together in a musical merging project. The "West Meets East" concept is not new; it's been going on since Debussy heard Balinese gamelan, since Bartok recorded Morrocan "Chleuh", since Reich studied drumming in Africa. And in the modern age of studio recordings, it is certainly not a new phenomenon -- just ask the Beatles, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, John MacLaughlin, AfroCelt Sound System, Don Cherry, and even Ry Cooder.

This record sits easily with the aforementioned as a monumental cross-cultural musical merging. It is one of the finest available. I believe it even surpasses the legendary "Meeting By the River" of V.M. Bhatt and Ry Cooder.

In this record, Bhatt teams up with legendary Bluegrass banjo player Bela Fleck and erh-hu artist Jie-Bing Chen. Just as important, though in the background, are Ronu Majumdar on bansuri, Poovalur Srinivasan on mridangam, and Sangeeta Shankar on violin.

What sets this record apart from others is that it perfectly blends the various styles and instruments brought to the table without sacrificing the ethnicity and authenticity of any. And this I believe is the crucial asset in effect here -- because how often do these cross-cultural mergings turn into really a "Western" record with some exotic sounds? Usually, one party takes a backseat role to the rest.

Not so here. Each player adds their own unique element to the mix, and nothing is sacrificed. The end result is a truly unclassifiable genre of music of the utmost quality. No player is eschewing any part of their musical heritage to "fit" into the scope of the project: if you could fade out everything except Bhatt's mohan vina, you would be hearing excellent traditional-sounding Indian folk music. Tweak the faders to isolate Fleck, and you would hear bluegrass music with all its chromaticism, inflections, etc. Pick out Jie-Bing Chen's erh-hu, and you will most likely hear pentatonic scales straight out of the Far East. And yet, the end result is a perfectly-balanced amalgamation of the disparate styles that somehow sounds like these instruments have played in the same settings for years.

The best track on this record is "Earl in Shanghai," which illustrates this perfectly. When Chen begins the tune alone, the pentatonic melody sounds distinctively Asian. Then, Fleck enters, adding a Western chromaticism to the mix. When the track takes off with the added percussion, we are left with a real bluegrass foundation, with the same pentatonic melody in the top (with one added passing tone), all over a solidly Indian mridangam beat cycle. The overall result is of the utmost quality.

That being said, I believe this record surpasses even the legendary collaboration between Bhatt and Ry Cooder. This album is decisively more composed and rehearsed than the "Meeting By the River." While the Cooder/Bhatt meeting is undoubtedly great, there are several giveaway moments in the recording that show how quickly it was thrown together. It's really a jam session -- at times one person moves through a transition while another doesn't, the endings of the songs happen abruptly...it's a monumental record, no doubt, but this one is miles above it in terms of quality and professionalism.

Well, enough blathering on. For some of the most relaxing and beautiful world music you will ever hear, pick up this record. You will not be disappointed.

Tabula Rasa or "Clean Slate" is one of my favorite cds now that i have it. Earl in Shanghai is my favorite on this cd. If you really love Bela's music like me then get this for something different. The talent displayed on this cd is outstanding.

This is an absolute treasure.
'Tabula Rasa' has such a delicate sound throughout, yet is immensley powerful in it's musical confidence and dazzling musicianship.
Bela Fleck presents the Banjo as a versatile instrument that, when played by him on this record, becomes a classical eastern instrument that welds startlingly well with the diverse range of instruments at work here.
When the closing song is introduced with the announcement of "Take one" and then proceeds with such perfect grace, dizzying solo speeds and sheer joy, one may feel that they have just listened to something quite special.

This disk has great contributions from Bela Fleck, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Jie Bing Chen. Carukesi is a wonderful and soul filling exposition of the raga with the same name. Geocentricity is a track that starts with a mridangam beat that increases in complexity and then Bela Fleck joins in perfectly with his creative input that makes absolute sense from any musical perspective. This particular disk is an SACD, which means that you are getting the best sound possible if you hear it over an SACD player. The label is Water Lily Acoustics which again indicates the exceptional technical pedigree.

To rate this CD at only five "stars" seems somehow unfair, it deserves so much more. This is one of Bela Fleck's earlier exploration of "world music", and as with his other travels, he throughly integrates the Banjo (that most American of instruments) completely and comfortably with a range of far eastern musicians and musical styles. Saying that, I also have to stress that you don't need to be a fan of Indian or Eastern musics to enjoy this CD. The beauty of this song cycle is the amazing interplay and conversation between these different musicians. If you have any appreciation of string based music of any kind, you will find something to love here. I picked this up a number of years ago, and I continue to return to it at regular intervals, just to hear again how good this sound.

Bela's album Tabula Rasa is a wonderful album for listening to melodic instrumental music. It is similar to John McLaughlin's work with Zakir Hussain in the Shakti project. It lacks the same tightness and I wouldn't particularly call it fusion. Although it makes you smile just the same. don't look fer bluegrass in this album it is mostly classical (improvisational) Indian music. good stuff!!!