Music On The Desert Road: a Sound Travelogue [coll] – [Angel Records]

abacus   11/19/2014   12-inch, International

like a collection of old photographs, lost moments of forgotten traditions immortalized here by Bengali ethnomusicologist Deben Bhattacharya, recordings captured during his overland voyage to India from 1955-1956. at the start of each side we set out by road or rail traversing the great desert from Anatolia descending into the Levant and across the Fertile Crescent into Persia and finally India. religious rituals, domestic rituals, nomadic rituals; ancient modes and harmonies spread across a vast geographic space along the Silk Road and through Bedouin drifting and Vedic-Aryan migration. a timeless document of historical significance documenting musical practices that carry meaning today.