I need some Eastern glow....

If you want to try something Eastern, then I'd recommend getting The Concert For Bangladesh and listening to Ravi Shankar. I'm sure that you'll have never heard anything like it - you might hate it, but I personally think it's amazing. It's not really similar to Kashmir (It's not similar to anything else I've ever heard), but it's certainly different.

 

I love the music of India, but for those listeners who aren't familiar with the unusual scales (for western ears, anyway), there's a CD called "Passages" which features music of Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass. I think Philip Glass' music to be rather boring (with the exception of "The Photographer" - which I think was brilliant!) - there's one really great piece on "Passages" called "Ragas in Minor Scale" - this music is a tad more accessible than most heavy-duty Indian music.

- Wil

PS: Another good take is anything by the tabla player Zakir Hussain (OK, so it's not bass, but this chap has to be heard to be believed!)

 

Wil, would I be right in thinking that Phillip Glass is the jazz guitarist - I think I've heard that album too. I always thought that it was Ravi's son playing on that record, but I could be wrong.

 

I don't know about him being a jazz guitarist, but Philip Glass is one of America's foremost composers of the "minimalist school". I find his work a bit repetitive, and sometimes tedious. My favourite Glass work is "The Photographer" - I thought the concept was great, and on the CD I have, the work is beautifully performed. I listened to some of his other works, and thought they all sounded very similar to "The Photographer". I tend to think he's cashing in a bit, but that's just my opinion...

Here are some links to PG:

http://www.schirmer.com/composers/glass_bio.html

http://www.philipglass.com/

- Wil

"Knock knock..."
"Who's there?"
"Knock knock..."
"Who's there?"
"Knock knock..."
"Who's there?"
"Knock knock..."
"Who's there?"
"Knock knock..."
"Who's there?"
"Knock knock..."
"Who's there?"
"Knock knock..."
"Who's there?"
"Knock knock..."
"Who's there?"
"Knock knock..."
"Who's there?"
"Knock knock..."
"Who's there?"
"Knock knock..."
"Who's there?"
"Knock knock..."
"Who's there?"
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"Philip Glass..."

 

Thanks for the info, Wil. I think I've got the wrong album...

 

Jonas Hellborg adopts a distinct eastern tenor on his albums:
Aram of the Two Rivers
Good People in Times of Evil

Aram... is a live album. Mostly bass and percussion. Jonas plays an acoustic bass. Lots of whole tone scales.

 

Just for clarification, on Aram of the Two Rivers, Jonas plays an acoustic guitar bass (not an upright, or double bass).

 

Try the new Ozric Tentacles album The Hidden Step. Or any Ozric's album for that matter.
Trey Gunn's Raw Power and The Joy of Molybdenum are all perfect in terms of strange eastern music.

 

You could try Jan Garbarek's album "Ragas and Sagas" - or anything by Trilok Gurtu.

On a slight tangent, I used to have a vinyl album by Jerry Goodman & Jan Hammer (Mahavishnu Orchestra pals) called "Like Children", which had a really good track called "Country and Eastern" - this was one of my favourite tracks and got played over and over, but I lost it. I'd really like to get a CD version, but have never been able to find it on the net or anywhere else - anybody seen it?