Fricke’s Picks: Blues from India

November 25th, 2009 by David Fricke Leave a reply »

Gary Lucas is a modern guitar miracle, an alchemical soloist with monster technique and a rare collaborative touch. He is especially good with master voices; his work with Captain Beefheart and the late Jeff Buckley is a master lesson in aggressive invention and supportive electricity. That empathy is half the pleasure of Lucas’ Indo-blues venture, Rishte (World Village), with British-born Indian vocalist Najma Akhtar. The other half is the sharp, soaring way she threads his space-fuzz dynamics and pungent Delta settings on National steel. Akhtar, who sang with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page on their 1994 Unledded TV special, sounds perfectly at home in Skip James’ “Special Rider Blues,” while Lucas makes the Mississippi ghosts dance.

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Article Source: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily
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