Sam's Hot Car Lot

Yeah, I got really into this album for a while. It is another John McLaughlin freak show of amazingness. Like Friday Night in SanFran, this is an all out amazing display of musical ability. It is indian fusion. Here are the musicians.... L. Shankar (violin); John McLaughlin (guitar); Zakir Hussain (tabla); T.S. Vinayakaram (ghatam, mridangam); R. Raghavan (mridangam). Some snobs about indian music don't think that this is all that great, and argue about his tone, and lack of understanding of the music, but I think it is the shit. I was initially intriuged by his guitar.It has seven strings that go diagonally across the face of the guitar, that are drone strings. This gives it that sitar feel. And, from what I understand, the frets are dug out (scalloped), so they are indented indtead of raised. I thought this was really cool, even cooler that a fretless. I guess you can dig your fingers into the fret lines, and get a different tone, and I think it buzzes a little, kinda like the drone strings. I found a link to a page that describes the thing a lot better than I do here. The speed, and interaction between the violin, guitar, and tabla on this is absolutelly amazing. I got a chance to see the Remember Shakti tour in DC, and it was an quite an experience. I loved every second of it. The crowd had an interesting mix of people. There were people who were there for the Indian musicians, people there for John's jazz work, people who were fans of his fusion work with the Mahivishnu Orchestra, and people that were just out to see some good music. Everyone that came definitely did see some good music. Only three tracks, but there all spiffy.

1. Joy Listen (18:16)
2. Lotus Feet (4:46)
3. What Need Have I For This-What Need Have I For That-I Am Dancing At The Feet Of My Lord... (29:04)

Check it out here