Is That So?
is a six-years-in-the-making collaborative album by guitarist
John McLaughlin
(who turned 78 a week before its release), Indian composer and singer
Shankar Mahadevan
, and tabla master
Zakir Hussain
In 2013,
McLaughlin
was touring with
Mahadevan
in the revamped
Shakti
lineup. Completely blown away by the singer's voice, writing, and performance style,
was eager to collaborate on something new. He'd had a career-long ambition to wed classical Indian raga to Western harmony. With
Hussain
in the original 1974
lineup, the band's music was acoustic and free of Western harmonic concepts, wrapped instead around Indo-jazz fusion.
This group experiments with form and function: They regard musicality as an expression of the sacred.
's guitars sound like synthesizers throughout; they are not really solo instruments but harmonic companions for
's singing.
's tablas are completely improvised. Opener "Zakir," with its wafting string-and-synth-like sounds, is given heft via
's amazing voice, phrasing, and control; it's at once spiritual, soulful, and free of earthly constraints. The integration of East and West is seamless and immediate, and it sounds like the trio has been recording this way for decades. "Tara" is an entreaty and paean to the deity Radha. It's a request to grant the supplicant musical ability for sacred reasons. It comes across as a long cue in a film score, but as
constructs the sonic backdrop for
's lyric as a sensual petition that not only extends but expands, and becomes entwined with, the musical backing. "The Search" is an Alap lyrical improvisation in a Raag Todi. An alap is the opening section typical in North Indian classical music performances; it's a melodic improv form that serves to create a foundation for the emergent raga. At nearly 11 minutes, it offers a long, moody intro before wafting guitar synth, droning tanpura, and
's tablas establish a complex, slowly unfurling groove. It's alternately moody, earthy, and painfully tender. Closer "The Beloved," at over nine minutes, sounds -- at least initially -- like film music, with lush, harmonic guitar presented on the frontline alongside
's almost unbearably beautiful singing. As erotic and sensory as it sounds to those who don't understand Hindi, it's actually a gorgeous prayer. The lyrics offer a fountain of emotionally free yet disciplined praise, affirmation, and petition; the ghostly guitars and rumbling tablas erect a lush harmonic floor that moves the tune in the direction of jazz, though it never fully arrives.
's guitar synth peppers the tablas with quick, deft lines and tonal angles.
is a lovely yet radical and provocative departure for
, and one he freely acknowledges longtime fans may not enjoy. It's easy to see his point, but an honest approach to this quietly astonishing music should result in delight for most open-minded listeners. ~ Thom Jurek