''Lost Songs of the Silk Road'' is the debut album by

Ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

, a trio made up of Iranian and Indian musicians.

Swapan Chaudhuri Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri (born 30 March 1945), is an Indian tabla player. He has accompanied several musicians of Indian classical music, including, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Ustad Vilayat Khan, Pandit Bhimshen Joshi, Pandit Jas ...

played the tabla, Kayhan Kalhor played the kamancheh, and

Shujaat Khan Shujaat Husain Khan (born 19 May 1960) is one of the greatest North Indian musicians and '' sitar'' players of his generation. He belongs to the Imdadkhani ''gharana'' school of music. He has recorded over 100 albums and was nominated for a Gr ...

played the sitar. The album was released in 1997.

Production

The album was produced by Brian Cullman. It was recorded in New York City. The songs began with a basic melody played by Kalhor and Khan, before turning to improvisation.

Critical recpeption

'' The New York Times'' stated: "Each piece is a long three-way improvisation based on simple melodies that the players push back and forth, and the reedy scrape of Kayhan Kalhor's bowed fiddle creeps out stealthily like a human voice, a rough and ancient sound against the metallic ringing of the sitar." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' deemed the album a "soulful, pioneering hybrid." '' The Oregonian'' praised the "slow, dreamlike improvisations marked by elegant thematic development and marvelous subtlety and detail." ''

Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

'' concluded that "the melodic expression on this CD hovers somewhere between dastgah and rag, but Shujaat's forceful improvisations tend to pull the whole closer to Indian styles and structures." AllMusic called the album "a fascinating meeting of Persian and Indian musical and cultural influences."

Track listing

References

{{Authority control Ghazal (band) albums 1997 debut albums Shanachie Records albums