24 Strings Blazing

INDIAN SLIDE GUITAR MASTER DEBASHISH BHATTACHARYA HONORS HIS HERITAGE ON THE SOUND OF THE SOUL

- Alan di Perna

WHEN INDIAN SLIDE guitar master Debashish Bhattacharya gives a concert, the venue is usually packed with other guitarists. They come to marvel at his musicianship, which combines the highly disciplined virtuosity of Hindustani classical tradition with the adventurous spirit of a world music trailblazer. He has performed and recorded in a variety of contexts — collaborating with guitar greats like John McLaughlin, Derek Trucks, Henry Kaiser, Bob Brozman, Martin Simpson and African kora master Ballake Sissoko. But his newest recording, The Sound of the Soul, is a sublime offering of pure, unadulterated Bhattacharya — a deep dive into the traditions that form the core of his artistry. All based on classical ragas, the album’s four tracks feature Bhattacharya on the chaturangui, a 24-stringed instrument of his own invention, accompanied only by percussion, either tabla or pakhawaj. The album pays tribute to one of his key musical mentors, the renowned Indian sarod master Ali Akbar Khan, born a hundred years ago last year.

“Baba Ali Akbar Khan and his father [the equally revered Allauddin Khan] were my inspiration from when I was 2,” Bhattacharya says. “And they still are.”

Training in Indian classical music is based around a system of family lineages, called