SOUND OF THE SOUL

John McLaughlin said of Debashish Bhattacharya that "he has no equal" on slide guitar. High praise indeed but fully justified by his 28-album career of serenely virtuosic guitar. We meet the master himself to talk about the hard road he took to pioneer Indian classical music on guitar, the deep spiritual connections between American blues and the rāgas, and his sublime new album, The Sound Of The Soul

- Jamie Dickson

Debashish Bhattacharya is one of those rare artists whose talent transcends continents and cultures. One of the most respected slide guitarists in the world, he has collaborated with many Western guitar greats, such as John McLaughlin, Derek Trucks and Jerry Douglas. But the foundation of his sound is Indian classical music. Now, with his new album, The Sound Of The Soul, Debashish has come full circle to pay tribute to the music that first inspired him to pick up the guitar at the tender age of two. We meet him to discuss the enduring influence of the music of master sarod player Ali Akbar Khan and learn how slide guitar speaks to all of us with a voice straight from the soul.

Who was Ali Akbar Khan-and why have you chosen to dedicate your new album, The Sound Of The Soul, to his memory?

"Within Indian classical music, which has maybe 150 to 200 years of development, Ali Akbar Khan is one of the rare gems... he sits in the centre of everybody else. And why so? Because he plays a sarod, a gliding fretless instrument, and he's the son of the legend of Indian classical music Baba Allauddin Khan, who was also a guru of Ravi Shankar, whom the West knows very well.