When it comes to fusing Blues and Indian Music together, their
is absolutely no one that does it's better than Doug Cox and Salil Bhatt. Two of
the very best in their field of music once again get together to bring us their
masterful new release,
"Slide To Freedom 2".
I was thoroughly impressed with their first collaboration
"Slide To Freedom", and was more then excited to receive "Slide To Freedom 2".
I had no doubt that yet again I would be in for a musical treat and was not disappointed
in the least.
"Slide To Freedom 2" is a album that shows us that yes indeed
when it comes to music, especially the Blues, their really are no borders to how
it can be creatively mixed with other music.
A wonderful new release that has left me anxiously awaiting more
of the same from Doug Cox and Salil Bhatt.
Review by John Vermilyea (Blues Underground Network)
Fusing Blues music with Indian music has been tried before, but no one has done it quite as successfully as Doug Cox and Salil Bhatt (the son of V.M. Bhatt).
That's because they have been thinking and practicing for over a year before actually recording together.
Slide to Freedom 2 was recorded by Miles Wilkinson, one of the best sound engineers from Nashville - necessary for capturing the intricacies of the Mohan Veena, V.M. Bhatt's 19-stringed instrument; the amazing tabla of Ramkumar Mishra; and Salil's instrument, the Satvik Veena, which has 20 strings (3 for main melody, 5 for drone, and 12 sympathetic strings). Order
Doug Cox - one of Canada's best slide guitarists, teams up with Salil Bhatt - one of India's best slide instrumentalists, along with special guest, Grammy-Award-Winning V.M. Bhatt (Salil's father), and New Orleans Cajun / Soul singer John Boutte.
V.M. Bhatt won a Grammy in 1994 with Ry Cooder for their album, Meeting By The River, and he was considered by George Harrison (and now by Eric Clapton) as one of the world's best musicians.
About Doug Cox
From Doug's home on Vancouver Island the composer, multi-instrumentalist and music programmer has carved-out a diverse career as a recording artist and session and touring musician. He has played festivals, clubs, camps and concert halls from Seldovia, Alaska; to the Baseball Hall of Fame (with Chuck Brodsky) in Cooperstown, New York; to the Sore Fingers Camp in England. Cox was the first Canadian Dobro player to be invited to perform at 'Dobrofest' in Slovakia and was the first Dobro player to be a featured player at the Montreal Jazz Festival (with Todd Butler).
He has worked as a sideman and frontman with Canadian Bluesman Ken Hamm, with beloved west coast group Travels With Charley, in duos with Todd Butler and Sam Hurrie, with American songwriter Chuck Brodsky, the late British Blues Icon Long John Baldry and guitar string-bender Amos Garrett among many others.
Doug's latest collaborations include 'Slide To Freedom' group with Salil Bhatt and 'Strung' with Tony McManus & April Verch. Both groups are actively touring and recording.
Although primarily known as a Dobro player, Cox also spends time on the Guitar, Weissenborn, National Mandolin and other slidey instruments. With his feet firmly grounded in the traditions of Roots music, each project Cox involves himself with leads into new musical directions.
Doug's music has begun to appear on many soundtracks in film and on TV including his song 'Cold When I'm Dead' being in Terry Gilliam's feature film 'Tideland.' His music has been featured on CMT's 'The Ultimate Coyote Ugly Series,' A&E's 'The President Slept Here,' & 'Biography,' PBS's 'Real Simple,' Spike TV's 'Roadies,' Discovery's 'Extreme Engineering,' NBC's 'Race Across America,' Discovery's 'Strictly Sex w Dr. Drew,' The Travel Channel's 'Taste of America,' Animal Planet's 'Amazing Animal Inventions,' CMT's 'Dukes of Hazzard Reunion,'MTV2's 'Wildboyz,' CMT's 'Homecoming - Trisha Yearwood' and many more.
Performing solo or in many of his genre-bending collaborations, Cox's performances are always full of musical surprises.
An acclaimed educator, Cox has produced a series of instructional packages to teach slide guitar, dobro and guitar playing. He loves guitar camps & has taught at camps from Kerrville, Texas, to Anchorage, Alaska, to the Sore Fingers Camp in the Cotswolds, England. He also teaches at many day-long workshops while on tour.
About Salil Bhatt
Salil V. Bhatt represents the tenth generation of the famous Bhatt lineage, where music has been flowing for more than five
hundred years. Salil is the son of the legendary slide player and India's GRAMMY AWARD winner Padmashree Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.
Pt. Bhatt is the creator of the Mohan Veena, a revolutionary instrument which has been hailed as a discovery in the Indian classical music scenario.
Salil has been mastering the Mohan Veena for more than twenty years. He is the foremost disciple of Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and one of the youngest and most promising exponents of the Mohan Veena. Salil with his soulful and vibrant music is receiving accolades from the listeners and the press alike.
With a Masters degree in music and an A - grade of the All India Radio, Salil has performed throughout the country as well as abroad and is a regular performer for the A.I.R. & National television network, along with other prime television channels. Salil has been the celebrity artist in various channels such as Star T.V. [Good Morning show], Zee T.V. [Morning Zee], Aaj Tak, Star News, Zee News, D.D. 1 [Subah Savare], D.D. 1 [Sanskritinama], DD Metro [Good Morning Metro].
Salil's music albums 'Legendary Legacy', 'Revival of Gavti', 'In Harmony', 'Swar Shikhar', ‘Revitalise', ‘Sopaan', ‘Slide to Freedom', ‘Out of the Shadows', ‘Carnatica's Veena Jugalbandi' etc were instant hits.
Salil reflects the dynamic style of rendering the classical nuances on the Mohan Veena in his concerts. His style incorporates the authentic and systematic exposition of Classical Indian Ragas and the embellishments of the World Music as well.
Salil's baaz [style] assimilates the 'gayaki' [vocal] and 'tantrakari' [instrumental] representations which makes his playing complete with innumerable variations. Salil specializes in playing high-speed taans
demonstrating his great skill on the Mohan Veena. Trained by his mentor Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Salil follows the Classical Indian Raga authenticity to its strictest norms and creates the purest picture of every Raga he plays.
