(Reprinted from the July 2023 issue of Downbeat magazine)
Indian classical music has survived for millennia as a largely oral tradition passed on through musical family lines. Tabla player Zakir Hussein and bansuri player Rakesh Chaurasia both come from such lineages; throughout the world they are honored as keepers of this sacred, ancient art form. At the core of the musicians’ artistry lies an improvisational ability so virtuosic as to make Westerners’ ears spin—so it takes a unique musician to collaborate on equal footing with these two. On As We Speak (Thirty Tigers), banjoist Béla Fleck meets this challenge, with ready assist from double bassist Edgar Meyer.
The title refers to the players’ shared loved of improvising—composing in real time. The twist here is the masterful convergence of Indian and Western classical music forms, with a jigger of bluegrass thrown in for good measure. They accomplish this synergism through varying techniques, such as call and response between banjo and flute, with the bass sometimes providing the pedal/drone (“The B Tune”); a stated motif that leads to melodic extrapolations and freakishly precise unison sections (“Owl’s Misfortune”); and an Appalachian melody interpreted variously by bow on string, fluttering flute lines and Indian solfege (“Beast In The Garden”).
The title cut—a more scripted piece, perhaps, than some of the others (Fleck composed all twelve) —closes the album. Midway through the strongly patterned tune, Hussein takes a percussion break that invigorates the repeated phrases into a harmonically dangling outro. The surprise ending encourages listening to the sudden silence, a sublime pause where just a moment before the musicians were engaged not just in communicating their own traditions, but in absorbing each other’s.—Suzanne Lorge
As We Speak: Motion; The B Tune; Tradewinds Bengali; J Bhai; Rickety Karma; 1980; Owl’s Misfortune; Pashto; Hidden Lake; Beast In The Garden; Conundrum; As We Speak. (01:15:19).
Personnel: Béla Fleck, banjo, compositions; Zakir Hussain, tabla; Edgar Meyer, bass; Rakesh Chaurasia, bansuri.