Indo-Arabic Variations

As this 1980 album has been increasing in value over the years (original copies appear to go for around £50 on Discogs) it now gets the royal reissue treatment – both black and red vinyl editions available. I’m unsure why its value is rising (in France it did receive a CD reissue some years ago) as the album is not full of breaks (to sample) or tunes that club DJs favour. Instead, Indo-Arabic Variations follows the format established by violinist Yehudi Menuhin and sitarist Ravi Shankar’s 1967 album West Meets East.

Indo-Arabic Variations could have been titled ‘Asia Meets Arabia’ as it finds Magid Khan – a sitar player – visiting Cairo and thus invited to record with leading Egyptian composer and musician Baligh Hamdi and his ensemble. The fusion feels unforced – Khan and his uncredited tambura and tabla players are the guests here, the sitar and tambura’s shimmering patterns of sound fitting well with the 72-stringed qanun, darbuka, ney, violin, daf, mizmar and arghul the Egyptians play while the tabla adds an extra percussive dynamic. The six entirely instrumental compositions here possess plenty of inspired interplay but, as with the Shankar-Menuhin album, I find there’s a lack of real surprise here, instead everyone’s enjoying themselves and respectful yet no one is pushing the proverbial envelope.