Music for Hope

Indian sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan has done a few collaborative recordings with musicians from other traditions – for instance Western classical violinist Elmira Darvarova. Here he's chosen to work with Chinese pipa virtuoso Wu Man. The instruments make a good pairing, both plucked, each with their own distinctive sound. The sarod is deep, muscular and male sounding, while the pipa is much more delicate and female in character. Ali Khan uses broad slides and bends notes, while Wu's ornamentation is more focused and gentle.

At the beginning the two instruments alternate phrases. First in an unmetered alap introduction and then over a tabla-like accompaniment (possibly on frame drum) from Shane Shanahan. But it's later on that the music gets more interesting as they start playing simultaneously, particularly on the fourth track ‘Maya’ and final track, ‘Of Tradition and Heritage’, where it becomes a collaboration with interweaving melodies rather than just a dialogue. Amjad, as is often the case these days, is also joined on sarod by his sons Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash, although it's not really possible to distinguish who is playing when. The concept is good, but the meeting of cultures could have taken us further and the bland title and cut-outs on the cover should have been ditched.