Tabla player
Marcus Wise and acoustic guitarist
Dean Magraw are not the first to explore the intersection between American and Indian musical traditions in an acoustic, instrumental format -- the ‘60s recordings of people like
Sandy Bull and
Peter Walker were pioneering in that regard, but is seems likely that the
Wise-Magraw duo draws at least some inspiration from them. That said, the tunes on
How the Light Gets In -- which, incidentally, is a phrase from a ‘90s
Leonard Cohen song, "Anthem" -- are much less overtly Indian-sounding than, for instance,
Walker's cult-classic album Rainy Day Raga. It's really
Wise's tabla work that contributes the Indian influence here;
Magraw's guitar follows a path that has more in common with the acoustic world-jazz exploits of
Ralph Towner, both the latter's solo recordings and his work with
Oregon. While
Magraw -- whose background includes a stint as the guitarist on A Prairie Home Companion -- does occasionally dip into Eastern modalities here and there, it's only because he employs such a searching, expansive style, leading him all across the musical map at various points. An extra layer of poignancy is added to this already evocative outing when you realize that it was created shortly after
Magraw underwent a bone-marrow transplant in order to treat a rare, life-threatening condition, and he was in a significantly weakened state at the time of the recording. The guitarist was nevertheless determined to reach deep inside of himself and pull out the sounds that heard throughout
How the Light Gets In. Of course, it didn't hurt that he had as agile and empathetic a collaborator as
Wise to make the journey all the more interesting. ~ J. Allen