The Rough Guide to Indian Classical Music was compiled by DJ Ritu. It contains nine cuts from masters of the various schools of the carnatic tradition, both Hindu and Muslim, all deriving from the root musical heritage. While
Ravi Shankar is included here, and has long been familiar to Westerners,
Vilayat Khan, who descends from the Mugals, is a Muslim sitarist no less important to followers of Indian musical tradition. Also included are cuts by sarod master
Amjad Ali Khan from the next generation, tabla maestros
Zakir Hussain and
Allah Rakha, mandolinist
U. Srinivas, shenai pioneer
Bismillah Khan with the aforementioned
Vilayat Khan (no relation), and violinist
Dr. Jyotsna Srikanth. As has also been customary for Rough Guides in recent years, this set comes with a bonus disc by the great pioneering Indian slide guitarist
Debashish Bhattacharya, which is a compilation taken from his other recordings. The sound is top-notch, as is the curation. The liner notes are better than serviceable and the price is certainly right, making this a welcome bird's-eye view of the various instruments and styles of the Indian tradition. ~ Thom Jurek