Thursday, May 3, 2012

CD Review: Various Artists' 'The Mountain Music Project: A Musical Odyssey from Appalachia to Himalaya'

Various Artists
The Mountain Music Project: A Musical Odyssey from Appalachia to Himalaya
Self-Release

The Mountain Music Project... successfully attempts to bridge two distinct cultures--Appalachia and Himalaya--together, despite the seemingly distinct cultural attributes of both cultures. The folk and string traditions of Appalachia are not particularly different from that of the Himalayas. The Appalachian side is represented by Grammy Award-winning Tim O'Brien and Curtis Burch. In addition, Tara Linhardt, Tony Trischka, Abigail Washburn, Mark Schatz, Riley Baugus, Aaron Olwell, Matthew Olwell, and Paul Brown round out the Appalachian repertoire. On the Himalayan side, Buddhiman Gandharba, Manjo Gandharba, Jagat B. Gandharba, Ganesh Gandhari represent folk musicians proficient on the madal, sarangi, arbaj, and bansuri flute. Some of the Nepalese instruments are joined with the guitar, banjo, mandolin, mandola, and Irish flute. ~ Matthew Forss 

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