Friday, 24 April 2020

Zakir Hussain - Making Music (1987)

This post starts with a thankyou to commenter Doug who jogged my memory about this album, back when I posted the Hariprasad Chaurasia album.  Not sure why I'd let this gorgeous recording from December 1986 sit on the shelf for so long - perhaps it didn't catch my mood when I first picked it up.  In any case, here's one of the vast collection of ECM experiments when a handful of musicians came together and struck gold.

Indian percussionist Zakir Hussain had already worked with Jan Garbarek a couple of years prior to this session (that's coming next week), and Hussain and Chaurasia had also collaborated on more traditional Indian music.  Completing the lineup was John McLaughlin, playing understated acoustic guitar throughout.  After the lengthy title track introduces everyone, some tracks highlight the musicians in pairs or trios and Chaurasia's sublime flute sounds take a starring role almost everywhere they appear.  Garbarek gets a wonderful feature on Anisa, followed by a Hussain solo, and McLaughlin's fleet fingers are highlighted on the all too brief You And Me.  One of the most underrated ECM treasures, not least by me up until now.

link
pw: sgtg
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , ,

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous24 April 2020 at 21:02

    I remember seeing this billed as some Wire-type's best album ever somewhen in the '90s. Needless to say I was disappointed when I finally heard it as it was completely outside my taste zone. Thanks for giving me a second chance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan Burns25 April 2020 at 14:09

      There's perhaps a surface sheen of "80s world music" to it, that may have been what put me off initially. But as soon as you break through the surface, the water's lovely. Helps that there's such top-flight musicians involved, and they struck up a great chemistry.

      Delete
  2. Out On The Shelves5 December 2023 at 07:35

    Interesting post, I enjoyed read this

    ReplyDelete
  3. peegee14 March 2025 at 00:33

    Dear Alan, I am of an age where I thought I'd heard everything I could find that would ever interest my always curious ears. Since discovering your lovely corner of the internet three weeks ago I've been listening to—savoring, really—several albums you've shared from the ECM label [Vassilis Tsabropoulos is playing as I type this] with many, many more it seems to go. I'm grateful for the eight years you volunteered to build this incredible library and even more so that you've maintained the links so that latecomers like me can enjoy what you've created. I hope some day you choose to return to your blog or start one anew to keep this path of discovery updated and verdant. With every good wish and much gratitude, Paul, Brooklyn, NY

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)