An Indian Twist on the Slide Guitar

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Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (R) with Samir Chatterjee at George Washington University on May 7, 2009. (Asia Society Washington Center)

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2009 - Indian slide guitar player Vishwa Mohan Bhatt was joined by tabla player Samir Chatterjee for a performance here at George Washington University's Jack Morton Auditorium that showcased Bhatt's speed and legato.

Throughout the performance Bhatt played his signature instrument, the 20-string Mohan Veena, an Archtop guitar he customized to resemble a sitar. The first half of the concert was given over to an hour-long improvisation, while the second half featured a series of short pieces. Bhatt contributed vocals to two of the latter, a Rajasthani folk song and a lullaby dedicated to his late mother. He concluded with "A Meeting by the River," the title track from his Grammy Award-winning 1993 collaboration with slide guitarist Ry Cooder.

Bhatt was born in Jaipur, Rajasthan in 1952, began performing publicly in his early teens, and is best known in this country for his collaborations with Western artists like Cooder, Taj Mahal, Béla Fleck, and Jerry Douglas.