Brij Bhushan Kabra

* Newly remastered, limited edition pressing *  Brij Bhushan Kabra was one of the Indian musicians who heard the steel guitar’s siren call, but his vision went beyond adapting Hawaiian sounds to popular music. Instead, he saw the instrument’s potential for playing ragas. To pursue this dream, Kabra began studying with Ali Akbar Khan, whose fretless sarod offered a sonic example for Kabra to emulate with his lap-slide guitar. Kabra’s instrument was a Gibson Super 400, modified with a drone string and a high nut to raise the strings off the fretboard like a lap steel. Seated on the floor in the traditional style of Indian musicians, Kabra played his guitar horizontally, using a fingerstyle plucking technique and a bar to contact the strings. His approach set the standard for virtually all Indian slide guitarists.  He is rightfully considered a master musician and regarded as on of Indian Classical music’s most renowned ambassadors’ to the rest of the world. 

Guitar and Tabla was originally released in 1982.  Another essential LP by Brij Bhushan Kabra featuring Zakir Hussain on Tabla.