The ninth album by Daniel ‘Robbie’ Robinson (aka Bobbie Basho) was released on Vanguard in 1974, by which time contemporaries such as Ry Cooder and Leo Kottke were abandoning their zealous principles for kudos and bucks. Basho never did. He emerged from a peyote haze, enrolled into Meher Baba and set forth on a musical odyssey that arrives in Arabia. <\/p>\n
The term “world music”, a rather lazy and useless shorthand, doesn’t apply to this Baltimore boy. His refusal to follow Western tropes did, however, lead him towards soundscapes where his virtuoso guitar- and piano-playing gave him a global visa. The title track and Mehera have unusual melodic structures, though Basho’s sonorous countertenor might be deemed an acquired taste. If taste buds allow, then ransack his bag. <\/p>\n
The lengthy Rhapsody In Druz takes off into territory where Gershwin meets Ornette Coleman in Liszt’s front room, while Kahlil Gibran has a dense vaudevillian allure that defies description. Given his talent, Basho is not a show off. He’s beholden to his material and the accompaniment of master mridangam tabla expert Ramnad V Raghavan. If you’ve heard any of his 12-string albums on Takoma then be prepared for a far more exotic ride. Souk and ye shall find. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The ninth album by Daniel ‘Robbie’ Robinson (aka Bobbie Basho) was released on Vanguard in 1974, by which time contemporaries such as Ry Cooder and Leo Kottke were abandoning their zealous principles for kudos and bucks. Basho never did. He emerged from a peyote haze, enrolled into Meher Baba and set forth on a musical odyssey that arri\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8023,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,16],"tags":[],"issue":[10038],"class_list":["post-182906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album","category-reviews","issue-september-2014"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n