About Guitar a La Hindustan
Guitar a La Hindustan is a studio album by Indian slide guitarist and composer Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. Released on August 7, 2012, the album presents three instrumental compositions rooted in the Hindustani classical tradition, adapted for Bhatt’s modified Hawaiian slide guitar, known as the mohan veena.
Bhatt composed and performed all tracks on the album. The release features extended explorations of three ragas: Raga Kaunsi Kanhra, Raga Tilak Kamodi, and Raga Chandrakauns. Each track adheres to the structural conventions of alaap-jor-jhala, a form characteristic of instrumental dhrupad and khayal performances in North Indian classical music. The album omits accompaniment, focusing solely on Bhatt’s solo interpretations.
The recording emerged as a digital-only release under an unspecified label. The production quality emphasizes the resonant overtones of the mohan veena, a hybrid instrument Bhatt developed in the late 20th century to bridge Western guitar techniques with Hindustani melodic intricacy. The album’s title reflects this fusion, combining the Spanish term for guitar with the Hindi descriptor for the classical tradition.
Critical reception and commercial performance details for Guitar a La Hindustan remain undocumented in publicly available sources. The release date coincides with Bhatt’s broader discography, which includes collaborations with Western artists such as Ry Cooder and Béla Fleck, though this album stands as a solo endeavor. The total runtime of the three tracks is not specified in existing records.
The album contributes to Bhatt’s legacy as a pioneer in adapting non-Indian instruments to classical Indian frameworks. His work on the mohan veena earned him a Grammy Award in 1994 for the album A Meeting by the River, a collaboration with Ry Cooder. Guitar a La Hindustan extends this exploration through a minimalist, raga-centric approach.