Aloha-Alaap

Aloha-Alaap is an instrumental composition performed by Indian slide guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya. The track appears as the tenth piece on the album Hawaii To Calcutta: A Tribute To Tau Moe, released on 2017 by Riverboat Records in CD format. The recording spans 4 minutes and 19 seconds and showcases Bhattacharya’s adaptation of Hawaiian slack-key guitar techniques within the framework of Hindustani classical music.

The album explores the musical legacy of Tau Moe, a Hawaiian steel guitarist who toured India in the 1930s and influenced local musicians with the instrument’s expressive capabilities. Bhattacharya employs his custom-made chaturangui (a 22-string slide guitar) to blend raga-based improvisation with the resonant, open-tuned stylings associated with Hawaiian guitar traditions. The track title Aloha-Alaap merges the Hawaiian greeting aloha with the Hindustani term alaap, a slow, melodic introduction in classical performances.

Hawaii To Calcutta: A Tribute To Tau Moe features collaborations with artists from both Indian and Hawaiian music traditions, though Aloha-Alaap is a solo performance by Bhattacharya. The album’s production emphasizes acoustic clarity, with minimal accompaniment to highlight the interplay between the slide guitar’s sustained notes and microtonal inflections characteristic of Indian classical music. No additional details about the recording sessions, alternate takes, or live renditions of the track are publicly documented.

The release aligns with Bhattacharya’s broader discography, which frequently bridges global guitar traditions with Indian classical forms. Riverboat Records, a subsidiary of World Music Network, distributed the album as part of its series on cross-cultural instrumental music. The label’s catalog includes field recordings and studio projects that emphasize traditional and fusion genres.