Tabula Rasā

Tabula Rasā is a collaborative studio album released in 1996 under the label Water Lily Acoustics. The album features a fusion of Indian classical music, American bluegrass, and East Asian instrumental traditions. Béla Fleck contributed on banjo, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt performed on the Mohan veena, and Jie-Bing Chen played the erhu. The release appeared in CD format.

The fifth track on the album, titled Tabula Rasā, runs for three minutes and six seconds. The composition blends improvisational elements from Hindustani classical music with Appalachian and Chinese folk influences. The recording session captured live interplay between the three artists, emphasizing acoustic textures and rhythmic spontaneity. No lyricists or vocalists participated in the track.

Water Lily Acoustics produced the album with an emphasis on high-fidelity acoustic recording techniques. The label specialized in world music and ambient releases during the 1990s. Distribution details beyond the initial CD pressing remain undocumented in available sources. The album cover art and liner notes included contributions from the artists but did not specify individual credits for design or photography.

Critical reception and commercial performance metrics for Tabula Rasā are not fully archived in public records. The collaboration marked one of the few recorded instances of the Mohan veena, erhu, and banjo appearing together in a single ensemble. Subsequent live performances by the trio occurred sporadically, though no official tour or follow-up album materialized.