by Tim Sheridan
The combination of Simpson's folk-blues-inflected guitar with the exoticism of Man's pipa creates a most unusual sonic world, a place where East meets West and the blues reign supreme. This disc, along with several other terrific ventures by producer Kavichandran Alexander (such as the pairing of Ry Cooder with mohan vina player Vishwa Mohan Bhatt) approaches the common language of a truly global music. Amazing stuff.