by Ken Hunt
The guitar is a recent foreign introduction to the world of Hindustani music. Its best known exponent player is Brijbhushan Kabra. During the 1960s he was involved in the making of two significant albums through which he came to a wide international audience. The more important of the two was Call of the Valley, a collaboration with santoor maestro Shivkumar Sharma and flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia. The second was Two Raga Moods on Guitar (World Pacific WPS 21452). Describing him on the sleeve of Call of the Valley in 1968, G.N. Joshi wrote, Brijbhushan Kabra hails from Jodhpur and took to guitar playing about ten years ago under the guidance of Ali Akbar Khan. His proficiency and skill in producing Indian classical music on a Western instrument have received acclaimation from critics and listeners alike. It was the start of a long and illustrious career.