It feels as though I could listen to an album like this on repeat all day.
The river in the title is apposite, because the music is like a river in that cosmic proverb-heavy Siddhartha sense. It's moving and still at the same time. (A bit like Roedelius.)
Ry Cooder has a knack for inspired collaborations. I haven't heard all of his album with Ali Farka Touré, though I bet it's great. On the face of it, he could be accused of being a bit of a tourist, but with results like this it's impossible to maintain such a charge. I heard a track from this album on Mixing It, and immediately knew it was for me. I see I even went as far as paying £14.99 for it.
There's a bit at the opening of Ganges Delta Blues that sounds like it could be straight off Cooder's Paris, Texas soundtrack. That'll be Cooder, I thought. Then I realised that it might not actually be a guitar, but it might be Bhatt's Mohan vīnā (an instrument derived from the slide guitar that he designed himself). Cooder gets all the attention for this album, but I'm sure I remember reading a story he told about this album where he explained that Bhatt is a true virtuoso with a mastery of a wide range of traditions as well as a phenomenal improvising skill. Cooder said he was finding it impossible to keep his head above water in the recording sessions (the two men had never met before and had only scheduled a few days in the studio). It was only in the very final session that he felt the music began to work at all — and that session is what makes up the album.
It's wonderful.
 MusicBrainz entry for this album
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