Amazon.comThis disc is a celebration of the common ground found between musicians on opposite sides of the globe. Canadian slide guitarist Doug Cox and Indian mohan veena player Salil Bhatt recorded Slide to Freedom in Nashville along with tabla player Ramkumar Mishra. Bhatt is a tenth-generation musician and his father, V.M. Bhatt, not only invented the 19-stringed instrument his son plays but also guests on two of the tacks. Cox plays a range of resonator instruments: dobro, National Steel guitar, and others, as well as stepping up to the mic for a couple vocals. The elder Bhatt has similarly teamed up with Ry Cooder, Jerry Douglas, Béla Fleck, and Taj Mahal on previous projects. This cross-culture pairing is an exhilarating blend of ragas and Delta blues forms. Never forced, Slide to Freedom is a bracing and inviting hybrid, flowing as naturally as the waters that connect distant lands to one another. --David Greenberger