BRIDGES is a breathtaking overview of a mere three of the countless projects that sitar legend Ravi Shankar has worked on since his first appearance in the West in the 1930s. INSIDE THE KREMLIN, recorded in a Moscow in the throes of glasnost in 1988, features pieces that are simultaneously awe-inspiring and hypnotic. The more lighthearted tracks culled from TANA MANA include Shankar's good friend the late George Harrison among several other rock luminaries, while modern classical composer Philip Glass is a collaborator on the selections taken from PASSAGES.
All three albums are as distinct from each other as could be, but Shankar's vision, at once mischievous, playful, and deeply spiritual, is the unifying force that predominates. Though it has no pretensions to being a comprehensive overview of the Indian master, BRIDGES is a completely satisfying and absorbing glimpse of both Shankar's breadth of vision and his intense musical curiosity.
