For some strange reason - one that only the music gods could ever really understand - Indian music and rock go well together. Slide to Freedom, made up of Canadian guitarist Doug Cox and Indian musicians Salil Bhatt and Cassius Khan is in the business of proving this even further by injecting the two with enough blues to make listening to their music a wholly unique experience. Their latest record is 20,000 Miles, which features a nine-track line-up where blues covers sit shoulder to shoulder with full-length ragas.
The album kicks off with the longest tracks: “Still Small Voice,” which features a brilliantly smooth vocal from guest Betty Soo and “Suicslide,” a ten-minute raga that never feels like it. Part of the trick is making sure to never bore the listener and with a fast pace mix of tabla, guitar and sitar, it’s hard to bore anyone.
The middle of the album highlights the blues roots of Cox, but with that twist. A cover of the classic Classics IV song “Spooky” is a particular highlight. Chuck Berry’s “Wee Wee Hours” also makes an appearance. It highlights Cox’s fantastic guitar playing, as well as more fantastic vocal work from Soo.
Bhatt and Khan are able to take the spotlight from Cox for the remaining tracks, but it doesn’t feel like an entirely different band. There is still cohesion between Cox’s smooth dobro and Khan’s frantic tabla. A big highlight is “Hichki,” which feels like a duel between Cox and Bhatt. Let’s just say it ends with a tie.
20,000 Miles is the third record by Slide to Freedom. That fact helps make it understandable why the world of blues and classical Indian music can mesh. It makes it sound like that combination should always have been this easy.
