Fareed Haque: 32 Taxis

Improvising on Ganesh Kumar's 32 quarter-note beats, Fareed Haque builds an imagery of taxis at a busy Calcutta intersection thus the title. Kumar accentuates his kanjira beat with konnakul (a percussive vocal scatting native to South India), laying a solid subcontinental foundation for Haque. The multitalented Haque weaves rich layers of two jazz guitars and a classical guitar, creating a floating, dreamy tapestry that lumbers along while Kumar is sprinting. Listening is like watching a person on film move serenely in real time while the scenery around him is sped up. It takes a good deal of understanding music from several corners of the world to put together a song like "32 Taxis." Fareed Haque and Ganesh Kumar bring all those corners together in India's third-largest city.