A Second Indian-Influenced Album from Isbin

Those with long memories may recall that I have been writing about guitarist Sharon Isbin since October of 2018. I was aware of her before then; but, when I made my move from Silicon Valley to the San Francisco concert scene, I realized that I had never had the opportunity to experience her in performance. (Any recordings would have been heard on the radio.) Thus, my “first contact” came about at one of those recitals presented jointly by San Francisco Performances and the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts, when Isbin was joined by Brazilian guitarist Romero Lubambo. This was enough to get me hooked.

Since that time, I have not been able to see Isbin again in performance. However, I have been following the releases of her Zoho albums. This began with her solo album Affinity, which surveyed contemporary composers Chris Brubeck, Leo Brouwer, Antonio Lauro, Tan Dun, and Richard Danielpour. This was followed by Strings for Peace, which presented four compositions by sarod master Amjad Ali Khan, scored as duos for guitar and sarod and specifically written for Isbin. They were joined by Khan’s two sons, Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash, also playing sarod, and tabla accompaniment performed by Amit Kavthekar.

Cover of the album being discussed showing Isbin seated with Kahn on the left with his sons, Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash, standing behind them

All five of those performers have again teamed up with Isbin for their latest album, Live in Aspen. As the title suggests, this recording captures a performance that took place at the Aspen Music Festival on August 6, 2022 in the Harris Concert Hall. Nine of the ten tracks account of compositions by Khan, one of which is based on one of the poetic songs of Rabindranath Tagore. The opening track serves to set context with a performance of Francisco Tárrega’s “Capricho árabe.” Personally, I am not sure that this selection prepares the listener for the Indian music that will follow; but it has a theme I happen to like!

My guess is that, among my readers, there will be two categories of listeners. There are those that will faithfully follow every album that Isbin releases. I suspect that they will be more than satisfied with the album, particularly since it captures a concert performance. The other category consists of those that felt that, after Strings for Peace, enough was enough! I must confess that, when I first began to listen to Live in Aspen, I was in that category. However, after revisiting the tracks several times, I find that the music is growing on me!

Rather than offer readers any further advice, I shall just fall back on the words of Joseph Campbell that seem appropriate: “Follow your bliss!”