As We Speak

…These musicians are too subtle to simply batten one style on to another. Instead, there's a finessed attempt to compose discrete works with flavours of different cultures, not simply shoehorn... — Jazzwise, July 2023 More…

Release Date: 12th May 2023
Catalogue No: BFP582LP
Label: Thirty Tigers

Grammy Awards

66th Awards (2024)

Best Contemporary Instrumental Album

As We Speak

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A new project from perception shattering musicians Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer, and Rakesh Chaurasia, "As We Speak" brings together their unique takes on Indian and Western Classical music, Jazz and Bluegrass. Weaving a sonic tapestry of banjo, tabla, double bass, and bansuri, these artists convene to make some of the most soulful, fascinating and undefinable music found in today's world.

As We Speak showcases the quartet’s breathtaking abilities as instrumentalists and underscores the wide range of influences at their command. Across a dozen songs, they glide easily between the cerebral complexity of Indian rhythm and the gut-level groove of a funky bass line, sounding equally at home with the rigors of raga.

“What I think is good about this quartet is that everybody has to stretch in the direction of the other people,” says Fleck. “To me, a collaboration where nobody changes is not a collaboration. It’s a mashup. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But I like a collaboration where I have to learn a bunch of new things from the other people. And in this case, I’m learning like crazy.”

Reviews

July 2023

…These musicians are too subtle to simply batten one style on to another. Instead, there's a finessed attempt to compose discrete works with flavours of different cultures, not simply shoehorn sounds together for dramatic effect.

As We Speak

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As We Speak

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