World of Slide Guitar

This DVD reveals a world of sounds - American, Hawaiian, Indian, English - vibrant with emotional nuances conjured from a cold piece of steel. The sound of slide guitar evokes auditory landscapes: the drowsy expanses of Paris, Texas or the heated intensity of the Mississippi Delta. But as the 14 superb performances here demonstrate, it can also paint India's Assamese highlands, Hawaiian beaches or the "Greenfields of Canada". Bob Brozman's mastery of vintage acoustic Hawaiian guitar styles offers a lively history lesson in sounds popularized after World War I and influential for decades thereafter.

Debashish Bhattacharya showcases the relatively recent integration of slide guitar into Indian classical and folk music. Mike Auldridge, accompanied by his band, Chesapeake, drives his Dobro everywhere from East Coast bluegrass to Western Swing. Martin Simpson demonstrates the style's blues roots as well as its adaptability to Anglo-Celtic music. And premier "American Primitive" guitarist John Fahey shows the simple strength in slide-driven blues and old-time country.

Running time 80 minutes 

DVD is region 0, playable worldwide