Live In Forli, Italy

– General Description: Robbie Basho (1940-1986; stroke) played solo steel-string guitar, 6-string and 12-string (which was a 150 year old guitar and required much tuning in Interlude 3). He sang too for some of his compositions. His style was known as “American Primitivism” and fused the music of many cultures. (A raga is a type of Indian classical music.)
– FCC Compliant: YES
– Recommended Tracks: 3, 7, 10
– Track Reviews:
1. (3:51) Redwood Ramble: fun spoken intro; upbeat folksy piece; interesting chord changes
2. (4:24) Song of the Stallion: slower paced, autoharp quality, he sings too about Spaniards in California
3. ***(9:32) The Grail and the Lotus: “13th century stuff”, mandolin/hurdy-gurdy feeling, builds nicely, lots of picking, last 20 sec is applause
4. (0:51) Interlude 1: tuning and banter
5. (2:43) German Chocolate Cake: simple little piece; last 12 sec is applause
6. (2:52) Interlude 2: tuning, FCC alert (he says ‘damn’ at one point), introduces next piece in Italian, last 25 sec is scattered applause
7. ***(8:10) Cathedral et Fleur de Lis: sitar-like piece with open chord progression, gets dramatic then quiet
8. (7:58) Pavan India: a mini-raga simulating sitar
9. (2:45) Interlude 3: tuning and banter
10. ***(4:44) Clair de Lune for Twelve String: soft and pretty
11. (8:09) California Raga: he sings again but mostly plays then sort of wails