Musicarian - Friendship knows no East or West

Hear The Track Here

At this stage of the game, I know a great many musicians from Asian countries such as India and Pakistan (home of Musicarian) and all of them - to a man or woman - hold as much fascination in Western music as I do in Eastern music. Don't know about you but I consider that a wonderful thing, something to be cherished. Musicarian obviously thinks much the same thing because here's a track saying pretty much the same kind of thing. Friendship sees no East or West is 'a guitar instrumental for the Friends around the globe' and Musicarian certainly has a few of them including this reviewer. I first met this amazingly fluid jazz fusion guitarist in 2004 and loved what he was doing then but suddenly he went AWOL, turning up last year with a blindingly good fusion piece called Get Your Soul Reborn (November 2008) showing that he had lost none of the spark and gained much in the way of production nous.

Essentially Friendship etc is a track about the many friends Salman Anwer (aka Musicarian) has made on Facebook but that could well be extended to the wider musical community he has been part of over the years. I can't put my hand on my heart and swear that I am a big fan of jazz fusion because I'm not. Most of it bores me to tears, when it isn't enraging me with its insipid vapidity. Mind you, I do like a tasty guitarist regardless of the genre they choose to work in, and Musicarian is a rare one. Musicarian, rare one? Geddit??? Moving right along because there is nothing to see there, I have compared this artist to Santana, Clapton and even Kephas and all of those comparisons hold water.

Except the bit that Salman brings from his own roots...

What singles out this plank spanker from the millions of others around is the way he puts his solos together, stitching Western and Eastern scales together seamlessly - all encased in a shiny, completely unobtrusive backing track. The venerable Mike-K and I have had a long standing conversation about music like this, and my seemingly endless dislike of it. Nonetheless, quality shines through - as Mike so often proves - and good ideas and faultless playing and production will win me over every time. While not being as sonically inventive as Jeff Beck in the same field, Musicarian never fails to keep me entranced while listening to those fingers working their own particular magic.

Splendid jazz fusion guitar instrumental with a touch of the East. Highly Recommended.