Ry Cooder A Meeting by the River (180g 45RPM Vinyl 2LP)

Ry Cooder and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt’s A Meeting by the River on 180g 45RPM 2LP from Analogue Productions: Sonic Spectacular and Audiophile Favorite Pressed at QRP

In 1993, Kavi Alexander’s Water Lily label recorded and released A Meeting By The River, a captivating “East-Meets-West” pairing of exquisite musical geniuses. Picture this: Ry Cooder and North Indian musician Vishwa Mohan Bhatt sitting barefoot on the a Persian rug inside the King Chapel in Santa Barbara with Alexander setting up his all-tube Blumlein microphones, capturing this remarkable meeting of like minds from opposite sides of the Earth.

Ry Cooder received much attention for this album, but he told many stories about this album explaining how Bhatt is a true virtuoso with a mastery of a wide range of traditions as well as a phenomenal improvising skill. Cooder said he was finding it impossible to keep his head above water in the recording sessions (the two men had never met before and had very limited time in the studio). It was only in the very final session that he felt the musicians and the music began to meld, and that session is what makes up this album.

"With the original sessions captured at 15 i.p.s. on all custom deParavicini gear, this is the ultimate stereo test record. The sound is as real, open and airy as it gets; not one more molecule of tone could possibly be put onto these black discs!"
– Jeff Dorgay, TONEAudio

"[The] sound is about as good as it gets, with almost no sense of recording gear between the listener and musicians, who are laid out in a solid horizontal line. The remarkable air and tangible 'thereness' will take your breath away."
– Wayne Garcia, The Absolute Sound

"[Passionate], mysterious, intricate, earthy, ethereal, moody and mystical, the rich musical improvisations on this recording defy categorization… The recording is as astonishing as the music: a harmonically complex, three dimensional, two-microphone purist production that will easily take its place at the top of the sonic heap in your record collection..."
– Michael Fremer, Music Angle

“Astonishingly, the four conversational yet adventurous tracks captured on A Meeting by the River were unrehearsed jams between the two masters, who had met only minutes before the session. The lesson is that Cooder and Bhatt not only knew how to play, but how to listen."
– Daniel Durchholz, Stereophile

"The quintessential 2 mic Blumlein recording, a musical extravaganza – on 45-RPM it destroys the early '90s CD!"
– Danny Kaey, Positive-Feedback