Collin Walcott - Cloud Dance

Collin Walcott Cloud Dance

Collin Walcott - Sitar and Tabla
John Abercrombie - Guitar
Dave Holland - Bass
Jack Dejohnette - Drumset

1. Margueritte
2. Prancing
3. Night Glider
4. Scimitar
5. Vadana
6. Eastern Song
7. Padma
8. Cloud Dance


Collin Walcott was a gifted musician most known for performing with the group Oregon. Other groups that Walcott has performed with include the Paul Winter Consort and Codona. Walcott was one of the first American musicians to master both the sitar as well as the tabla, both traditional instruments used in Indian music. Walcott learned the sitar by studying with the most famous sitarist, Ravi Shankar. Cloud Dance is a brilliant album that perfectly melds eastern and western (ECM-type jazz) music.

Margueritte opens this album with a long solo sitar cadenza. The ensemble eventually joins in, and the sound is lush. The track (in fact much of the album) is reminiscent of John Abercrombie's Timeless. This is likely due to the fact that Abercrombie and DeJohnette (both on Cloud Dance) had recorded Timeless two years prior.

The album presents many great duets with Walcott and some of the other musicians. "Prancing" and "Eastern Song" are duets with Dave Holland. "Scimitar" pairs Walcott (this time on tabla instead of sitar) with Abercrombie while "Padma" is a reflective guitar-sitar duet. Abercrombie's guitar tone is heavier on "Scimitar" than on most of Cloud Dance. The teasing of eastern scales with the distorted guitar almost predates Steve Vai's style.

I really enjoy the tracks that include DeJohnette, "Margueritte" and "Cloud Dance". "Cloud Dance" in particular reminds me of Frank Zappa from Waka/Jawaka or The Grand Wazoo, which are two of my favorite Zappa albums. Phaser heavy guitar provides a lush ambiance on this tune. My only negative comment would be that DeJohnette's snare drum sounds a bit off. I'm strictly talking about the tone of his drum. His comping is all rhythmically fine, but the sound does not ring out at all; there is no sustain from the drum. Maybe it is just me, though.

My parents bought this c.d. for my birthday. I like it a lot, and I would recommend people give it a try. It is definitely underrated. If you like Abercrombie's Timeless, Zappa's Waka Jawaka, The "ECM" sound, and Indian music, you should really check out Collin Walcott's Cloud Dance.