new guitarists : review page 14

An interesting raga-guitarist is Matthias Müller (Germany).

"Matthias is a music graduate from the ‘College of Music Sulzbach-Rosenberg’, ‘Munich Guitar Institute’ and the ‘Grove School of Music’ in Los Angeles. He studied Classical & Jazz Guitars, as well as conducting, composing and arranging.

During his long carrier as a musician and composer Matthias has played concerts all around the world in wide variety of styles, including Classical, Jazz and Fusion. He has composed for film & theatre and played guitar in many recording sessions.

Matthias strong interest in Indian classical music has led him to study the Carnatic Music (South Indian style) from some of the best Indian musicians. Ahimsa was created by both Matthias and Radha from their strong passion to mix and blend the Indian classical music with western influences, such as Jazz and Fusion.

Matthias has played with some of the top Indian musicians of our generation,

such as; Dr. L. Subramaniam, Sivamani, Salil Bhatt and Tanmoy Bose along with many others. Recently, Matthias has recorded a new guitar trio album with Grammy Award Indian guitarist Vishwa Mohan Bhatt."

He plays also with Indofusion group Ahimsa.

Ahimsa is reviewed on http://psychefolk.com/ahimsa.html

Bo'Weavil Rec.

Victor Herrero : Anacoreta (SP,2009)****

It is said that Victor Herrero started as a Benedictine monastery chorister, then played for a whole while in a psycho-rock band. He has released before an album as a pianist under the name of Victor Cicely (“Connotaciones para Piano” SGAE, 2006). Lately he was know for his cooperation on stage and on the latest album of Josephine Foster. Last but not least he has a distinctive guitar style, an attractive style between light and strong, influenced by Spanish flamenco, lightly swinging, with a powerful touch of full-five-fingers fantasies in the playing, but most often also with a lighter touch as if from a small wing, no claws, even harp-like on 6, like a sometimes strange minimal-impressionist version of flamenco (4), being able to hum more the chords, trrrmmm trrmmm playing with a heard fire in background, on a wine bottle’s wine-falling-in-a glass-sound rhythm, like a new impression after a dance : a song, strummed impressions with Spanish effect, recalling the energy of the flamenco softly, or taking a trip on the rhythm of a burning heard fire (burning occasionally in the background), melodically happy at times. On the last track he also shows a few more occasional free moves in between the recognisable melodic evolutions. An album which succeeds in leaving a warm impression.

Audio : "Jacara Zingara", "Trenos", "Al Tarab", "A la Flor del Berro"

Info & audio : http://www.myspace.com/victorherrero

Review with audio : http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=162233

Other review : http://news.scotsman.com/entertainment/...

Label info : http://boweavilrecordings.com/victorhererro.html

Dagdad Rec.Pierre Bensusan : Prés De Paris / P.B.2 (F,2001)****'/?

Dadgad Music/Acoustic Music

Pierre Bensusan : Intuite (F,2001)****'

Before I listened to the 2000 release I preferred to check again Piere Bensusan’s earliest release again, from 1975, to feel how he has evolved. On his first release, Pierre Bensusan already distinguished himself as a brilliant guitarist/singer, in the line of Bert Jansch with some post-Renaissance and French old songs elements. For people who want to check out this later work too, I will tell you that I noticed a certain maturation in his solo guitar work. With a certain inner voice, the pieces come moodily from inside, and are played with warm dynamics, evolved from his previously played styles but a bit more independent from the old music traditions. Especially distinctive is the title piece, played as if playing the oud or some old music instrument with a distinctive individual sound and specific body. Afterwards I read that this piece was dedicated to the Iraqi oud master Munir Bachir and his use of silence.

There’s more to say about this album but I won’t go much further into more in-depth detail this time... Recommended for guitar enthusiasts.

Dadgad Music/Acoustic Music

Bensusan & Malherbe : Live au New Morning (F,1997)****'

Even when Malherbe’s first life with psychedelic band Gong gave him already some interesting approaches, his second life in cooperation with many solo artists showed another distinctive vision : clear-light, jazzy and with a wide range of warm feelings, like birds breeding in one area and surviving on the other side of the world next. It’s incredible how varied “singing” on different flutes and soprano sax can be heard, which Pierre Bensusan adapts and tunes into as a perfect description of an environment, each time and for each situation. This is in fact outside jazz and world music, with an independent richness.

Video : http://www.youtube.com/...

Audio on http://music.aol.com/... & on http://www.hdtracks.com/...

Info on Bensusan : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Bensusan

& http://www.innerviews.org/inner/bensusan.html

Info on Malherbe : http://calyx.club.fr/mus/malherbe_didier.html

with interview : http://homepages.3-c.coop/facelift/facelift/didier%20malherbe.html

Homepage : http://www.pierrebensusan.com/

& with audio : http://www.myspace.com/pierrebensusan

Homepage Malherbe : http://www.didiermalherbe.com

Info & audio : http://www.pierrebensusan.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=84 &

http://www.pierrebensusan.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=86

Label : http://www.acoustic-music.de/ (see also name at "künstlerportrait" ; there audio)

Other reviews of 'Intuite' : http://www.xs4all.nl/~guitars/reviews.html

& http://www.enjoythemusic.com/Magazine/music/1202/bensusan.htm

& http://www.buyzillion.com/B00005O4V3/Intuite.html

Other reviews 'Live In Paris' : http://www.jazznow.com/0702NS/NSPBen.html

& http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/417

NHS

Marc Liebeskind : Gender Revolution (CH,rec.2005-2008)****'

This album is completely dedicated to a new combination of raga guitar with a certain jazzy way (track 3) plus other elements within reach of new influences, although most tracks are played in a rather Indian classical way, (track 7 rather repetitive even) with some side-effects. Also, it is played with a completely unique guitar type, the 16-string ‘sit-guitar’, with several resonance strings attached and other adjustments which took 5 years to complete before the result was perfect for its use. Now the guitar sounds like a suitable alternative to the sitar with a body of guitar, and guitar strings, which makes it suitable to play subtle different guitar styles into the Indian way of playing. The music is performed with additional tabla, and some occasional other instruments like violin, ngoni bass, and bendir & riqq and bougarabou (rhythm instruments). Last track is a real fusing track with the full band (Indian violin/guitar/tabla).

Info & audio : www.myspace.com/marcliebeskind

& http://cdbaby.com/cd/mliebeskind4

About the Sit-Guitar : http://www.marcliebeskind.com/Sit-guitare.html

Homepage : http://www.marcliebeskind.com

with this release : http://www.marcliebeskind.com/Gender.html

Other reviews : -

Group Projects, like Talking Drums is reviewed on http://www.psychefolk.com/WORLD2.html

and Taffetas on http://psychemusic.org/africa9.html

Devine Noise

Justin Pigott -cdr- (US,rec.2005-2008)***°

Massachesetts Justin Pigott released this fine steelstring guitar album with melodic pickings with an ear for subtle variations in rhythm, sound and pich, combining pure melodic pickings with slide effects on some movements, and with well worked out changes within one composition that makes them surprising enough to keep your full attention, so that these well developed evolutions have something natural and timeless, developed by an independent vision on the development of melodic ideas, where the attention of the composer is given to how these pieces give the best effect on the guitar. Some of the pieces develop like songs. The album closes with a variation of “Amazing Grace”.

Info & audio : http://www.myspace.com/justinpigott

Biography : http://www.vernadear.com/artists/justinpigott.html

Other review : http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=9415

Other release : http://www.vernadear.com/releases/jp_jp.html

Anova Prod.

Yair Yona : Remember (IS,2009)****/***°

Promising Israeli label Anova took under it's wing guitarist Yair Yona (12-string acoustic, intoxicated banjo and Weissenborn lap steel guitar), who has developed his own style based upon certain predecessors (John Fahey for his ideas in developing traditions further, Bert Jansch for his charming guitar style perhaps, Glenn Jones for his to a degree comparable independent vision based upon blues and ragtime styles) and upon certain style interests (so of course the early Missisipi & Delta blues and ragtime themselves) up to some examples of the independent/acid folk artists (mentioned by the label were the ultra-somber Godspeed You!Black Emperor), adapted into his own guitar playing compositions.

The bluesy/ragtime bluesy pickings are picked with an explorative use of textures, in a melodical way with a certain happy lightness. A couple of tracks uses certain background feedback sounds as textures as if formed from late and vaguely returned sounds coming from the same string echoes (on “remember”), or sounding like distant slide guitar textures which, like a dog in the distance, formed a response to the lead the acoustic guitar pickings (on the second track), or like more noise-based electric slides in the background, like a texture of an electrified sea under city lights (on track 6). Just now and then a banjo takes care of a second layer. The pickings alone can be distinctive enough not to carry any additional sound with it (like on the faster Bert Jansch-like “Brave Walls). Different also is the longer conclusive track, “Skinny Fist”, which after some picking patterns improvises in a stretched more raga-esque open tuning (a mode which once reappeared in guitarists like Steffen Basho-Junghans perhaps), to conclude this with a very nice chamber orchestration with texturing drum rhythms.

A strong distinctive album which I’m sure will not remain unnoticed too long.

Audio : “Struggled so hard”

Info & audio : http://www.myspace.com/yairyona

Homepage : http://yairyona.net/

Article : http://crushonscottwalker.blogspot.com/2009/08/yair-yona.html

Weissenborn guitars see http://www.weissenborn.es/g_history.html

Strange Attractors Audio HouseGlenn Jones : Barbecue Bob in Fishtown (US,2009)****°

Despite enthusiasm for the previous works of Glenn Jones this new one really succeeded to surprise me. The guitar style and approach matured further. The depth of his visions are guided by some explanations of his inspirations in the booklet, explaining from which examples he developed his mastery.

The main title is played on a 5-string banjo, sounding closer in sound to the guitar. Glenn Jones expresses his greatfulness to Paul Metzger who showed him a vision for contemporary banjo playing while remaining in respect to some old masters (Hobart Smith, Roscue Holcomb, George Stavis 1969 LP and Bill Faier’s 1973 LP), explaining also how he tried making guitar sound more banjo like by replacing the low E string by a high E while this still couldn’t do it. In improvising and developing new tunes Glen Jones discovered twice that he accidentally reused some old tunes, like on the second track with “Jeux interdits” from Narsisco Yepes, a known piece for guitar students in Europe, but this came up so spontaneously it still is something new and entirely his. Also the fourth track reused something of Robbie Basho’s “Redwood Ramble”, but instead of checking the source better on the moment of realisation, he developed this into something which remained completely his own, a spontaneous “collaboration” as he called it, with a happy open conclusion. One track is dedicated to Wendy Ritger’s girlish days where he inspired Glenn Jones, a spontaneous descriptive mood around older tunes melancholy with some nostalgia inflicted by the memory. Very special is the transcriptive inspiration from Swiss writer Robert Walser who wrote ultra short stories, showing a very original way of restricted guitar melody with lots of deeper colourful contents of sonic plots and detail. Also the 8th track is very rich in movements. It is a piece dedicated to Robbie Basho and used his sort of rich chords of harmonies, slow developments outs of its majestic range of hidden harmonies, makes changes then in themes. An extremely moody piece, rich in emotion. Recommended, a perfect album, with some memorable performances.

Label info : http://strange-attractors.com/catalog/saah056.html

Description on http://www.insound.com/... & http://www.clear-spot.nl/...

Info & audio : http://www.myspace.com/glennjonesguitar

Other review : http://www.iodamarketing.com/2009/08/review-glenn-jones/

Previous releases reviewed on http://psychedelicfolk.com/guitar8.html

& http://psychedelicfolk.com/guitar3.html

Sound Ohm Michelle Lombardelli : Broken Guitars -LP- (I,2009)***°

Described by the label as "guitar improvisations between Loren Connors, Derek Bailey and Robbie Basho, with a tinge of sadness that permeates every moment and creates a sense of longing and nostalgia that seems destined for a nameless past", I prefer to find my own description so that people might get more easily into the creative process where a reviewer will try to give a description of the styles and elements used.

You can hear in the first two improvisations strange chords combinations of strings, ear-sensitive, using one to two finger discoveries, stopping, sliding, picking in the rhythm of space, letting the strings speak out with vibrations in space and with equal time intervals, finding melody over the intervals and strange chords and combinations, echoing them out and finding a few combinations with them now and then within them. This isn’t as odd as it seems because the patterns of exploring is stretched over a certain time so that the whole piece becomes its own sort of moody meditation.

The last track (side B) first uses slides and lots of stops but is based upon the same principle, then finds different combinations peeping and stretching, and vibrating the strings with her fingers and full hand, at times with a reserved calmness and minimalism of expression, like a vast object in space with its characteristics. I can imagine how a visual artist goes to a room and discovers objects as if they are instruments, discovering their sounds and textures and role in its sonic environment. I recognise this, because when I followed an evening course of sculpturing I was completely into that, and in that environment I had the wish to record that sonic world of objects. The only thing I could do was to perform instantly with some of the available sounds. Michelle Lombardelli uses her guitar a bit in that sense. She is also a visual artist. She describes her works as that her “works are meant to create a new symmetry and a different, possible, incomprehensible comprehensiveness through distant and discordant elements." It is in fact the expression where melody is stopped only to be reorganised differently : to be restricted in a time rhythm of a limited space.

Limited LP edition to 150 copies.

Label info with audio : http://www.soundohm.com/michele-lombardelli/broken-guitars/private/

Homepage : http://www.michelelombardelli.com/

with more info : http://www.michelelombardelli.com/music.html

Japanese page with pictures and audio : http://art-into-life.com/?pid=15428967