Jim Green "True North" 2015
If you're looking for a disk of quiet, slow, soothing acoustic guitar music, look no further than Jim Green's
True North. The 11 tunes on the CD have an ethereal air about them, even his covers of Don McLean's "Vincent"
and "Turning" by Alex DeGrassi (played about half as slow as the original, yet infused with its own mystery).
Green makes good use of simple, stark guitar parts played with an almost minimalist quality in repetition. He
also adds Native american flute, harmonica, and "imaginery instruments" to good effect. "Back of Beyond" reminds
me of riding home from swimming on my 10-speed when I was a kid. "Weathered" is more up tempo, and benefits from
both violin and cello in the mix to add delicate and mournful meoldy lines. The opening cut, "No Regrets," gets
another shot as the last track, but with different treatment that makes you move back and forth between the two to
hear what he is saying in their differences. I think my favorite tune is "Cascade," with a richer, more nuanced
melodic development and solid playing. Good music for a book and a cup of tea on a solitary afternoon.
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Kirk Albrecht
Eberhard Klunker "Lietzensee" 2015
Lietzensee is an exquisite, breathtaking and remarkable achievement recorded and performed improvisationally in
the Kirche am Lietzensee (Church on Lietzen Lake) located in Berlin.
Guitar virtuoso Eberhard Klunker's genius, artistry and impeccable execution are in full bloom throughout this
superb collection of original compositions and arrangements performed on his Goodall Standard Guitar. The ebb
and flow of Lietzensee is exquisite, breathtaking and remarkable; akin to a fine Muscat grape that explodes with
such sweet flavor. Klunker sates that, "In my music, improvisation plays a very important role. Some pieces are
completely improvised without any guidelines. And others develop their form around a theme and form a spontaneous
situation. Each piece is unrepeatable in its arrangement." The aptly titled "Prelude At 6" opens the CD with
church bells, our first auditory clue of breadth of the sonic experience to come. What follows is a rather
serious yet playful progression that gives way to the wide open energy of "Some Sambal" which truly opens
our ears to the wide sonic pallet that Klunker dabbles with throughout this rambunctious, free-spirited roller
coaster ride or artistic freedom and expression. Klunker blends so many styles and techniques throughout this
collection from jazz, fusion, blues, gypsy to soul and much in between. Many tunes stand out, but this whole is
just as great as its parts. Favorites include "13", "Stop, Stop, Go!", the cinematic "Mr. Hope" and the finale,
"Nudges". It is as if Klunker has captured 12 lightning bugs in a jar and held it up for all to marvel at their
luminosity. Lietzensee might be the best acoustic release of the year!
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James Filkins
Jim Hurst & Roberto Dalla Vecchia "Atlantic Crossing" 2015
What a fun CD! The impeccable fingerstylist Jim Hurst teams up with friend and fellow artist from (originally)
across the pond - Italy, to be exact - accomplished flatpicker Roberto Dalla Vecchia, to duet on traditional
songs and original compositions. Their interplay results in an outstanding compilation, one that is far more
imaginative and complex than many duet recordings where one guitarist plays melody and the other the accompanying
bass or rhythm. For instance, near the end of "Monte Pasubio," each guitar plays a phrase that overlaps with the
one before in a kind of round, resulting in harmonies and a lovely layering of sounds. In traditional
"Golden Slippers" the musicians switch off lead and support, but also play long passages of super-fast
bluegrass-style picking in unison. Virtuoso playing is especially evident on the four traditionals,
while the beauty of the arrangements especially shines through on two songs with vocals. But perhaps most
impressive are the four original compositions. The title track and "Walking to Vicenza," both written by Hurst,
are tour de force pieces with splintery fast-picking runs and percussive rhythms, breathtaking in intensity.
Those by Roberto Dalla Vecchia ("Moonlight Passage" and "Dancing Lightly,") are slower and achingly beautiful.
In imagistic "Moonlight Passage" one guitar plays the melody while the other plays a repeated set of
complementary notes with an echoing bass riff - in the way the notes fly off, it's meant to mimic the way
dandelion seeds escape in the wind. Like the different sounds of their instruments, which contrast and yet
are complementary, Atlantic Crossing shows that when two guitarists are as synergistic as Hurst and Dalla
Vecchia, they can bridge any distance through their music.
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Céline Keating
