December 2002
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BALLURIO |
MATILDA |
OZRIC TENTACLES |
CALIFORNIA GUITAR TRIO |
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STEVE HOWE Skyline (IOMA) In
late 2002 Steve Howe returned with one of his best solo studio albums
yet and his first for the prolific prog-rock masters at Inside Out
Music America. In between his live and studio work as the guitarist
in Yes, Howe released his acoustic album Natural Timbre in 2001
and he follows it up with the eclectic, orchestral sounds of Skyline.
According to Howe, I like to keep moving around and not stay
in one sort of musical pattern. My last album, 2002s Natural
Timbre was more acoustic-oriented and I felt I had exhausted that
kind of playing for a time. Howe performs much of Skyline himself
although his long time musical cohort, keyboardist Paul Sutin aids
the guitar master on a number of tracks. Very much in the spirit of
his work with Yes, Skyline is filled with a diverse collection
of Howes memorable melodies, riffs and arrangements. The guitarist
adds, I never wanted to be pinned down, and guitarists are dreadfully
typecast in the same way actors sometimes are for certain roles. You
were viewed as a rock guitarist or a jazz guitarist, and there didnt
seem to be any middle until I heard Chet Atkins. I kind of mixed my
goals because I always wanted to be a performing guitarist but I wanted
to write music as well. Released in the afterglow of the success
of the 2001 Yes album, Magnification, Skyline is classic Howe
from start to finish.
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STEVE HACKETT Somewhere In South America... (MVD / Camino) The
Oaks, PA.-based MVD made a number of people quite happy a couple
years back with The Tokyo Tapes DVD from progressive rock
superstar Steve Hackett and in 2002 they follow up with another
Hackett DVD entitled Somewhere In South America...Live At Teatro
Coliseo Buenos Aires. This CD might not have the huge
names featured on The Tokyo Tapeslike one time King Crimson
members Ian McDonald and John Wettonbut it does
feature another mightily impressive performance by the progressive guitar
superstar whos assisted here by Roger King (keyboards),
Gary OToole (drums), Terry Gregory (bass) and Rob
Townsend (sax, flute). A well filmed and brilliantly executed example
of Hacketts 2000 sound, the mostly instrumental two hour DVD features
a number of classic Hackett tracks including Watcher Of The Skies
(a spooky, shorter instrumental version), Los Endos, Riding
The Colossus, Sierra Quemada as well as Steve's fine
vocal work on Darktown. In addition, the DVD contains Somewhere
In Italybonus footage packed with backstage footage and
interviews from Steves 2000 Italian tour.
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BALLURIO In The Machine (Eigg Island)
The phrase progressive instrumental rock really doesnt
do justice to the 2002 CD from VA.-based guitarist Ballurio. As good
as his 2000 record, Spider Dance was, in retrospect
it was really the stepping stone on the road to the brilliantly
conceived In The Machine. Tastefully described
as an instrumental exploration of guitar rock from the perspective
of melody and orchestrated guitar, the 2002 release of In The
Machine takes Ballurios one of a kind approach to progressive,
hard rock, instrumental music soaring to new heights. While the guitarist
wrote, arranged, performed, programmed, produced, engineered and mixed
the nine track In The Machine himself, theres no shortage
of stunning musical ideas and studio craft on hand. Although in the
past hes been compared to greats like Steve Morse, Steve Vai and
even Edgar Froese of Tangerine Dream, Ballurio delivers the breakthrough
CD he promised with the superbly crafted In The Machine.
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MATILDA The Angel Of The North (Magic) The
French-based Magic Records continues on with some excellent new
guitar-based albums and reissues. Topping the list is the 2002 instrumental
CD from Frances teenage guitar sensation Matilda, who follows
up her 2000 CD Little Shadow with the 12 track The Angel Of
The North. She may still be in high school, but Matilda has some
cool new sounds on Angel, including the title track and covers
of Shadows classics like Blue Star, Wonderful
Land and a cover of You Dont Have To Say You Love
Me. Greatly influenced by the area in England called Newcastle
upon Tyne, The Angel Of The North, is an excellent album of European
style guitar sounds as presented by a youthful, gifted Shadows disciple.
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OZRIC TENTACLES Live At The Pongmasters Ball (Snapper) That
whole Planet Gong movement between the late 60s till the late
70s, found guitarist Steve Hillage in the company of the loony
genius Daevid Allan. No doubt inspiring many a great player, Hillage
and Allan took their glissando guitar techniques to new heights within
and without Gong. Respect for the sounds of vintage instrumental space
guitar music could be viewed as a prime element that led to the formation
of Ozric Tentacles, a band that released their first cassettes in 84/85.
Guitarist Ed Wynne and his merry band of space cowboys have been
mesmerizing audiences and audiophiles for quite a while now and the
groups latesta new double disc live set on Snapper Music
is a marvel to hear. Recorded at the popular Shepherds Bush Empire in
London on 3/29/02 the double CD Live At The Pongmasters Ball
presents a recent snapshot of the British space cowboys in prime form.
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CALIFORNIA GUITAR TRIO A Christmas Album (IOMA) Although
it was recorded over a five day period in October 2001, A Christmas
Album is truly an album for the ages. Coming off the success of
their 2002 studio album CG3+2, California Guitar
Trio have wisely re-released A ChristmasAlbum on Inside Out
Music America. On A Christmas Album, the acclaimed guitar
group put their own unique spin on Christmas holiday music with group
member Paul Richards adding, In working with traditional
pieces of music we wanted to put our twist on things and bring them
to life. We didnt want the music to sound plain. You can hear
on each piece how we made it our own. CGT have long been praised
for their progressive approach to acoustic guitar music and A Christmas
Album is certainly up there among the groups best recordings
yet. With Richards ably assisted by his CGT mates Bert Lams and
Hideyo Moriya, California Guitar Trio continue their fascinating
approach to modern, progressive acoustic guitar music.
Attention Artists and Record Companies: Have your CD reviewed
in mwe3.com and 20th Century Guitar. Send to P.O. Box 630249, Little
Neck, N.Y. 11363-0249 e-mail: info@mwe3.com
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