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February / March 2003
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 GORDIAN KNOT |
 DENIS TAAFFE |
 ALIEN COWBOYS |
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RY COODER / MANUEL GÁLPAN Mambo Sinuendo (Nonesuch)
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TAK
MATSUMOTO
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GORDIAN
KNOT
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DENIS TAAFFE
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ALIEN
COWBOYS
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DAVE
AND DAVIS
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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Citing
influences like Cuban Mambo jazz king Perez Prado, Stan Kenton’s
Cuban Fire sound, Henry Mancini’s “Evil a la Prado” and
even the mambo-esque sound of Duane Eddy and his version of “Theme
From Peter Gunn”, American guitar hero Ry Cooder joins forces
with Cuban guitarist Manuel Galbán on the amazing Mambo
Sinuendo. Also featuring drumming legend Jim Keltner, Ry’s
son Joachim Cooder and Buena Vista Social Club bassist Orlando
“Cachaíto” López, the 2003 CD is a fruitful
union of two incredible guitar masters and also introduces Galbán
to the American audiences. Galbán’s been playing in his
native Cuba since 1944 and earned his reputation in 1963 with his otherworldly,
surf-riffed electric guitar sound as the lead guitarist in the leading
Cuban vocal group Los Zafiros. Since his early years on Warner Bros.
and classic discs like Get Rhythm and the Paris, Texas soundtrack,
Cooder was always a master at merging all forms of tropical and exotic
guitar genres and styles and with Mambo Sinuendo he’s clearly
hit a new pinnacle. Cooder and Galbán make a formidable guitar
team and the mostly instrumental set superbly straddles a number of
genres with ease and delivers with a fantastic Latin guitar groove.
You can’t miss the albums incredible cover art. File this one under
Mambo Surf Instrumental. 
Back
in the ‘80s guitarist Tak Matsumoto formed the rock group B’z
in his native Japan going to sell an enormous 80 million units. Matsumoto
began his solo career around the same time and has gone on to release
a number of acclaimed solo albums since. His latest, Hana was
picked up by guitarist Steve Vai and his label Favored Nations.
Regarding his first U.S. release Tak adds, “Of course, all my life
as a guitarist, I have been influenced by Western music, which still
sometimes shows in my work, but at my core, there exists an Asian spirit
with Asian melodies. So I let this flow out naturally in this album,
Hana.” A perfect album for fans of Jeff Beck’s more
melodic sounds as well as Al DiMeola and Jan Akkerman, Hana blends
a wide range of jazz and rock instrumental grooves. The CD is superbly
recorded and overall, Matsumoto’s East-West fusion guitar sound
is a most pleasant surprise indeed. 
A division of the New Jersey- based Laser’s Edge,
Sensory released the second album from progressive instrumental
rockers Gordian Knot entitled Emergent. Sure to be among the
critically acclaimed progressive albums of 2003, Emergent is
not only backed up by eight memorable and highly atmospheric tracks,
but it also features some of the genre’s most gifted players. Spearheaded
by bassist and stick virtuoso Sean Malone, the second Gordian
Knot album also benefits thanks to key contributions from drumming legend
Bill Bruford, Genesis guitar great Steve Hackett and Jim
Matheos, guitarist from the group Fates Warning. Several other fine
players including Paul Masvidal (guitar), Jason Gobel (guitar)
and Sean Reinert (drums) round out the group. Currently teaching
music theory at the University of Orgeon, Malone compares the two Gordian
Knot album adding, “On this one, the compositional arc is larger.
It contains a wide gamut of textures and there’s a little more
focus on melody, something to bring it all together.” The addition
of Bruford and Hackett to the mix clearly makes this excellent lineup
that much better. Emergent is a sonic treat for fans of
intelligent, well crafted progressive instrumental albums. 
Guitarist
Denis Taaffe puts his guitar rig into overdrive on his latest album
of sequenced guitar loops and heavy percussion beats. Performing all
the electric guitar parts and sequencing sublime drum loop patterns,
Taaffe’s intriguing one man band approach reaps rewards on what
is clearly his best solo album to date. Sounding greatly inspired by
the skill and vision of say, Robert Fripp combined the dynamic guitar
pyrotechnics of Robin Trower, Taaffe lays down the almighty groove on
MRG3. Proof that mixing improvised rock guitar and drum loops
can be both challenging and entertaining, MRG3 conjures a wide
variety of musical moods and settings while exuding a strong aura of
originality and intensity. 
Returning
after their critically acclaimed second album Analogtherapy, Alien
Cowboys are back in saddle again with 2002: Other Space. Lead
guitar ace Ralph Perucci and rhythm guitarist Bruce Stevenson
once again team up with Ian Thompson (drums) and Greg Jones
(bass) and the resulting album is quite enormous in scope. With
it’s sky-wide jazz-rock groove, 2002: Other Space is an
all around winner. Assisted by production and engineering experts Bill
Drescher and Gary Cirimelli, Alien Cowboys make good on early
promises and deliver the goods here. Packed tight with eleven high octane
instrumental guitar jaunts that more often than not accentuates melody
and atmosphere right up there with chops and musical might, 2002:
Other Space moves along at a steady clip while never missing a groove
or a beat. The group’s powerhouse instrumental rock reworking of
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” would make George Harrison
smile. 
Colorado-based
HapiSkratch Records have made a number of guitar fans
quite happy these past few years with their great albums by rock fusion
guitar great Dave Beegle and they’re pretty much done it
again with the debut from their latest group Dave And Davis entitled
Out For Good. Featuring contributions from all around guitar
virtuoso Dave Beegle, the duo of guitarist Dave Villano and keyboardist
Davis Hart are joined by several key players including drummer
Shawn Pickler and the resulting ten track album of sophisticated
and quite melodic instrumental jazz-rock music is a solid winner. Villano
demonstrates his keen caliber on all forms of electric and acoustic
guitars and the music—composed by the two of them alone and together—is
evocative, virtuous and energetic in all the right places. The quality
of the playing and the musical content is quite high and it’s clear
these guys should have a bright future.