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 RETROSCAPE |
 SCOTT MORRIS |
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JAN AKKERMAN Live (MVD)
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PAT
METHENY GROUP
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RETROSCAPE
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SCOTT MORRIS
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TONY
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BILL
JEHLE
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
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His
first Stateside release in years, a 2004 DVD release on Music Video
Distributors, simply called Jan Akkerman Live,
captures two live September, 2001 German concert performances from
Dutch guitar great Jan Akkerman. Blazing away backed by a band of younger
players nearly half his age, Akkerman entices the crowd with his electrifying
instrumental blend of classical, bluesy, jazz-rock guitar virtuosity.
The DVD features an eye-catching 16 page booklet loaded with background
material and glossy color shots of the shows while the music captures
Akkerman in rare form before packed houses. As his 2004 studio album
C.U. proves, if anything, Akkerman’s guitar technique has
improved since his days in Focus and this live DVD goes a long way towards
confirming Akkerman as certainly among the finest guitar players to
ever emerge from continental Europe. A bonus track features footage
from a ‘70s jam session between Akkerman and flamenco wizard Paco
De Lucia, a performance on lute tied together with a recent video
interview of Akkerman speaking quite eloquently about his guitar past.
Thanks to the English subtitles we’re able to catch a rare insight
into a true guitar legend. 
According
to jazz-rock guitar pioneer Pat Metheny, “This is our most
ambitious undertaking ever as a group—and we have never been so
excited about a project.” Moving over to Nonesuch Records in 2004
following a sizable repertoire of albums on ECM, Geffen and Warner Bros.
Records, Metheny and long time keyboard accomplice Lyle Mays
have recorded a wild musical pastiche that encompasses just about every
musical aspect the two have touched on these past 30 years. Under the
helm of record company mogul Bob Hurwitz, Nonesuch have recently been
tapping into the spirit of classic Americana style sounds with recent
titles from Brian Wilson and the band Wilco (a great name for a Wilson
inspired band if there was one!) and Metheny’s early 2005 album
The Way Up is another perfect tribute to the label’s adventurous
spirit. The double barreled sound of Metheny and Mays—backed up
by a great band—is always a treat and on The Way Up they
achieve an incredible blend of sounds. Recorded in NYC in 2004, the
70 minute opus is broken into four parts that flow together and the
ear candy scenery just flows on by in no time at all. 
If
you took the best instrumental qualities of Meddle-era Pink
Floyd and soundtrack composer Jan Hammer circa his cinematic Miami
Vice years you might arrive with a musical concoction in the spirit
of the first album from El Kapitan. Completely performed by guitarist
Kirk Bartholomew and keyboardist Marc Soucy, the first
CD from El Kapitan, Retroscape starts of with an icy instrumental
version of the Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon classic “Breathe.”
Following a dramatic intro, the rest of the CD goes on to demonstrate
the duo’s mastery on a wealth of musical instruments as well as
some impressive studio production from Soucy. The high tech edge and
a fine tuned approach to combining melody and atmosphere carries their
unique brand of instrumental New Age rock music right along. The lush
musical scenery on Retroscape makes listening to El Kapitan
a trip worth taking. 
A
mixture of classical masterworks from Fernando Sor, Manuel De Fallia,
Joaquin Rodrigo, Niccolo Paganini, Leo Brouwer, Andrew York and Johan
Kasper Mertz, Invocation is a solid showcase for the classical
guitar performance of L.A. based Scott Morris. Having studied in master
classes with Sharon Isbin, Pepe Romero and Eliot Fisk, Morris made his
New York debut at Carnegie Hall in 1998 and his 2004 CD further establishes
him as a master of the solo classical guitar. Released on Eroica Classical
Recordings, Invocation was produced by John Dearman of
the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and captures an enthralling fingerstyle
classical guitar performance by Morris on his Thomas Humphrey ‘Millennium
Guitar’ on the modern, contemporary music, switching to a replica
of a Johann Stauffer guitar for early 19th century music. In addition
to his homage to some of the greatest classical guitar music ever written
on Invocation, Morris is also a member of the Hollywood Guitar
Duo, who released their self-titled debut on Eroica and are currently
preparing an ‘all-Hollywood film score’ program by composers
such as Elmer Bernstein and John Williams. 
If
you fail to catch a buzz off of Holyland, by N.J. based 12 string
electric bassist Tony Senatore, you’ve either got a tin ear, or
you’re dead! Like bass greats Chris Squire and the late great John
Entwistle, Senatore is masterful at mixing melody, mood and magic. Case
in point is a fabulous nine minute, jazz-rock instrumental medley of
classic Beatles music, which Senatore calls “Shapla”. From
his CD liner notes Senatore adds, “With this track I tried to reproduce
the vibe of the very first concert that I ever attended. George Harrison
at Madison Square Garden, with Ravi Shankar as the opening act.”
Preceding “Shapla”, Holyland features another Beatles
instrumental—a somber and stately reading of the Abbey Road
classic “Because”—with Senatore on upright bass assisted
by Tom Hammer (keyboard programming). Many players spur on Senatore’s
excellent work on upright bass, electric piccolo bass, and fretless
4 and 12 string bass including Van Romaine (drums), Andrew
Rothstein (guitar), Manolo Badrena (percussion), one time
Yes keyboardist Tom Brislin (Hammond B-3, mellotron) and pedal
steel ace John Widgren. Senatore also credits album co-producer
Frank D. Fagnano adding, “For so many reasons, this record
would not have been possible without him.” In mapping out
his vision of a truly deep and meaningful progressive bass oriented
instrumental album, Senatore wisely made sure that there’s bound
to be something here for all fans of progressive rock and fusion music.
Don’t
let the humorous cover art fool you—there’s some seriously
rocking instrumental music here. Released by Alabama-based guitarist
Bill Jehle, control FREAK clocks in under fifteen minutes, yet
there’s a wealth of guitar-based jazz-rock sounds that combines
the time-honored sound with some unexpected twists and turns. In addition
to the seven tracks featuring Jehle on all guitars, bass, drum programming,
robot voices and more, the CD features a part two enhanced track that
let’s you see what you hear Jehle creating a custom logo, replacing
a guitar neck, building a guitar body and neck and more. Commenting
of the 2004 release Jehle adds, “Here you can learn about how I
built each of my guitars, step by step. Then listen to a set of tracks
that I composed to squeeze every possible type of sound from them.”
Jehle proves himself to be a colorful character indeed and his freewheeling’,
inventive spirit and love of all things guitars comes sharply into focus
on the sublimely freaky control FREAK CD. 
