|
|
||||||||
For audio
samples you'll |
|
|||||||
|
|
 JOE SATRIANI |
 TOMMY MERRY |
||||||
|
PETER FRAMPTON Fingerprints (Open Door / UMG)
|
||||||||
|
TOMMY
EMMANUEL
|
||||||||
|
JOE
SATRIANI
|
||||||||
|
TOMMY MERRY
|
||||||||
|
PETER
CURTIS QUARTET
|
||||||||
|
MICHAEL
BROOK
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
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Rock
guitar legend Peter Frampton walks through a new musical door with the
2006 release of Fingerprints. Commenting on the album release
on A&M / New Door, Frampton claims, “I’ve never done a
complete collection of instrumentals. This is something I’ve been
needing to do for myself for a long time.” Although best known
for his popular solo albums and groundbreaking rock work in Humble Pie,
Frampton grew up listening to guitar icons like Elvis guitarist Scotty
Moore, while paying even greater attention to U.K. guitar instrumental
hero Hank B. Marvin. So it’s very cool that Fingerprints
features Hank playing guitar with Frampton on a very tasty, Shadows
inspired track here called “My Cup Of Tea”—a song co-written
by Frampton, Hank, long time Shadows drummer Brian Bennett (who
also appears here) and Fingerprints co-producer Gordon Kennedy.
Incorporating the Shadows instrumental guitar sound his template, Frampton
takes it one step further, adding in guests such as Stones’ rhythm
section of Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman, pedal steel ace
Paul Franklin, John Jorgenson, members of Pearl Jam and
The Allman Brothers and more. From Shadows style cuts to Southern rock
and arena rock to be-bop and gypsy jazz, Fingerprints has Frampton’s
steadfast love of the guitar written all over it. 
One
of the most skillful guitarists anywhere, Australian guitarist Tommy
Emmanuel dazzles his fans in 2006 with the simultaneous release of a
new CD—The Mystery and a live DVD entitled Live At
Her Majesty’s Theatre, Ballarat, Australia. Over the years
Emmanuel has recorded and played alongside guitar legends like Les Paul,
Eric Clapton and Joe Walsh and he even recorded an album back in ‘97
with Chet Atkins called The Day The Finger Pickers Took Over The
World. An album filled with his legendary acoustic guitar instrumental
sound, The Mystery may be Emmanuel’s most rewarding album
to date, with the guitarist adding, “I don’t usually listen
to my own work; I tend to record something, and them move on. But I’ve
been enjoying the album a lot, as it’s deeper and more special
than anything I’ve ever done.” In addition to the classic
Emmanuel instrumental sound, The Mystery also includes a vocal
sung by Tommy and Elizabeth Watkins. The DVD, Live At Her
Majesty’s Theatre highlights a November, 2005 performance
recorded in 5.1 surround sound and filmed in widescreen with multiple
cameras with Emmanuel discussing—in between songs—his life
an music. Distilling folk, country and jazz sounds, both releases further
establish Emmanuel among today’s guitar greats. 
Joe
Satriani lives up to his guitar legacy on his 2006 CD Super Colossal.
Rocking out with some top musicians, including fusion thumper legend
Simon Phillips, Joe covers a staggering range of guitar instrumentals—from
soaring pop anthems to more hard rocking elements of his sound. Describing
the album from his lengthy track by track liner notes Joe adds, ‘All
of it comes under the umbrella of rock & rock, but that’s a
big umbrella.’ A fine example of Joe’s thought provoking approach
to his melodic instrumental fusion comes on track five, “Ten Words,”
which was written a day after 9/11 and which lay dormant till this album.
Joe explains, ‘As I was preparing music for this album, I found
it and played it, and it resonated with me. I had to record it.’
From surf-flecked nostalgia to hard rock fusion, Super Colossal has
it covered. 
Some
guitar players are unabashed romantics. A great melody, some great kick-ass
guitar tone and a hot rhythm section and you’re off. More hard
rock and fusion instrumentals, Merry fleshes it out nicely on his 11
track 2006 CD. Commenting on the new TM3 album, Merry adds, “Why
is this great? Because the project has signed on with World Class Engineer
Tom Size (Joe Satriani, Racer X, Neal Schon, Y&T, Joe Pass, Mr.
Big) for the final mixdown of the album.” There’s a solid
Hank Marvin meets Joe Satriani vibe afoot here. With the help of a good
sound man, Merry places the guitar way up front and the CD sounds great
on repeat spins. 
Gigging
around L.A. and teaching at Riverside Community College, guitarist Peter
Curtis has a made a most appealing jazzy / fusion guitar CD that should
find widespread appeal among guitarists and music lovers alike. The
mostly original Swing State CD is enhanced by covers of Django’s
“Nuages” and a funky take on the Stevie Wonder classic “I
Wish.” There’s been an upswing in popularity of guitarists
supported by B-3 or horn sections but Curtis has chosen to feature excellent
vibraphone backing from Eldad Tarmu, with both backed by a hot
rhythm section. A master of the fretboard, Curtis has been praised by
guitar masters like Gene Bertoncini and Mike Stern, proving that—while
he has a doctorate in classical guitar performance and literature and
has performed in a variety of musical situations including rock, klezmer,
classical and latin—Curtis comes alive in the jazz guitar quartet
setting. 
Who
better to provide the soundtrack for Al Gore’s spellbinder
about pending ecological / environmental disaster than L.A.-based U.K.
guitarist Michael Brook. Having worked with Brian Eno and a host of
avant gard legends, Brook is in prime form here conjuring a sonic backdrop
for Gore’s parable of planetary intrigue and dire forecasts for
mother earth. The movie itself is Gore in prime form echoing a state
of alarm on global warming that he’s be trying to convince people
of since the ‘70s when he helped bring it to light. The Paramount
DVD release of An Inconvenient Truth features widescreen, dolby
digital sound, 5.1, subtitles and more and is essential viewing. Featuring
Brook’s sinewy guitar leads and keyboard electronica, the soundtrack
CD of An Inconvenient Truth is a sonic feast that is very much
in the spirit of Brook’s minimalist ambient works with Eno yet
stands alone as a musical work. For a glimpse into Brook’s solo
music, check out the 2006 CD Rock Paper Scissors, pairing
Brook’s guitars / keyboards with a number of players. 
