Acoustic Axis
July/August 2006 By Josef Woodard
Altiplanos
Favored Nations
On Pierre Bensusan’s Alti-planos, his second album for Favored Nations, a label mostly known for its shameless electric guitar pyrotechnics, the French acoustic guitar hero offers a graceful unplugged alternative. Never mind that the set opens with the lovely...
July/August 2006 By Josef Woodard
The Deep Forbidden Lake
Lenapee
Offbeat yet organic glories shine through on the latest album from the Jazz Mandolin Project, The Deep Forbidden Lake, on which genre-flexible mandolinist Jamie Masefield is joined by Gil Goldstein on piano and accordion and Greg Cohen, working his grounding...
July/August 2006 By Josef Woodard
Touch the Spirit
Symbol System
In the notes for his fine album Touch the Spirit, guitarist Rob Levit credits a list of primary influences on his music, citing Tim Reynolds (guitarist with Dave Matthews as well as a unique solo artist and gifted player), Keith Jarrett and John McLaughlin...
July/August 2006 By Josef Woodard
Mosaic
Bolero
Washington, D.C.-based guitarists Lawson Rollins and Dan Young lend a good hand—or four—to the sometimes vapid genre of nuevo flamenco. Mosaic finds them intertwining deftly, weaving their nylon-stringed in tautly harmonized lines over pleasant, rolling...
July/August 2006 By Josef Woodard
Mell of a Hess
Stillway
On the fine Oregonian guitarist Jamie Stillway’s Mell of a Hess, the title’s word-playful linguistic deviation seems to reflect a larger musical identity. Mixing up genres without pretension, the nimble Stillway moves freely and with wit and creative restlessness...
July/August 2006 By Josef Woodard
The Valley
The Best of Martin Taylor
Guitar Label
Britain’s Martin Taylor holds a lofty spot in the ranks of international acoustic guitarists of note, bringing to his work clarity and technical finesse as well as a bright-minded stylistic range, connecting the dots between folk, pop and jazz. His musicianship...
July/August 2006 By Josef Woodard
Time Line
ECM Records
From the first luminous minutes of Ralph Towner’s new solo guitar album, Time Line, it’s clear that we’re in good hands and on a musical journey that’s by turns pensive and wise, atmospheric and focused. Between the opening track, “The Pendant,” and an unusually...
July/August 2006 By Josef Woodard
Tone Poets
On Tone Poets, a follow-up to the earlier album Tone Poems, the concept is simple and deceptively pure-sounding. Acoustic Disc founder and mandolinist David Grisman brought in an array of fine pickers—a total of 42 guitarists and mandolinists—into a studio...
