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Desert Guitar

Greg Nelson | Lubbock, Texas, USA | 10/10/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The guitar music (with spare accompaniment) on this CD broadened my horizons in a number of ways; and the unobtrusive superb nature sounds, such as desert songbirds, migrating geese, hoot-owls, wind, horses, coyotes!, trickling water, distant rain and thunder, singing frogs, chanting insects - are seamless segues between the original, simple - by no means whatsoever simplistic - compositions, which themselves approach the sublime. I have tried, unsuccessfully, to find out from Northsound Music who the musicians were on this recording (so I could obtain more of it!); there is precise studio production here also, but in no way does it sound "canned" or overdone for its idiom; it is flawless thematically and in execution ("Desert Night" is particularly nice). This music has accompanied me mentally for about 10 years now; I go through seasons when I listen to it almost ritualistically: on a cold, dry, weekend morning, coffee infused with the scent of sagebrush and diesel fumes. I am listening to it now, and I feel myself transported to Apache Pass beneath Grand Canyon down to Tucson skirting Sandia on over to Big Bend where the Rio Bravo is wild; on to Guadalupe Mountain in Far West Texas; also to the high deserts of the Great Basin where Northern Nevada, Eastern Oregon and Southern Idaho converge in the Snake River drainage on its way to the sea. Somehow, for me, Desert Guitar captures a sense of those geographical epiphanies and a deep sense of place. The first half of the CD introduces styles inherent to the Spanish-tuned, nylon (or gut) stringed guitars: some lively yet restrained fingerwork, flamenco-influence, punctuated with articulated flat-picking - a curious, percussive sound both plaintive and bold, that only a guitar can produce. The middle of the thematic journey evokes torrid days drenched with sun and sweat. The latter third of the disc invites cooling imagery, of big sky vistas, purple and orange, sharp shadows, disruptive patterns. Weaving in major and minor at variegated tempo and mood, these tunes touch the heart in undiscovered places, evoking introspective moods and existential hope. It would probably sound great on the Moon! (which is also our highest desert)."

The Harmony of Nature

Greg Nelson | 09/28/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this CD on a cross-country road trip and originally used it to relax and unwind at the end of a long day of driving. Soon it became my favorite music for quiet evenings, reading in bed, and even for romantic occasions. The beautiful music combined with bird songs and other animal voices, brings me back to the southwest every time I listen to it. If you never get a chance to visit that area of the U.S., buy this CD and you will get a feeling of what it's like to be there on a warm evening, sleeping under the stars. The guitar playing is exceptionally good, for an un-named musician, and the compositions are different enough to make for very interesting listening."