Search - Tommy Emmanuel :: Endless Road

"Oh, that's niiiiiiiiiiiice"

Mark J. Fowler | Okinawa, Japan | 03/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm playing this CD right now in my office and one of my co-workers just came by to say "oh... that's niiiiiiiiiice."



Tommy Emmanuel is not only an absolutely brilliant guitarist, he's also an incomparable showman. I attended a recent concert and he held the packed hall in the palm of his hand for about two and a half hours with just himself and his guitar. Amazing.



The live Tommy is a particular treat because he gets more variety of sounds out of his guitar than about anyone. On several tunes he uses it as a percussion instrument, not only beating the box like a drum, but also pulling out a drummer's brush and brushing the guitar, the strings, the bridge and his microphone. He understandably puts a lot of wear and tear on his guitar. But even better, while putting his six-string through musical aerobics he smiles and prances and flaunts and flourishes his way through his music with a zeal that is infectious. Like Michael Jordan with his tongue hanging out, you can see that Tommy Emmanuel is a man who loves what he's doing.



Now - how difficult is it to capture all that on an audio CD? His music is brilliant, of course, but Tommy's music without the "show" would be like listening to a recording of a three ring circus, missing the visual spectacle.



So - this review isn't to compare an audio CD to an Emmanuel concert.



But it's still fiiiiiiiiiine. It's niiiiiiiiiiice.



Some of the cuts here would have to be considered amongst "greatest hits" - Tall Fiddler is always a show stopper with his country-style flat-picking brilliance. I Still Can't Say Goodbye is a touching favorite about the legacy passed from a father to a son (and although Tommy isn't exactly Sinatra, he has a pleasant enough singing voice and he keeps his vocal work to things easily within his range artistically.) His arrangement of Somewhere Over the Rainbow is a guitar masterpiece, opening with a descending cascade of harmonic arpeggios before settling into an absolutely sublime arrangement of Gerschwin-esque cords and little flashes of lightning melody.



With nineteen tracks, and no duds in well over an hour of music, this CD is also something of a musical bargain.



I say get it, and enjoy.

"

Music to my ears!

A. J. van Berlo | Netherlands | 02/12/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What can I say about this CD.... There isn't much to say.... Except, when I go for my run amongst the meadows and put on my i-pod playing this cd, it feels like I running into a completely new world. The feelings go deep and few albums bring me so much joy,... Forget about how great this guy is at playing the guitar, forget about all this technical stuff, his music touches me and lifts my spirit. What else can you look for in music?!"