Jon Hassell "Vernal Equinox" (Lovely Music, 1977)

Artist: Jon Hassell
Album: "Vernal Equinox"
Release Date: 1977
Label: Lovely Music
Genre: Minimalism, World-Fusion, Experimental, Avant-Garde, New-Age
Mood: Sprawling, Sophisticated, Dreamy, Nocturnal
Reminds Of: Peter Gabriel, Brian Eno, Terry Riley
Definitely Worth Buying: InSound, CdUniverse

Tracklist
1. Toucan Ocean
2. Viva Shona
3. Hex
4. Blues Nile
5. Vernal Equinox
6. Caracas Night September 11, 1975

Trumpeter Jon Hassell was the originator and unrivalled master of the musical aesthetic he dubbed Fourth World -- in his own words, "a unified primitive/futuristic sound combining features of world ethnic styles with advanced electronic techniques."

Recorded in 1976 at the York University Electronic Media Studios in Toronto, Ontario, Vernal Equinox is Jon Hassell's first recording as a solo artist and sets the stage for his then-emerging career as a trumpeter, composer and musical visionary. "Toucan Ocean" opens the album with two gently swaying chords and delicate layers of percussion that provide a cushion upon which Hassell unfurls long, winding melodic shapes. His trumpet is sent through echo and an envelope filter, producing a stereo auto-wah-wah effect. "Viva Shona" features accompaniment by mbira, subtle polyrhythmic layers of percussion, and the distant calling of birds. Again filtered through echo, Hassell's gliding trumpet lines sound remarkably vocal. "Hex" features a bubbling, filtered electric bass part with a denser web of percussion. From his horn, Hassell elicits moans and sighs that are at first unaffected and later filtered. "Blues Nile" is a long, blue moan. Hassell's breathy, multi-tracked trumpet lines call and respond to one another, weaving a web of deep calm over an ever-present drone. This track clearly points the way to his later work with Brian Eno, in particular, their "Charm Over Burundi Sky." On the title track, Hassell's "kirana" trumpet style is in full bloom as he dialogs with the percussion. Hassell's most elegant melodicism blossoms forth here, and his unaffected horn often sounds disarmingly flute-like. The influences of his study of raga with Pandit Pran Nath are clearly discernible in the curvaceous melodic lines and overall sense of meditative calm within harmonic stasis. Throughout the album, percussionists Naná Vasconcelos and David Rosenboom add subtle, supple grooves and colors. "Caracas Night September 11, 1975" is a beautiful field recording featuring Hassell's plaintive trumpet commentary, subtle percussion interjections, and the sound of caracas humming and buzzing in the background. The first several tracks of Vernal Equinox bear the imprint of '70s-period Miles Davis, in particular the quiet ambience of "He Loved Him Madly" and parallel passages from Agharta. The envelope filter on Hassell's horn similarly draws a reference to Davis' use of the wah-wah pedal from that time. Nonetheless, in 1976, Vernal Equinox was remarkably unique and ahead of its time, and sowed the seeds of Hassell's influential Fourth World aesthetic, which he would continue to develop and refine. Decades after its release, Vernal Equinox still provides an enchanting and entirely contemporary listening experience.

(source:AllMusicGuide)

"From 1973 up until then I was totally immersed in playing raga on the trumpet. I wanted the physical dexterity to be able to come into a room and be able to do something that nobody else in the world could do. My aim was to make a music that was vertically integrated in such a way that at any cross-sectional moment you were not able to pick a single element out as being from a particular country or genre of music."

Pierre Bensusan "Intuite" (Favored Nations, 2001)

Artist: Pierre Bensusan
Album: "Intuite"
Release Date: February 11, 2001
Label: Favored Nations
Genre: Chamber-Jazz, Instrumental, World-Fusion, Neo-Classical
Mood: Reflective, Sweet, Warm, Refined
Reminds Of: Al Di Meola, Pat Metheny
What People Think: BridgeGuitarReviews
Definitely Worth Buying: Amazon, CdUniverse

Tracklist
1. Kadourimbou
2. The Welsh Arrow
3. So Long Michael
4. Intuite
5. Bouree Voltige
6. Le Jardin d' Adonis
7. La Hora Espanola
8. L' Alchimiste
9. Agadiramadan
10. En Route From Scarborough
11. Silent Passenger

For his first all-solo, all-instrumental, all-acoustic album, French fingerstyle guitar virtuoso Pierre Bensusan found himself signed to Favored Nations, a label owned by rock & roll stunt guitarist Steve Vai. It may not be an obvious pairing, but Vai has long been a fan of Bensusan's elegant and pancultural approach to the guitar, and with Intuite he offers Bensusan a warm, resonant ambience in which to stretch out. As you might expect, the compositions refer to any number of guitar traditions -- "Kadourimdou" nods to the blues before veering off into samba rhythms and a wholly unique combination of folk and jazz inflections; "En Route From Scarborough" (dedicated to fellow fingerstyle guitar hero John Renbourn) inverts the melody to "Scarborough Fair" and explores a whole new world of variations on that familiar theme; the sweet and melancholy "So Long Michael" (dedicated to the late Michael Hedges) comes from no single tradition in particular, but is a gentle soul cry inspired by the untimely death of a genius. Like most of Bensusan's work, this album can function as background music, but it would be a shame not to pay attention to the wit of his ideas and the grace of his playing.

(source:AllMusicGuide)

"Pierre Bensusan is the most creative energy in the world of steel string guitar by far." William Piburn (Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine-USA)

"Intuite stands as the finest, most artistic and passionate example of anything composed and recorded on the instrument. I am amazed at every phrase, every turn, every nuance. But then again, consider the source! I couldn't mean that more..." John Schroeter/Fingerstyle Guitar Mag. (USA)

Distinctions: AFIM Award for Best Acoustic Instrumental Album (USA) - Guitar Album of the Year ROOTS (UK) - Album of the Week JOURNAL DE MONTREAL (Canada) - Best Albums GUITARIST MAGAZINE (UK) - Ein wahres Juwel OWL AM SONNTAG (Germany) - Bravo!!! TRAD MAG (France)

Abstract fingerprints under the brushes of Claude Monet...

Clogs "Lullaby For Sue" (Brassland, 2003)

Artist: Clogs
Album: "Lullaby For Sue"
Release Date: September 12, 2003
Label: Brassland
Genre: Neo-Classical, Chamber-Jazz, Instrumental, World-Fusion
Mood: Sophisticated, Organic, Elegant, Eccentric
Reminds Of: Esmerine, Dirty Three, The Kronos Quartet
What People Think: AcousticGuitarCentral, SFGate, ClogsMusic
Definitely Worth Buying: Amazon, CdUniverse

Tracklist
1. No.6
2. Who's Down Now
3. Turtle Soup
4. Scratched By The Briar Patch
5. No.4
6. Swarms
7. No.1
8. Gentler We
9. Lullaby For Sue
10. No.3
11. Limp Waltz

This Australian/US band's second full-length album shows that there are more varied ways around instrumental classical post-rock (or whatever the term is to be in future) than are dreamt of by the likes of Godspeed You Black Emperor. Admittedly there's a moment or two where random sampled voices cut across the arrangements, but if the Australian-accented folks are meant to be some sort of critical focus, it's not apparent. Instead of obsessive structured sound, Clogs, led by violist Padma Newsome, embraces subtlety, variety and sometimes elusive melodies. Without seeming completely like an improvised effort, Lullaby for Sue sounds very much like it could have been created on the spot; the four main players freely able to allow for space and silence as much as adding their own particular parts. When there's an increase in energy, as the low-key growl of "Who's Down Now" shows at its start and end both, Bryce Dessner's guitar sounds almost like a strange signal; it's often contrasted with equally calmer moments. "Swarms" is probably where the band gets its most intense, building up to a tightly wound high point before settling down again, but Dessner's guitar is acoustic and the general feeling is dramatic but not epic. The fact that the quartet can effortlessly work with inspirations from all over the place -- "Turtle Soup" has hints of gamelan and other non-Western music -- is a further plus given how many other acts stick firmly in a European tradition. Rachel Elliott's bassoon and recorder efforts, most notably her work on the former, add both a mournful air and sometimes a bit of gentle playfulness, as can be heard on "No. 1" particularly well, while Newsome's one vocal turn on "Gentler We" is an enjoyable, unexpected surprise.

(source: AllMusicGuide)

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