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Congratulations on your thirty
years of making music available to more people in
the world!
Now, with great difficulty, I will
pick only three recordings as my
favorites.
Simon & Garfunkle / Sounds
of Silence -- This is a
record I listened to so many times as a young
teenager learning to play guitar. At the time I was
also very interested in singing and felt that this
record contained the best lyrics and the best
guitar arrangements I had ever heard. I learned to
play most of the songs on the album by ear, that is
to say, by listening to the record over and over
again. This recording shaped my early enthusiasm
for playing steel-string guitar.
Keith Jarret / Bremen Lausanne
Concerts (ECM) -- While
my guitar playing was also largely influenced by
folk music, I felt the "cross-genre" spirit of this
recording and Keith Jarret's solo concerts in
general to be like a doorway into a world of new
possibilties that would allow me in turn to expand
my approach to solo guitar. The title piece from my
first recording, Turning:Turning Back (1978), was
very much inspired by side three of this three
record set.
Egberto Gismonti /
Sanfona (ECM) -- This is
a double CD that uses the rich indigenous rhythms
of Brazil as a foundation for Gismonti's incredible
composing and improvising skills. It is to me the
definitive statement of how a composer can blend
his imagination with traditional music to create
something completely new. Without using any
cliches, this record seamlessly blends jazz, folk,
world, and classical music into one extremely
soulful experience.
Now I feel guilty because I have
left out so many wonderful recordings. Next time,
maybe I can at least pick ten?
all the best!
Alex
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