Customer Reviews

Altiplanos

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The description of Pierre Bensusan by John is a very accurate accounting of the works by this guitarist. John has a program on Public Radio called Echoes, where I first heard a selection from the album. I jotted it down, went online and purchased Altiplanos. I have not regretted it. This is a great album. It features tremendous guitar technique. It is also emminently a good listening experience. Many of the tunes are melodious, others are mesmerizing. Bensusan gets great sounds out of a guitar. His singing isn't bad. The liner notes are written in French with English translations. An interesting note is that Bensusan retunes the strings on his guitar for many of the tracks from the traditional EADGBE to DADGAD. Perhaps this explains his ability to play some of the chordal structures that he uses. I wonder how he remembers when the guitar is tuned one way or the other. It would make for interesting fingerings and quite an awareness of the different tuning. This album is predominately restful in character. If you like acoustic guitar, then this is an album that you NEED to have. It is a landmark of modern guitar music. If you are into New Age music for the relaxation, this is also a good album for you. It relaxes and energizes at the same time, as antithetical as that might sound. AND it does it without adding distracting nature sounds, just pure music. I have enjoyed this album immensely, have shared it with others and received postive responses from them as well. It is worth every penny I paid for it. I hope that you enjoy it as much.

I absolutely love the instrumentals...the guitar work is brilliant. Unfortunately, he also adds his vocals to a couple of track and I frankly would have preferred he hadn't. As a whole though, I'd recommend this CD for those who appreciate really great guitar.

I'm always amazed at the depth of Pierre's playing, he even sings on a couple of tracks. I would highly recommend this CD to anyone and especially any guitar players interested in alternate tunings and fingerstyle guitar playing.

All of the selections are excellent. Hymn 11 is wonderful. The two vocals numbers add another dimension that I like.