Customer Reviews

La Guitara

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

 

 

Had the pleasure of attending the opening night of the La Guitara tour at Wolf Trap last nite. Went in the door not knowing any of these guitarists and came out still amazed at the jaw-dropping technique and tone of Mimi Fox. Patty Larkin and Muriel Anderson were also on the bill (Kaki King was ill and didn't perform). Bought this CD on the way out the door and have been listening to it all afternoon. Recommended as a great collection of different guitarists--only incidentally important (to me anyway) that they're all women. Recommended.

I saw La Guitara at the Ark in Ann Arbor and purchased the CD while there. It is an eclectic acoustic guitar collection--ranging from Kaki King's rhythmic style to Jennifer Batten's intense electrified sound to Patty Larkin's melodic slide guitar. A favorite of mine is The Bear, played by Alex Houghton (I'm here visiting Amazon to find more of Alex's music). I think Patty Larkin was a major player in the selection of pieces for this album, and its diversity is a tribute to her artistic talent.

Anyone who's interested in the guitar as an instrument in it's most artistic form will love this album.

A great sampler with an interesting theme. Whoever compiled this selection can be proud. There's not a bad number on here, ranging from what could be zither to Spanish classical, to Fahey/Kottke-esque folk-pickin, jazz, country blues, rock, slide and even some metal. Don't listen to the complainers if you love the guitar - to get so much diversity from such an exceptional selection of talent on one cd is a real bargain.

What disappoints is that many of these artists already have contracts with labels. If the intent was/is to bring them to the attention of the buying public, this serves that purpose, I suppose.

But I am rather disappointed in some of the selections chosen as they do not really showcase the talent. Jennifer Batten's selection as a case in point is impressive -- she can play fast and do arpeggios... yippie skippie -- but I want to hear her play something more musical and inspiring, even if in her characteristic bombastic fashion it would serve better in this forum.

Elizabeth Cotten was a nice addition, albeit not really what I would have chosen. To me, the notariety of Ms. McIllwain goes back to the '70's and doesn't exactly fit -- though she is a killer player and I love her stuff. Kaki King is much more recent and more to the point I think. It would have been nice to bring lesser knowns to the attention of an audience, don't you think? Perhaps I'm off base here, but established artists don't really need to be here.