Improvika

Richard Bishop | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 5, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Locust
• ASIN: B0002QO4CW
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #317,362 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Inkblot

"...Bishop's compositions...possess a singular grace that deserves to be heard far beyond the confines of underground rock."

Product Description

Sir Richard Bishop's guitar work harks back to an earlier time, when acoustic guitar virtuosos like Leo Kottke and Robbie Basho reigned supreme. Back then, players rarely sang, but used all of their energies to create original music that would never be confused (as is the case in the early 2000s) with new age music. This skill and seriousness is reflected even on the title of Bishop's Improvika, and deepened by the odd titles -- "Gnostic Gem" and "Skull of Sidon" -- of individual compositions. But unlike a number of late-'60s and early-'70s guitar icons, Bishop's seriousness of purpose never impedes his ability to make entertaining music. In the driven "Rudra's Fest," for instance, there's ample use of odd chords, but instead of meandering into an Eastern morass, the piece builds in intensity for over eight minutes. The odd "Cryptonymus" qualifies as rather cryptic, but it never indulges in dissonance like a John Fahey composition, and Bishop's smart enough to keep the piece under two minutes. The longest effort is "Tripurasundari," and while the title may be difficult to pronounce, it successfully builds an affecting tension for over eight minutes. Improvika is the type of album guitarists study, wishing they could slow the CD down (as players used to slow down LPs to learn a guitarist's technique); acoustic fans, on the other hand, will be pleased to have a meaningful, full-bodied guitar album. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford Jr., Rovi --This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How often does a bad review cause you to seek out an album? Here's one!, June 21, 2007

By 

BD Wong "BD Wong" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Improvika (Audio CD)

The negative one star review this album received from Laszlo Nanasi was enough to make me return to my copy of this CD for a better listen. For some reason I remembered it as being a bit more experimental than SRB's first. Given Rick's 25+ year history/mystery with avant/punk/outside music legends Sun City Girls, such would not be a surprise. What I was astonished by was the depth and skill on display on Improvika. While Laszlo`s list of guitarists in his collection are all masters of the art , I was more intrigued by who was missing; John Fahey, Peter Lang, Robbie Basho, Leo Kottke, (i.e. the entire Takoma/American Primitive stable), Suni McGrath, Sandy Bull, etc. I doubt either not liking, or not having knowledge about or understanding of this heritage would give one the facility needed to appreciate SRB's playing. Why, the reviewer didn't even mention Ravi Shankar. Ravi Shankar?!? Well, yes! Raga structure is evident in several of the pieces here. Long, meditative openings build in intensity toward energetic, highly charged sections of quickly strummed rhythm and fingering virtuosity. I suppose this music owes its largest debt to Robbie Basho's work; however SRB's playing seems more assured, more focused. I guess the first time I ever heard this mixture of western acoustic guitar with Indian music was on Black Mountain Side from Led Zeppelin's first album (of all places!) and I've held a real fondness for this style ever since. All of this is further entwined with influences from Spain, the Middle East and a healthy dose of Django Reinhart, another master missing from Laszlo`s list. For shame! In any event, the world of solo steel string acoustic guitar players is certainly not overpopulated these days. I think we'll find ourselves fortunate to have people like SRB helping to fill that void.

7 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tha Real Shiznik Y'all, December 21, 2004

By 

leo (Beijing, China) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Improvika (Audio CD)

Recognize. Dis joint be da real shiz. Sir Richard Bishop holding it down on da wooden guitar, ya heard? True flava with class and ill skillz. Boyakasha! Blue-grass meets Indian Classical Raga stylee with copious amounts of flamenco, and more than a tip o' the hat to our be-loved homeys in the Mid-East: hybrid pieces with no compromises, dynamic improvisations come correct, zero tolerance for B.S... and balls, ladeez and gents. real balls.

1 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Zero Stars would be the actual score, October 6, 2006

By 

Laszlo Nanasi-Lopategui "Laszlo Nanasi" (San Juan, PR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Improvika (Audio CD)

Beign a fan of acoustic or electro acoustic guitars made me buy this album. I have a good collection of CD's by such guitar greats as Steve Hackett, Anthony Phillips, Paco de Lucia, Andres Segovia, Strunz & Farah, Ottmar Leibert, Peter White, Earl Klugh among others. This has to be the worst guitar album in history. The whole CD sounds like a musician practicing or trying to tune the guitar. It like a warm up that never gets going. And the quality of the recording is so bad, that sounds like an amateur was in charge. Stay away from this CD and from this artist.