LAGQ - Guitar Heroes (Multichannel Hybrid SACD) [Hybrid SACD - DSD]

Sergio Assad (Composer), Chet / Bryant, Boudleaux Atkins (Composer), Matthew Dunne (Composer), Jeronimo Gimenez (Composer), Brian Head (Composer), Evan Hirschelman (Composer), Steve Howe (Composer), Bryan Johanson (Composer), William Kanengiser (Composer), Pat Metheny (Composer), Andrew York (Composer), Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
• Composer: Sergio Assad, Chet / Bryant, Boudleaux Atkins, Matthew Dunne, Jeronimo Gimenez, Brian Head, et al.
• Audio CD (June 22, 2004)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD
• Label: Telarc
• ASIN: B000294RMG
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #167,488 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Black Icarus, for 4 guitars & percussion (after Ralph Towner's Icarus)

2. B & B, for 4 guitars & double bass

3. We Know You Know: Reverie for Mahavishnu, for 4 guitars

4. Pluck, Strum and Hammer, for 4 guitars

5. Letter from Home

6. Uarekena, for 4 guitars

7. Aire para un Día (Mood for a Day)

8. Gypsy Flower, for 4 guitars

9. Pop, for 4 guitars

10. El Baile de Luis Alonso, zarzuela

11. Lament and Wake

12. Let's Be Frank, for 4 guitars

13. Blue Echo / Country Gentleman

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Guitar Grimoire for 6 string enthusiasts, August 13, 2004

By 

o dubhthaigh (north rustico, pei, canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: LAGQ - Guitar Heroes (Multichannel Hybrid SACD) (Audio CD)

This is an exciting display of 6 string prowess that really isn't classical, yet will inevitably become a classic. It is an amazing tour de force worthy of the California Guitar Trio. The efforst here focus on composers and players who are heroes to this quartet, and it is a compendium of the best: McLaughlin, Hendrix, Metheny, Towner, Howe, Rheinhart. Each and every selection is brilliant whether they are essaying Norman Blake or Frank Zappa. York, Tennant, Kanengiser and Dearman command their instruments with power and discipline, and the finessse and passion leaps off the strings. The fretwork is a tribute to each of the heroes honored, and indeed this is truly an honouring of great fretmen. The digital encoding of the disc is such that you get a very precise definition of who is playing spacially from right to left. Very impressive, as you would expect from Telarc.

Their take on Towner's "Icarus" is both timely and quite a creative adjustment of the tempo. Steve Howe's "Mood For A Day" undergoes a makeover as a flamenco tour de force, and it actually comes off even more amazing than Howe's various re-workings of this abstemious wonder. At times, the compositions are those of the heroes, at others it is the LAGQ's composition evoking essential qualities of the personalities honoured. It works beautifully on all accounts. If you are a fan of acoustic guitars, or even of any of the guitarists honoured here, you owe it to yourself to pick this up.

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TOO FREAKIN AWESOME!!!!, July 1, 2004

By 

Jordan78 "Jordan78" (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: LAGQ's Guitar Heroes (Audio CD)

I JUST GOT THIS CD FROM AMAZON LAST WEEK AND I CAN'T STOP LISTENING TO IT! THESE GUYS ARE IN TOP FORM. I THOUGHT I KNEW WHAT A GUITAR SOUNDS LIKE, BUT I WAS MISTAKEN.

I HAVE NEVER HEARD NYLON STRINGS SOUND LIKE AN ELECTRIC DELAY LIKE ON CHET ATKINS "COUNTRY GENTLEMAN" OR EVEN A FRETLESS BASS SOUND LIKE ON THE MICHAEL HEDGES INSPIRED "LAMENT AND WAKE". THE PAT METHENY SONG IS GREAT AND "B AND B" SOUNDS AS AUTHENTIC AND INSPIRED AS ANY BLUEGRASS TUNE I HAVE EVER HEARD.

I AM QUITE IMPRESSED WITH THE ARTISTS THE LAGQ DECIDED TO PAY TRIBUTE TO. THERE ARE A LOT OF COMPOSERS ON THIS ALBUM I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF BEFORE, WHO ARE PRODUCING SOME REALLY INNOVATIVE MUSIC. THIS JUST MIGHT BE THE LAGQ'S BEST ALBUM. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND CHECK THIS ONE OUT.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars LAGQ's Guitar Heroes, November 17, 2004

By 

Peter K. - See all my reviews

This review is from: LAGQ's Guitar Heroes (Audio CD)

It probably seemed like a good, "high concept" idea -- a CD by the creative, adventurous and technically adept LAGQ that, track by track, pays homage to guitarists the group admires.

Known for bending and blending genres, classically trained LAGQ members John Dearman, William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant and Andrew York roam far and wide on "Guitar Heroes." They arrange tunes by Chet Atkins, Yes's Steve Howe and Oregon's Ralph Towner, and interpret pieces written as tributes to Jimi Hendrix, Django Reinhardt and Frank Zappa, among others.

The result is sometimes playful and intriguing, as listeners familiar with the original guitarists hear many musical stretches and reinventions. More often, it's self-conscious, labored and a little too clever, down to titles like "We Know You Know: Reverie for Mahavishnu," written for John McLaughlin, and "Pluck, Strum and Hammer," dedicated to Hendrix.

Along with "Gypsy Flower," a dissonant re-imagining of Reinhardt, these pieces evoke at least some of the style and technique of the "heroes," but not much of the soul.

The best tracks offer more than mere pastiche -- a heartbreaking version of Pat Metheny's "Letter From Home," and the guitarist Sergio Assad's mysterious "Uarekena," the title referring to an indigenous Brazilian tribe.

"Lament and Wake," written by Evan Hirschelman in memory of the late Michael Hedges, also stands out. It includes many of Hedges' radical guitar techniques, but, far more importantly, it's a poignant, stirring six minutes of music.

The final track, the quartet's simulation of Chet Atkins' slap-back echoes on "Blue Echo/Country Gentleman," is a hoot. But much of this disc sounds like pieces that would sound more exciting in concert, two or three per night, perhaps as encores or on the occasion of one of the great guitarists' birthdays. In other words, a little of LAGQ's "Guitar Heroes" goes a long way.