Customer Reviews

Vertigo

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Jesse Cook plays guitar, and he does it really well. His recipe is deceivingly simple: some nouveau flamenco (or call it what you will, you'll know what I mean), some World Music, spiced up with good percussion section, innovative, layered arrangements, and a discreet, but perfect technique. Musically, like Ottmar Liebert, Cook throws a lot of odd stuff in the mix, and makes it work amazingly well. But while listening to Liebert always leaves me wishing he had the technical (playing) skill to match his impressive creativity, this guy actually has both! Cook is a musician with a solid, classical guitar training, and fresh ideas to match. I can listen to that for hours. What a treat.

O.K. It may not be "Flamenco" in the true sense of the term, but it's the best "new" music I've heard in 20 years. Jesse Cook's style, whatever you care to call it, is fresh and exciting. I turned on a friend who is a jazz and classical guitarist; he was so impressed that he started taking Flamenco lessons. The classical and Flamenco purists may not like Jesse Cook, but I think he'll do more to create awareness of those genres than any of the traditional players.

Cook's music is impossible to classify.

It is not New Age, and not Jazz, two categories into which critics have tried to crush his great talent.

The music is a blend of flamenco, classical Spanish guitar, and Latin American folk music with the enthusiasm and energy of Miami Sound Machine.

This is great guitar music. You would do yourself a disservice not to go buy every album.

Strolling through Gastown in Vancouver, my ears perked to the sounds of a gypsy guitar calling from the window of a basement music shop. I stood by the window for an hour listening, waiting for the music to flatten or turn as so many promising albums can. But it never did. I asked the clerk, "What, Who? Tell me you have this in stock!" But alas, they were sold out. And for good reason! This album blew me away. And if you are a guitar lover who is tired of artists sounding flat and over-composed, it will blow you away to. I am usually a hard sell when it comes to new music. I have to listen to an album a few times before I get into it - but not this one! It was love at first note! If you have any iota of an appreciation for music and artistry you WILL love this album. And if you don't, you have my sympathy.

I own all of Jesse Cook's albums and am a devoted listener after discovering his music two months ago. I was very surprised to read Mr.Taxman's low rating of Vertigo ... so what if Cook is not real flamenco. Who cares? It's the music that counts. Felt that Cook is back to his best after the debacle of Gravity. There's a smoky and surreal atmosphere that went well with his traditionally fiesty guitar playing. Recording quality is first rate and I use this as a reference CD to test hi-fi systems. Track 6 Breathing Below Surface is my favourite. It sends shivers of pleasure whenever I hear it. If this is how Cook is evolving his music I can't wait to get his next album.

shame on all of you who cannot appreciate great talent when you hear it.....i have seen this performer live at catalina and he is AWSOME....who cares if he labels his music flamenco, purist or not.....what do we care about labels.....his music moves me to the point that i am carried away somewhere so far away from the immediate physical that it doesn't matter what he calls it.....i never seem to get enough of his work......my husband was the first who turned me on to his music......i was so surprised to find a male who enjoyed this kind of passionate music.....so if you don't like it..then i question your passion..do you have any in there? we fly to canada to see this performer ...that's how good this guy is.....can you say the same....if you would see an entire audience get up from their chair and begin to sway to his music and dance around the ballroom that it is difficult to control the crowd..then you would understand what his music does to so many people.....it's funny because any other performer could never come close to this guy's and the reaction that he elicits from his audience...it is truly a phenomenon.....we make it a habit now...3 years in a row...never to miss jesse cook's performance at catalina.....and i personally cannot wait to hear his new album which he is currently working on.....

I had never heard of "Jessie Cook" before I borrowed one of my friend's CD's which was a compilation of "The New Flamenco" music. I heard "Cancion Triste" and was moved. If you like playing, or listening to accoustic guitar, this is an album for you.

It makes you drift off and imagine you are sitting by the fire with someone special, or off on a vacation to somewhere exotic. The rhythms are very world beat similar to Peter Gabriel, Papa Wemba, and others of an entirely different genre.

I have to tell you, Mr. Cook is a fantastic guitar player (not some Eric Johnson, or flavor of the month packaged by the record labels for mass consumption, no offense to all whom I have just panned). He has a great feel, is very melodic, and you can FEEL his emotions when you listen to him play. Need I say it, Jessie Cook's album is one of the most romantic I have heard. If you like Gypsy Kings you must buy this album, if you like jazz, you must buy this album...ah forget it...you just need to hear this album.

I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Cook live at a winery in Temecula and I hope to see him again in such an intimate setting before he is playing to larger audiences.

So enjoy and listen with someone you love.

I bought this CD after hearing just the first track at a music store. It literally jumps out of the speakers at you. The last song, "Fragile", a Sting cover, is one of the sensual songs I've heard in a while. Not a lemon in the whole bunch. I'd give it more stars but only 5 are allowed!

Caught him at the Montreal Jazz Festival without any previous knowledge of his existence. Blown away. Get this disc.

I have all three of Jesse's disc's they are fantastic. Very simular to Ottmar Liebert, John Gilliat or Robert Michaels. All artist I very highly recomend.