The
latest release from Johannes Linstead is far from your typical
Spanish flamenco guitar album.
Rather,
it is a hearty and robust collection that varies between full-bodied,
invigorating rhythms and beautiful romantic ballads, with some
interesting curveballs thrown into the mix for good measure.
While
Linstead manages quite a lot of different styles on his instrument,
his exquisite lead phrasing shines on many of the tunes. In addition
to guitars, Linstead also plays bass, djembe, keyboards, palmas,
percussion, piano, udu, and ukulele.
The
presence of violin and viola on several tracks gives them the feel
somewhat of ethnic Jewish folk music. Nowhere is this more evident
than on “Balzac’s Brew,” which sounds kind of like what I would
call Yiddish ragtime.
Linstead's
compositions and stellar playing receive support from the talents of
Jordan Abraham on accordion and piano, Anastasios Bigas on bongos,
congas, and drums, George Crotty on cello, Geoff Hlibka on acoustic
guitar, Irina Koroleva on viola, Vasyl Popadiuk on violin, and Max
Alejandro Ventura on bongos and cajon.
Anyone
who enjoys guitar music will delight in the sonic joys of this
record.
--Raj
Manoharan
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