Spring 2025
Antoine Boyer, "Everything Moves," 2025
Antoine Boyer is a bit of a mystery. He's French, so American audiences have only a virtual and subliminal exposure to his work. Even though he may be one of the most technically accomplished guitarists on the planet,
he's still an unknown to much of the guitar community. His niche was originally established as a gypsy jazz player, but Boyer is tremendously versatile with all forms of jazz, classical and fingerstyle. He seems almost
to eschew traditional methods of sales and publicity - he has no relationship with a major label and crowdfunded the production of this CD. He has even made this entire album available on YouTube the day of release.
It's breathtaking to just listen to an audio of his speed, precision and feeling… but to actually watch the magic unfold on his fretboard on this YouTube video is an even rarer treat. Boyer loses no time in demonstrating
his gift for creativity in arrangement on the opener of his newest album named Everything Moves. Lennon & McCartney's "And I Love Her" is a zigzagging rendition which, more than most of the songs in this collection, betrays
his gypsy roots. The subsequent eight tracks are also solo, five originals, six played on acoustic guitars (Bob Holo and Ryosuke Kobayashi customs), three played on a hollow-body electric (Collings Eastside Jazz LC).
Four are covers, surprisingly including a Scarlatti played on his Collings. Every track is an absolute wonder but I have my favorites. "Little Big Dream," rather than featuring the spot-on fingerstyle Boyer is known for,
features some Metheny-esque strumming that seems as if it came from the Missouri Sky release. The title tune likewise opens with an insistent strum, but very quickly asserts itself in mad dashes, perfectly articulated,
up and down the neck. "An Ancient Tale" is just the opposite, a restrained and haunting folk melody which elegantly finds a place of musical beauty. In short, Everything Moves is an unrivaled musical masterpiece.
Joel Harrison, "Guitar Talk Vol. 2," 2024
Guided by the aphorism "integrity beyond genre," guitarist, composer, and improviser Joel Harrison established AGS, a label that champions cutting-edge guitar-based music. AGS also collaborates with The Alternative Guitar
Summit, which features master classes led by notable guitarists and organizes a music festival that showcases concerts from prominent alternative guitar performers and noteworthy young players. A follow-up to Harrison’s 2021
guitar duo recording, which includes two solo pieces, Guitar Talk Vol. 2 elevates the stakes as a double album. Disc one presents Harrison’s first collection of fully notated work for classical guitar, performed by Dan Lippel
and Fareed Haque. Disc two offers a diverse assortment of duo improvisations, pairing Harrison’s primarily electric guitars with various collaborators on different instruments, predominantly also on electric guitar; duo
partners include Mike Stern, Nels Cline, Gregg Belisle-Chi, Adam Levy, Camila Meza, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Anthony Pirog, and Brad Shepik. Although all of these pieces beautifully coexist on a double disc, AGS has also released
each as a single album for good reason: there is much to process and plenty to savor here. There are no guide rails or time-outs, except for the pause button, available in disc one. The nine through-composed pieces, expertly
interpreted and performed by Lippel and Haque, do not rely on traditional forms. Like a captivating page-turner that cannot be put down, an artfully layered, kaleidoscopic narrative unfolds in these works, with each piece
retaining its singular beauty and character. Collectively, however, there is a genuine propulsion in effect, leading us to the end of something akin to a jazz-labeled composer’s first nylon-string novel. Immediately picking
the next book from the stack prevents the just-read one from settling properly in both heart and mind. Once settled, a fanned-out Gm9 chord by Harrison and Gregg Belisle-Chi, the first of a new cast of characters, sets
the stage for a nuanced collection of ideas, questions, and answers. Those familiar with Harrison’s work and musical philosophy in this improvisatory setting know that he regards these duos more as gracious gifts of wisdom
than as an intimate discourse, and they are, of course, both things and more. The stylistic and sonic variety on the more electrified jazz duo disc is capacious. Like the first album, it features composed material that
enables a conversational exploration of the initial ideas presented. These conversations are joyous and suspenseful, akin to a perfect collection of short stories by a single author; they are standalone character studies
that collectively tell a larger, more refined story about the guitar itself. This program has no stand-out pieces, only personal favorites, each to be overshadowed by the next track, the following sentence in the narrative.
This double album is genuinely the work of a team, not just of performers, but of technically artful ears in the mixing by Jason Schmidt and Dave Darlington, and an extraordinary job at the mastering desk by Henry Kaiser,
who polished a protean sea of frequencies smooth as glass. Guitar Talk Vol. 2 is a triumphant celebration of collaboration.
©
Alan Fark
Listen to (and watch) the full album at YouTube
Listen to "Everything Moves"
Listen to Antoine Boyer at our podcast 
©
David Pedrick
Anne McCue, "Wholly Roller Coaster," 2024
No other musical artist in this century – or in any century that I know of – has created a collection remotely similar to Anne McCues’ first release in 10 years, Wholly Roller Coaster. McCue, a native Australian now
living in Nashville, TN, is a gifted songwriter and remarkable guitarist, and her 2004 album, "Roll," brought the goods in a power-pop bluesy rock gem of a package. But while "Wholly Roller Coaster" represents a musical and
thematic departure from "Roll," it offers other delights with a quirkiness and charm that apparently emanates from McCue’s fertile mind directly to vinyl. It’s kind of a thrill ride of examining life philosophies. It’s a
genre entire of itself, an amalgam of swirling psychedelia and lyrics focusing on the wonder of life. You might call it music to keep your mind from going crazy, born in the haze and miasma of the covid epidemic. The 10 songs
here are reflective and thoughtful, designed to invite us to consider ourselves as a part of a larger whole. It’s a whole vibe, a ’60s feel – McCue gives a nod to "those fabulous four" and uses the design of the
classic "Sgt. Pepper" LP as a guide, with its collage of faces and lyric sheet. The opening track, "Fly or Fall," features trippy keys and prominent percussion, and a distinctive cornet. "Leaping at the Moon" is simultaneously
upbeat and melancholy, ethereal and seething. "The Loneliest Saturday Night" taps into an Asian mood, and includes the couplet: "was there ever such a lonely sound / as a telephone not ringing?" Another track, "Witch Song"
leans Eastern Indian, and begs "We need to change our ways / or see the end of days." "Shadow Lane" may be the most accessible, with its infectious bounce and nod to mid-form Kinks, all nostalgic and yearning for "avoiding
all the latest news / ’cause we don’t want to catch those blues." The closer, "The Years," looks rearward as it looks forward. McCue lists album instruments on the liner notes as: "akookstic & eklectric guitars, whirlytzer
organ, seetar guitar, E-bo, tambooreen, cawsbell, peeano, mellowtron floots, tablas, noizes, larfter, skulls, eggs." Everyone may enjoy a sip of this brew, even though it may not be to the taste of those who sip and sup with
mass appetites.
Vin Downes, "City Lights Hide the Stars," 2024
In a previous life I am convinced that Vin Downes was a pastry chef, creating exquisite desserts, artisanal delights and delicate diminutive morsels that satisfied the sweetest of culinary desires. To our great fortune,
Maestro Downes is a guitarist and composer. City Lights Hide the Stars is his ninth solo studio album, and his first since 2022. Downes released four solo albums between 2020 and 2022, then resurfaced in 2024, collaborating
with Tom Eaton and Jeff Oster to release Seven Conversations, contributing electric guitar to a collection ambient in-studio improvisations. Since 2011 Downes and Eaton have developed a strong music relationship producing
ten albums in that time including Four Guitars (2019) featuring Will Ackerman, Todd Mosby, Trevor Gordon Hall and Vin Downes in various combinations. Not surprisingly, City Lights Hide the Stars again leans on his relationship
with Tom Eaton to produce Downes most intimate and impeccable sonic offering to date. Downes is classically trained, and by virtue of his vocation as an instructor of classical guitar at Bayonne High School in New Jersey,
he admittedly has a classical guitar in his hands for hours every day. This album is, in many ways, his attempt to embrace this instrument in a manner in which heretofore had not occurred to him. With these songs he tried to
compose in such a way that "the head meets the heart." To bring his classical training face to face with his "gut instincts" in terms of melody, structure and the omnipotent demands of tone. To accomplish this feat Downes
modified his thoughts about compositional structure, particularly in terms of length. The 16 compositions that comprise the album total 34 minutes. Six of which are under two minutes in length, and the rest no longer than 2:38.
On the "head" side of composition Downes embraces standard tuning as well as the Campanella Effect, by incorporating open strings, allowing them to ring out and sustain. A technique much more common with steel string fingerstyle
guitar. The result is nothing short of stellar and, perhaps, therein lies an intended symbolism in the album's title. Sonically, it was Downes's intent to make sure the City Lights (head) did not hide the Stars (heart) on this album.
"Solitude And The Night" opens the album with the feel of a light jazz standard that beguiles and beckons while introducing the listener to the exceptional and impeccable tone of a master musician. Once track two,"All Out of
Words," begins there is no going back as its delicate bass line, gentle moments of vibrato and tender cascading melody are simply mesmerizing. I am particularly drawn to "The Promise Of Change", "The Coral Staircase" and
"Streetlight Glow," however, I can say without reservation that each tune here is astonishingly brilliant and deserving of praise. There is an impeccability throughout every aspect of this recording that is so very rare
and invigorating. Structure, performance and production amalgamate perfectly. It is one of a very few recordings that can wrest my entire attention upon hearing the first note and keep me spellbound until the very last
note decays. In fact, the last tune on the album, "The Call," is a bitter sweet melody drenched in longing, hope and desire that will inspire you to start this exquisite sonic journey allover again . . . For those of us
who attempt to master the fretboard, I would be remiss if I did not mention that Downes offers intricate and precise tab for every one of his compositions on his website, not surprising for a lifelong educator.
Buy it at Amazon.com
Listen to "Snow on Ash"
Listen to Joel Harrison at our podcast
©
Fred Kraus
Buy it here
Listen to "Witch Song"
©
James Filkins
Teja Gerken & Doug Young, "The Water is Wide," 2025
Guitarists Teja Gerken and Doug Young have impressive accomplishments as individual performers, recording artists, teachers, and authors. As a guitar duo they convey joy and exploration. This is Gerken and Young's second
album together (Duet was reviewed here in Winter 2020), and features layered guitar parts, improvisations on fingerstyle classics, and some surprising choices of material. It's an aural sandbox that yields very pleasant
and musically interesting results. Eric Skye's "The Locktender's Reel" opens the set. The A section of this beautiful tune recalls Appalachian fiddle music, followed by lines resembling 1980s singer-songwriter lyricism.
"Si Bheag, Si Mhor" follows, long a favorite of fingerstyle players. Gerken and Young give O'Carolan's signature composition a gentle yet stately reading, introducing melodic variations about two thirds of their way through.
Their playing is more ornate on Roger Tallroth's piece, "Josefin's Waltz", which features nice single string lines and harmonics in the background. Leo Kottke's playing inspired Gerken to compose "Takoma", which certainly
recalls Kottke's early work, but imparting more of a pop feel with higher harmonies in the second guitar part. The guitarists subtly transform Duane Allman's acoustic gem, "Little Martha" with a lead line overlaying the
theme, a short eBow solo, and baritone guitar underneath. Stefan Grossman's "Bermuda Triangle Exit", originally a solo, adds a lead part on electric guitar, in a performance that resembles some of Grossman's later
recordings and performances with John Renbourn. Erik Satie's 'Gymnopédie No. 1" recalls Blood, Sweat & Tears' short but well-remembered version from 1968, which featured reed player Dick Halligan and guitarist Steve Katz.
Gerken and Young play a full-length version, adding lush harmonies. Their take on the British folk song and fingerstyle staple, "The Water is Wide" emphasizes intertwining melodic variations. Jorma Kaukonen's "Embryonic
Journey" has Young playing the original solo guitar part, with Gerken doubling the melody and adding slide guitar. "A Toye for Two Lutes", by English Renaissance composer Thomas Robinson, entered the modern fingerstyle
world in the middle 1970s when John Renbourn and John James recorded it. Gerken and Young provide a strong reading. In a set of so many instrumental classics, Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind" is a nice
departure, and is played with tasteful reharmonizations. The album ends with "Greensleeves", including one more surprise - a lead part on slide guitar. Although the entire set is excellent, my favorites are "Josefin's
Waltz", "Gymnopédie No. 1" and "If You Could Read My Mind". This album is a must for fingerstyle guitar enthusiasts.
Buy it at Bandcamp
Listen to "If the Weather Holds"
Listen to Vin Downes at our podcast
©
Patrick Ragains
Teja Gerken and Doug Young's Website
Listen at Spotify
Listen to "Little Martha"
