Product Description (LP + Mp3) Originally released in 1979, "Art of the Acoustic Steel String Guitar 6 & 12" was Robbie Basho's 15th record, and his magnum opus of solo guitar. It is the culmination of his life's effort to usher guitar music into a new artistic paradigm, and to "establish the steel string as a concert instrument indigenous to America. This album represents Basho's most technically fine guitar work. In both composition and performance, the album is enormously complex and yet conveys an effortlessness unique to Basho. As he famously espoused, "My philosophy is quite simple: soul first, technique later." The richness of Basho's soul emanates from this record as distinctly as each note ringing from his steel strings. Only one song on the record ("Pasha II") features Basho's enigmatic voice, but it may be his most extraordinary vocal performance - his voice calling out through a shimmer of strings, singing ancient syllables with timeless emotion. The remaining ten instrumental songs roam through Eastern and Western modalities, dark and light meditations, wild and restrained expression. With "Art of the Acoustic Steel String Guitar 6 & 12", Basho summons rich allusions, hallucinations and delicately numinous passages. As he said, "It's not about going far out, it's about going far in. It's about a deeper feeling." These are deep waters indeed, as substantial and enriching today as they were 35 years ago. Remastered from the original tapes. Artwork is presented in very much the same fashion as the original release with a few minimal changes made to include new information. Paper stock (heavy reverse-board) and pressing weight (140 gram) have been upgraded. New vinyl masters were cut by the excellent John Golden. A download for high quality Mp3's and FLAC is included. "All the highlights of Basho's work are found here: eccentric tunings, modal playing and a keen ear for Eastern music (which he studied and incorporated into his music), and a spirituality that could neither be outshined by the technical flashiness nor the (unavoidable?) exotic undertones." - TINY MIX TAPES.
D**.
Great Guitar Playing.
Another excellent rerelease from Grass Tops Recording, originally this came out in 1979 on the Windham Hill label, Robbie Basho was always one of the more esoteric guitar players from the Takoma school of guitarists, this cd / lp was his attempt to try and reach a larger audience (WH were after a more commercial release), in some ways it was but was still pure Basho (He was never going to be commercial).Some great guitar playing, old and new tunes, "The Grail and the Lotus", "Pavan India", "Clair De Lune" and many others. Basho was unique, in a world of his own. Although he passed away in 1986 his music was so far ahead, even today no-one really comes near him. Beautiful guitar music to enjoy.
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