Legg, Adrian - Guitar Bones
SKU
15-FN5060
Legg is a monster acoustic player who never fails to slay in performance. On record, however, he can be dissapointing, as too many of his albums veer towards new-age lite stylings. This one does not and has a great vibe throughout.
"From the first note, Legg's guitar has been produced differently. The slick and reverbery new-age sound that he has used to blow us away in the past has now been replaced with a much drier acoustic sound. In a way, it almost proves that Legg is better than we thought, since he can create a good sound on the guitar with no mistakes when he doesn't have the help of sound manipulation. Hence, Adrian states that's why he named this release Guitar Bones. It's all about simplicity. As always, he revisits a few songs from the early stages of his career along with dishing out new ones. St. Mary's, one of the most compelling, features oboe, bassoon, viola, and flugel horn alongside the guitar in this once-gothic now chamber-barogue sounding piece. And Adrian cannot stray from the waltz even if he really tried. La Giga Anziana stands for the Elderly Jig, and that's pretty much the way it sounds. A more uptempo jig that we are used to from Adrian comes with O'Malley & Delancey. After you hear this song for the third time or so, the playing becomes much more of a marvel. A difference of flavor also comes across in The One Eyed Turk, where Legg plays a resonator guitar with a slide. The man who used to bend notes from here to the sky all by himself is now using a slide! But that's oaky, because he sounds just as good at it as, say, Ry Cooder. My personal favorite so far is the epic (in terms of guitar pieces) Ghosts In the Hills. Over six minutes long, this beautiful song paints a mental picture of grand landscapes in nature without being very hoaky. It's a nice change from what I thought it would be about: a haunted house. The more familiar Legg sound is saved for last with Een Kleijne Komedye. A very splattery, dirty sounding guitar does a fast, dancy jig for us in the usual lighting-fast Legg technique we all like."-J. Garratt