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Guitars On Life
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| Guitars On Life solves a nagging mystery about the fate of a musician who stood out as a singularly spectacular bloom even in the verdant creative fields of the San Francisco Bay Area at the turn of the century. After more than two decades of recording silence and about a dozen years away from the bandstand, Jack West is back, still immediately recognizable as a guitarist and composer but miles from the last stop on his ongoing musical journey. Thereās poetic symmetry in discovering that his detour from life as a performing musician involved fruitful work devising innovative solar technologies, as he had similarly distinguished himself as an inveterately inventive musician. When we last heard from West heād carved out a vibrant niche as a guitarist with a percussive attack and lustrous group sound. Wielding a custom-built eight-string acoustic guitar with uncommon rhythmic dexterity, he released six albums featuring his original tunes, mostly recording with his band Curvature (though he also played mesmerizing solo recitals). Westās knack for crafting glistening, minutely detailed soundscapes full of surprising twists and oddly inviting textures prompted NPR to describe his work as āa whole new sub- genre of jazz.ā Drawn back to performing in recent years, West saw guitarist Walter Strauss at Berkeleyās Freight & Salvage in 2022 and suspected heād found a kindred spirit. Intrigued by Straussās unusual approach to guitar, West āwondered what a musical conversation might sound like between two guitarists who had developed such uniquely different ways of playing the instrument.ā An invitation to play together led to them writing the tune āMore Guitar,ā the bravura opening track that launches Guitars On Life. Several months later they spent a week in Florida together writing intensively, resulting in most of the material for this consistently thrilling project. |
$38.67
Guitars On Lifeā
$38.67
Guitars On Life
Ā
| Guitars On Life solves a nagging mystery about the fate of a musician who stood out as a singularly spectacular bloom even in the verdant creative fields of the San Francisco Bay Area at the turn of the century. After more than two decades of recording silence and about a dozen years away from the bandstand, Jack West is back, still immediately recognizable as a guitarist and composer but miles from the last stop on his ongoing musical journey. Thereās poetic symmetry in discovering that his detour from life as a performing musician involved fruitful work devising innovative solar technologies, as he had similarly distinguished himself as an inveterately inventive musician. When we last heard from West heād carved out a vibrant niche as a guitarist with a percussive attack and lustrous group sound. Wielding a custom-built eight-string acoustic guitar with uncommon rhythmic dexterity, he released six albums featuring his original tunes, mostly recording with his band Curvature (though he also played mesmerizing solo recitals). Westās knack for crafting glistening, minutely detailed soundscapes full of surprising twists and oddly inviting textures prompted NPR to describe his work as āa whole new sub- genre of jazz.ā Drawn back to performing in recent years, West saw guitarist Walter Strauss at Berkeleyās Freight & Salvage in 2022 and suspected heād found a kindred spirit. Intrigued by Straussās unusual approach to guitar, West āwondered what a musical conversation might sound like between two guitarists who had developed such uniquely different ways of playing the instrument.ā An invitation to play together led to them writing the tune āMore Guitar,ā the bravura opening track that launches Guitars On Life. Several months later they spent a week in Florida together writing intensively, resulting in most of the material for this consistently thrilling project. |
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Ā
| Guitars On Life solves a nagging mystery about the fate of a musician who stood out as a singularly spectacular bloom even in the verdant creative fields of the San Francisco Bay Area at the turn of the century. After more than two decades of recording silence and about a dozen years away from the bandstand, Jack West is back, still immediately recognizable as a guitarist and composer but miles from the last stop on his ongoing musical journey. Thereās poetic symmetry in discovering that his detour from life as a performing musician involved fruitful work devising innovative solar technologies, as he had similarly distinguished himself as an inveterately inventive musician. When we last heard from West heād carved out a vibrant niche as a guitarist with a percussive attack and lustrous group sound. Wielding a custom-built eight-string acoustic guitar with uncommon rhythmic dexterity, he released six albums featuring his original tunes, mostly recording with his band Curvature (though he also played mesmerizing solo recitals). Westās knack for crafting glistening, minutely detailed soundscapes full of surprising twists and oddly inviting textures prompted NPR to describe his work as āa whole new sub- genre of jazz.ā Drawn back to performing in recent years, West saw guitarist Walter Strauss at Berkeleyās Freight & Salvage in 2022 and suspected heād found a kindred spirit. Intrigued by Straussās unusual approach to guitar, West āwondered what a musical conversation might sound like between two guitarists who had developed such uniquely different ways of playing the instrument.ā An invitation to play together led to them writing the tune āMore Guitar,ā the bravura opening track that launches Guitars On Life. Several months later they spent a week in Florida together writing intensively, resulting in most of the material for this consistently thrilling project. |
