I've always liked the sound of acoustic guitar on my system. Currently in heavy rotation in my system now: 1. Sounds of Wood and Steel #2 (Windham Hill) 2. Sounds of Wood & Steel #3 (Windham Hill) 3. Eric Clapton Unplugged 4. Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds (live extra disc in Some Devil CD)
I'm looking for direction from you guys on other well recorded selections, let me know your thoughts.
Here's another one, Tony McManus - "Ceol More". Tony is a Celtic guitarist with unbelievable technique. This is sort of a blend of traditional Celtic music and jazz. Everyone I play this CD for loves it.
David Russell on Telarc. Russell is one of the few true guitar virtuosos, and it is really great that such a fine guitarist is recognized by a label with such high production standards. There are many to choose from, all great, but for someone who is new (or wary of) to classical guitar, hi newest 'Aire Latino' might be the best starter. Or you could try 'Plays Barrios'. I'll never get tired of these cd's - real sound you can almost touch in front of you!
Just an update for anyone who cares... I bought 4 CDs from your recommendations: 1. Buddy Guy "Blues Singer" 2. Nickle Creek "Nickel Creek" 3. Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds "Live at Luther College" 4. Windham Hill "Sounds of Wood & Steel #1"
I love these CDs! Each one unique in its own way, very well recorded to boot. Many thanks to all! (I'm not done, still got a couple more to get)
Narada Guitar,any Ottmar Liebert, Tuck Andress "Reckless Abandon" (which I'm listening to right now), The Coryells and a definite second for the Pizza Tapes and anything else with Grisman, Garcia and Tony Rice, which can be found on Acousticdisc.com. If your an acoustic guitar fan you must have the "Tone Poem" collections available on that site as well.
the best acoustic guitar album i have ever found is by 3 of the best guitarists in the world,album is called friday night in san francisco & the guitarists are al di meola & john mclaughlin & paco de lucia,its a live album & it has never came out of heavy rotation in my collection,every time i listen im completely floored,it is a complex recording to say the least,some of the passages are breath takingly beautiful.
1. Doc Watson, Doc Watson - ie. his first Vanguard recording. This one is my favorite, but you can substitute many from that catalog. This man is a treasure. 2. Tony Rice, Backwaters - One of the truly great New Grass recordings with Tony's other worldly technique ablazing. 3. Slack Key Guitar Masters, vol. 1 (on the Dancing Cat Label). Sweet finger-style guitar technique that conveys intense depth of emotion. Led Kaapana's Weehaa Swing not to be missed. 4. Bola Sete, The Incomparable Bola Sete - One of the major proponents of Bossa Nova in the US, but with much more fire than was typical. Classical intonation and cleanliness with staggering speed and elegant phrasing. One of the greats. 5. Norman Blake, Whiskey Before Breakfast - No collection of acoustic guitar music should be without this recording of essential, traditional American music. 6. David Grisman Quintet, Hot Dawg - One of the premier New Grass groups meets Stephan Grappelli. Tony Rice's playing is as good here as anything he's done. The rest of the group ain't chopped liver either. 7. Julian Bream, The Julian Bream Consort, Elizabethan Music - Arguably the greatest classical guitarist and lutenist to ever breath air. Great performances of great music. 8. Manitas de Plata, at Carnegie Hall - Spanish gypsy playing flamenco guitar with such intensity it will make you sweat. May be the definitive recording of its type.
I suspect he is thinking of "Love Devotion Surrender" which has both acoustic and electric numbers, including a lovely acoustic version of Coltrane's "Naima".
Mijknarf: Acoustic guitar sounds outstanding on my system, too. So do jazz and chamber music. It seems the "simpler" (it terms of ensemble size), the better.
I disagree with one post saying that Leo Kottke was boring. Listen to his first album ("Six and Twelve String Guitar") and tell me, honestly, that it's boring. It's amazing. Glad to see a recommendation for the great, late-departed Michael Hedges. I personally prefer "Breakfast in the Field," but any of his are worth obtaining.
If you like the John Mclaughlin style, then "My Goals Beyond" is a must, as is his acoustic album with Santana.
I'm not sure if you were looking primarily for recordings of well-played music, or for well-recorded/engineered CDs.
On another post I recommended Doc Watson. He plays bluegrass and country blues. Absolutely fantastic. All his stuff that I've got, "Memories", "Trouble in mind", and "live on stage" to name a few have great music and sound. Essential!!!! His stuff with his late son Merle is the best.
If you liked Matthews and Reynolds on the bonus CD, there is a Live 2-CD set of the two of them doing an acoustic concert at Luther College that is one of the most outstanding live-performance CD's out there.
I love acoustic guitar. Here are just a few suggestions without benefit of having read all the responses here (so pardon the redundancies):
Rory Block, "When a Woman gets the Blues" (many of her others are quite wonderful too) Patty Larkin, "A Go-Go" Patty Griffen, "Living with Ghosts" & "1000 Kisses" "The Slide Guitar: Bottles, Knives and Steel" (part of the excellent "Roots&Blues" collection) Definitely Muddy Waters Folk Singer If you like acoustic Jazz guitar this one is a truly astounding recording that was on Stereophiles Recordings to Die-For list. It has a very improvisational sound to it.....not for everyone I'd imagine: Marc Ducret, "Detail"
Ians, thanks for the offer... but at this point, I have a ton of research to do. You guys are awesome! I have jumped over to Amazon to check some of these recommendations out and I already have 17 on my Wish List.
Some older acoustic guitar LP's that I have combine both great music and top-notch recording are:
Bruce Cockburn - Dancing in the Dragons Jaws (sound quality is unbelievably good)
Leo Kottke - A Shout Toward Noon (obscure recording that has survived my rotation on and off for well over a decade)
Muddy Waters - Folk Singer (a classic)
I have about 40 original Kicking Mule LP's with a variety of obscure artists. Some of them sound great - they were clearly single mic'ed and deliver some real warmth. If you want some names, I can go make a list.
Norman Blake, "Whiskey for Breakfast", n Rounder Records. I have the LP, and it is incredible. Utterly true to the sound of the instrument, no compression of dynamincs or bandwidth, and virtuouso, tasteful playing. Really terrific. Can't speak for the CD release, and doubt it's quite as good. Also, Vanguard releases of Doc Watson tend to sound great.
Also -- Stephen Stills, Stills Alone. This is just Stills and an acoustic guitar. Stills is in his gritty, swampy, backwater mode, picking his guitar and singing with a whiskey aged voice. Great songs, great picking, and great sonics. Check it out.
There's alot of good classical stuff that you might like (Parkening, Segovia, Gropman...). Also would recommend:
Andreas Willers/Can I Go On Like This Larry Coryell/Tributaries/ The Restful Mind John McLaughlin/My Goals Beyond/ or any Shakti L'Ensemble Raye/Quelques Pieces Detachees James Emery/Standing On A Whale... Raoul Bjorkenheim, Nicky Skopelitis/Revelator Jonas Hellborg/Octave Of The Holy Innocents/Good People Adrian Legg/Guitars And Other Cathedrals Zai Ensemble/Oxygen Suite Tim Sparks/At The Rebbe's Table Peter Finger/Solo Benjamin Verdery/Ride The Wind Horse Richard Johnson, Jud Martindale/Creatures Of Habit Ralph Towner/City Of Eyes, Sargasso Sea (w/Abercrombie) Sylvain Luc/SUD Uwe Kropinski/ANY!!! Jack West/Big Ideas Leo Kottke/One Guitar No Vocals, That's What Christian Escoude/A Suite For Gypsies Cullen-Manring/Equilibre D. Andrtova & R. Hladik/Voliera Robt. Fripp & The League Of Crafty Guitarists/Show of Hands Bernd Steidl/Psycho Acoustic Overture (maybe a bit of an Yngwie clone) The Guitar Workshop (Compilation of some GREAT little known british acoustic guitarists on the Transatlantic label)
Many thanks! I'll take the time to scope each of these out. Do you guys agree that there is something special about this kind of music played on a nice system? Sure specific jazz or blues sounds great too, but to hear acoustic guitar, it seems to sparkle. So much music, so little time.
alvin youngblood hart...big mama's door r.l. burnside...acoustic stories al lee...ain't playing the game the blue rider trio...harp, steel and guts bob dylan...world gone wrong bob dylan...good as i been to you bob dylan...bootleg series vol 4...disc 1 neil young...comes a time jack johnson...on and on dave matthews and tim reynolds...live at luther college bruce springsteen...nebraska damien rice...o gillian welch...time the revelator buddy guy and junior wells...alone and acoustic
Tuck Andress, Alex deGrassi, Michael Hedges, Michael Manring and David Torn / "Guitar Sampler Vol.2"
Moving on from Windham Hill:
How about Al DiMeola, Stanley Clarke, Jean-Luc Ponty / "The Rite of Strings" (incredible all acoustic recording)
Marc Antoine / "The very Best Of"
Torcuato Mariano / "Paradise Station" & "Last Look" Both can be found on the web under "Brazilian Jazz". Torcuato is an awesome guitar player, although his recordings are currently import only. 12 & 6 string acoustic guitar with a very emotional kinda' "feel good" sound. I have owned "Paradise Station" since 1994. I still play it at least once a week.
Well, I think I've spent just about enough of your money.
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