Guitar Adventurers

Just wanted to share some music by some great guitar players who are sailing off into the uncharted realms that lie between the frets. I never get over the thrill of discovering players like these, so full of creativity, commitment, talent and exuberance, in such a diverse range of styles.

David Fiuczynski (http://www.torsos.com/) is the quintessential modern musical adventurer. In this clip, he plays a fretless guitar and somehow manages to fuse Arabic, Indian, blues and bebop, in under two minutes. Not kidding.



I highly recommend checking out the amazingly creative and diverse catalog of mind-bending yet fun music he has put out. You can hear clips on his website, and even more on his page at CDBaby.com

Here's Sonny Landreth, one of the best and most creative slide guitarists around, backstage doing a solo that shows his typical ability to do the unexpected, always keeping you on the edge of your seat wondering what he'll play next. Whatever it is will always be technically astounding, entertaining and full of sweet tones.



If that wasn't unpredictable enough, here's a jaw-dropping performance from the 2007 Crossroads festival, a stunning mix of intensely powerful technique, soaring melody and earthy Louisiana style. Just wow.



How about Guthrie Govan jamming on a fretless, and sounding like he's been doing it all his life. Surprised? Nah. But still, Guthrie always amazes with his endless virtuosic inventiveness; the fretless just provides another outlet for his vast creative energy.



Wrapping up this excursion is Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, playing a traditional Indian piece on his custom archtop guitar, modified with drone strings and sympathetic vibrating strings. Add to that his brilliant slide playing and you have a modern master of East-meets-West guitar.
This music takes its time getting where it is going, but try to drop any sense of impatience. Consider it an opportunity to discover a new way of enjoying music. Be willing to allow it to develop in its own way. Relax and let yourself become immersed in a very different musical world. The musical rewards you will receive are deep and rich.



Enjoy!