The word fingerstyle, which essentially describes a technique used to play the guitar, immediately brings to mind a certain genre of instrumental music, usually involving original instrumentals rooted in the playing of guitarists like John Fahey, Leo Kottke, Will Ackerman, and Michael Hedges. Although this generalization makes little sense when one considers the different styles that can be played using fingers instead of a flatpick, it is true that too many fingerstyle guitar CDs sound alike. That's why it's so refreshing to hear a fingerstyle artist play in a truly unique style. I recently received a trio of new CDs by three diverse artists who share only a few commonalities: they all play acoustic guitars; they don't use flatpicks; they can't be pigeonholed into the Travis-picking, nouveau Celtic, new age, or solo jazz categories of guitar music; and they all have chops that will make your jaw drop.
Uwe Kropinski's Faces is the latest album from an artist who is well established in the European experimental jazz scene. Originally from East Germany, Kropinski has recorded more than ten albums and collaborated with such players as John Tchicai (saxophone), David Friesen (bass), and John Stowell (electric guitar). Faces shows Kropinski in the context in which he is best known: solo guitar, at times accompanied by percussion instruments played simultaneously by Kropinski himself. Recorded direct to two-track DAT using two custom-made 39-fret steel- and nylon-string guitars, the album contains 16 songs, half originals and half arrangements of standards.
What is most fascinating about Kropinski's playing is how seamlessly he blends his diverse stylistic influences into his arrangements and compositions. Opening with Miles Davis' "Nardis," Kropinski introduces the Latin flavor that shows up throughout the album but augments his palette of sounds with sudden flurries of flamenco/picado lines, hip bass lines, and smooth chords voiced high on the neck. These techniques set the stage for a listening experience that defies comparison. Other noteworthy covers include Randy Weston's "Little Niles" (fingerstylists may be familiar with John Renbourn's arrangement of this tune), Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely," John Coltrane's "Giant Steps," and the traditional "House of the Rising Sun." Kropinski captures the essence of these melodies, but through his use of bends, harmonics, tremolo-like right-hand picking, and unique voicings he makes each one of these well-known compositions his own.
Kropinski's originals range from beautiful ballads such as "Another Dream" to the almost orchestral sounding "Opus 39"-a tour de force of upper-register playing-and the bebopish "Monkey Tonk," which also features the guitarist's scat singing. While Kropinski's percussive accompaniment is often very impressive, it does get monotonous at times. I loved some of his solo breaks, but the sound of his foot tapping a tambourine on every beat of "Little Niles," for example, was a bit grating. But overall, this is a very ambitious album by a player full of surprises.
If Kropinski seems wild at times, Richard Leo Johnson's playing displays a constant sense of organized chaos. The self-proclaimed victim of too many years of playing by himself has an appetite for coaxing new sounds and rhythms from his Taylor six- and 12-strings and McCollum double-neck. The result is music featuring a groove-oriented style, a great sense of humor, and great tone similar to both Leo Kottke's and Michael Hedges'. Nevertheless, it's easy to lose the downbeat in Johnson's wacky compositions, and I found his new CD, Fingertip Ship, to be a challenge to listen to in one sitting. But taken one at a time, tunes like the funky "Glidepath" and the CD's closer, "Empitsu No Uta," on which Johnson imitates the Japanese koto, will certainly grab your ear. Melody takes a backseat in the majority of the tunes on Fingertip Ship, but two songs meant as homages to musical giants, "Tony Bennett" and "Jaco Morocco," show Johnson's meditative side.
Like Kropinski, Hungarian guitarist Sándor Szabó relies on a variety of unusual instruments. On his latest album, Gaia and Aries, he can be found playing a guitar with 16 steel strings tuned in pairs like those of a 12-string (see Great Acoustics, page XX), an eight-string classical, an eight-string fretless, and a standard six-string classical. Just seconds into the opening cut, "Shaman Song," I realized I was listening to one of the freshest and imaginative voices I had come across in some time. Setting the stage with what can only be described as a wicked low drone, the tune quickly develops a great call-and-response theme with a haunting overall feel--a carpet of sound that is a trademark of Szabó's compositions. While Szabó is clearly capable of writing tunes that stay for the most part within the boundaries of Western harmony, such as the Ralph Townerinspired "Grey," one of his strengths is modal composition. He explores non-Western scales without falling into the trap of exotic noodling. One of the album's strongest examples of Szabó's dance between East and West is "Short Tales from the East," in which he makes his fretless guitar sound like a hybrid of sarod, oud, and nylon-string guitar. Although most fans of solo guitar music-and particularly those who enjoy the 12-string-will find Gaia and Aries inspiring, it is the overriding musical quality that makes this album so special.
--Teja Gerken