Search - WILLIAM COULTER & BENJAMIN VERDERY :: SONG FOR OUR ANCESTORS: GROOVEMASTERS VOL. 4

Reverential mastery

T. Hornick | Cleveland, Ohio USA | 05/07/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am a real fan of the Groovemaster's series; I stumbled upon the series by accident and have been working my way through the set of ten. As has been quoted elsewhere, the only thing better than the sound of one guitar, is the sound of two guitars. This album has been noted to be the 'least grooving' of the Groovemasters, but yet it is ebullient, musical and masterful. The music has taken center stage by two master guitarists: a classical guitarist and a new age/ folk/celtic guitarist. It is a great combination, and I am having difficulty categorizing it.

The music has a reverential, spacious feel; there are moments of outright brilliance, but for the most part it is the music that takes centerstage. There are some pieces which are simply mesmerizing: the "Tibetan prayer song" is hard to put into a specific category, it sounds almost Schubertian. There is even Bach and Saint-Saens played with great effect. This is not to say that this is a classical guitar recital, the songs draw from a great variety of music.

The overall effect of the music on this album is amazing; if you are looking for harmonically rich, melodically interesting music, this album is for you. Some guitar music available tends to too dry/too repetitive(the Muzak/easy listening curse): this album definitely does not belong in that category. I do not really know the work of these two accomplished players beyond this album; I will be looking to expand my horizons."