Alex de Grassi, The Water Garden. The music on de Grassi's latest recording is languid and tranquil, like a Japanese garden. Sometimes the guitar swirls in a thickly woven tapestry; sometimes it creates open and airy spaces and evokes images of half- remembered settings. De Grassi has returned to the compositional methods of his early records--shopping around the guitar for tunings and then improvising themes from them. The recording of these beautiful performances, including "Cumulus Rising" and "Vanishing Point," has a natural sound sculpted with light reverb and chorus--overall, a finely crafted package. (Tropo, PO Box 772, Redwood Valley, CA 95470)
--Gary Joyner
Kate Campbell, Visions of Plenty. Kate Campbell is a wonderful songwriter who writes beautifully detailed stories of southern life. "Bowl-A-Rama" is the surprisingly poignant tragedy of a man who never bowled better than a 299, "Jesus and Tomatoes" is a deliciously wicked tale of a woman who finds a vegetable ("or is it a fruit?") with the image of you know who, and "Crazy in Alabama" discusses desegregation without preaching. Though her music shows off her native roots, the Mississippi-born Campbell covers a wide range of styles, strumming and singing as convincingly on the Motown- influenced "Suit Yourself" as on the swampy rocker "Bus 109." (Compass, 117 30th Ave. S., Nashville, TN 37212)
--David Gold
Ralph Stanley and Friends, Clinch Mountain Country. A follow-up to the 1992 classic Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, this glorious two-CD set finds Stanley blending his wistful mountain tenor with the voices of 34 friends from the worlds of country, bluegrass, and gospel music. The Clinch Mountain Boys provide the instrumental foundation as the master revisits an array of Stanley Brothers classics. Highlights are far too plentiful to list, but every guest contributes an inspired performance. Whether it's high-powered bluegrass, mournful ballads, traditional folk, or stirring sacred songs, these 36 gems brilliantly display the common thread that holds country music together. (Rebel, PO Box 3057, Roanoke, VA 24015)
--Marc Greilsamer
Orquesta Atipica, Tango Dogs. Although the guitar has played a part in tango since its earliest days, it's all too often drowned in a sea of bandoneons. Orquesta Atipica, led by guitarist Matthew Heaton, dishes up some of the best that modern tango has to offer (including two Astor Piazzolla covers), and Heaton's nylon-string guitar is prominently placed in the mix. With a solid foundation in the music's rich tradition, the quartet of guitar, flute, bass, and accordion interacts in a mature manner, has a strong sense of melody, and uses enough drama to convey the genre's strong emotion. (Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, PO Box 4004, Boulder, CO 80306-4004)
--Teja Gerken
Tim Harrison, Bridges. Canadian Tim Harrison is a beguiling songwriter who combines eloquent poetry, interesting and percussive guitar playing, and a voice that drips with passion and authenticity. Harrison writes about what he believes and sings with a forcefulness that makes you a believer, too. His lyrics, like those of fellow Canadian Bruce Cockburn, invite us to make room for the spiritual and mystical in our lives. The addition of whistles and flutes on several cuts gives this CD a Celtic edge, but in the end it is Harrison's searing voice that reaches into the heart and demands to be heard. (Northern Breeze, 479 Rosewell Ave., Suite 1, Toronto, ON M4R 2B6, Canada)
--Steve Givens
El McMeen, Acoustic Guitar Treasures. These 13 guitar solos include Celtic perennials ("Sheebeg and Sheemore," "Pretty Maid Milking a Cow," "The Derry Air"), hymns and spirituals ("Hyfrydol," "Fairest Lord Jesus," "Jacob's Ladder"), and Stephen Foster's oughta-be-Celtic "Hard Times Come Again No More." McMeen's tone is gorgeous, his playing is nuanced, and his chamber-Celtic arrangements honor the melodies. The tempos never rise above medium, even though a slightly brisker pace might be welcome, for example, on "Lord Inchiquin" or "The South Wind." The brief but detailed notes cover guitars, strings, capo positions, tuning (C G D G A D for all), and arranging and performing philosophy. (Piney Ridge Music, PO Box 73, Mountain Lakes, NJ 07046)
--Russell Letson
Jez Lowe and the Bad Pennies, The Parish Notices. The sophistication of Jez Lowe's guitar work sneaks up on you while you're being impressed by his singing and songwriting. His guitar chops are clean and perfectly suited to the songs, never flashy. His songs are eminently singable. Lowe digs deeper into the heart than most songwriters dare, using his quartet, the Bad Pennies, to provide varied and inventive backdrops for his wonderful short stories about real people in grim yet hopeful circumstances. (Green Linnet, 43 Beaver Brook Rd., Danbury, CT 06810)
--Danny Carnahan
Larry Unger and Ginny Snowe, Waltz Time. This collection of waltzes composed by Larry Unger is great listening for an evening at home with your sweetie. Unger's tunes are varied--some could pass for 18th- or 19th-century waltzes, others are Latin- or Eastern European-influenced. Most cuts feature Unger's straightforward, no-frills guitar solos with a variety of accompanying instruments, including fine fiddling by Matt Glaser, Mary Lea, and Ruthie Dornfeld. Put on this CD and grab your partner for a few turns around the kitchen. (Black Socks, PO Box 269, Cambridge, MA 02140)
--Sue Thompson
Andy Mackenzie, Tales from the Hot Club. This is a vibrant offering of the hybrid of Eastern folk music and American swing known as Gypsy jazz. Andy MacKenzie and fellow Gypsy jazz enthusiasts John Jorgenson and Adrian Ingram bring a freshness and excitement to this music that would have made Django Reinhardt proud. Performing mainly on his Johnnie Voi Selmer-style acoustic guitar, Mackenzie plays unique arrangements of traditional Reinhardt tunes as well as a few jazz standards and originals. (Crimson, 13 Northenden Rd., Sale, Manchester, M33 2DH England)
--Charles H. Chapman
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