Reviewed by Jennifer Brooker

If you like acoustic guitar, the guy from Kansas delivers. This third collection of solo material is billed as "a cool jaz [sic] and latin blend". Cool it certainly is - blends beautifully with a mug of Fairtrade coffee on a long quiet summer evening: hymnody with a swing plus playing with many other traditions, including Hispanic, in the performer's own compositions. The first movement of "El Mision" takes us straight to the Iberian peninsula (sadly no experiments with the percussive possibilities of flamenco guitar); echoes of pre-classical European dance tunes in the second. And of course we have to finish with "Al Mundo Dios Amo". Sleeve notes don't help much: there aren't any. Printed on the disc itself are cryptic clues like "Day By Day - Schwartz" which has you trying to remember if he just wrote the book for Godspell (music by Loewe), but in any case those lyrics are by St Richard of Chichester. Relax, Americans have a different attitude towards attributing music ...

Jennifer Brooker

Biog: Jennifer Brooker from Oxford loves to chill out with the Lord after a hard day's work.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.