By: Henk te Veldhuis
his fingerstyle guitarist from Oak Park, USA, impresses with his debut solo
acoustic album Flying Colors. His influences draw upon a variety of styles like
ragtime, blues, finger style, Latin and folk music. It includes 8 solo pieces and
4 guitar/cello duets a blues piece and a Latin piece. The first piece of this album
Up the Ante is pure and dedicated ragtime guitar with a strong rhythmic feeling
and has a nice bass pattern. Michael's approach to ragtime and finger style is
very direct with some Celtic impact, which invites you to dance. Blue Note is a
charming blues composition on slide guitar with superb blues harp playing,
with a nice groove. Flying Colors has a solid and intimate character with a
terrific melody line. Caribou has sublime percussive elements in a solid
cadence and rich harmonics. Shadows & Light embodies a profound
melody with acclaimed cello playing. Vagabond another top-notch piece
with great rhythmic nuances. Lluvia Negra is played live on a classical
guitar accompanied by the acoustic world music trio called Heartlands,
which is an impressive mix of World and Folk music. Close at Hand and
Martha's Theme affects one by the unique stylistic approach to finger style
music, which is very refreshing, uplifting and shows Michael's rousing
knowledge towards guitar arrangements.Michael Henson manages to
move a listener in 14 varied compositions in his own astonishing guitar
signature. A talent we will have to nurture.
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