Flyin' Ryan Brothers
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Legacy Of Great Twin Guitar Rock
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For a great example of twin guitar playing, look no further than the Flyin' Ryan Brothers' latest CD Legacy. This mostly instrumental rock album was recorded by actual brothers, Johnny and Jimmy, who have decades of playing experience together, and have honed their double lead technique substantially over that time. Not only a superb recording for fans of the guitar, the pair are also creative songwriters and arrangers, keeping things fresh with a great variety of moods and rhythms. Everything from hard rock to Irish to Wishbone Ash-style rock to ballads are represented - with stellar musicianship the order of the day. Legacy is their third CD release together (their debut came out in 1996), and the Ryan's just continue to get better and better, in all areas of performance, production and composition. Highly recommended.
Jimmy and Johnny have played guitar together for over 25 years. They both started playing guitar in the late '60s. Jimmy and Johnny were 14 and 12, respectively, when they got their first guitars. With no formal training on the instrument, they were both soon playing by ear, imitating songs they heard on the radio. By early '71, Jim and John were in their first bands---already trying to outdo each other. At the same time, they began to exchange licks and jam together. They quickly realized that they could play harmony leads together very naturally. Over the following months, Jimmy and Johnny began to really hone their styles and formed a band with some local musicians called Westfall. This was the band where they really began to develop their double lead style, modeled after Wishbone Ash. In 1996, Jimmy and Johnny released their debut all-original recording project together, "Sibling Revelry", and the song "Struttin'" won "Chicago's Finest Fingers" Competition.
In 1999, their next full-length project, "Colorama", was released. Both CDs have received very positive reviews in the press. The due continues to write, play and record.
Contact Information
Ryanetics Music, Ltd.
468 Ambleside Road
Des Plaines, IL 60016
United States
E-mail:
Flyin' Ryan Brothers
Web site:
www.ryanetics.com
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Adam James Wilson Quintet
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Live-In-The-Studio Free Improvisations
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And now for something completely different. If you like your music composed and well within your melodic, rhythmic and tonal comfort zone, please move on. On the other hand, if you like the idea of totally free improvisation, where you can never be sure what the next few minutes of music might bring, perhaps the Adam James Wilson Quintet's CD Unify would be right up your alley. Wilson, who uses a fretless guitar so as not to be constrained to the production of discrete pitches, works with four other instrumentalists (flute, drums/percussion, piano and violin) to explore unparalleled improvisational avenues, bringing chaos to order, and order back to chaos. If you are ready to give up your preconceived ideas of what improvisational music can be, Unify could be the challenging listening experience you have been searching for.
Adam was born in New York in 1975. He studied composition and classical guitar at the Oberlin Conservatory and computer music at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. These days he can be found playing fretless guitar, 7-string electric violin, Harmonic Canon I, prepared guitar, electric bass, analog synthesizer, percussion, or singing with various groups - and in various tuning systems - throughout the northeastern United States. Recent collaborators include Jeff Arnal, Arto Artinian, Gordon Beeferman, Katt Hernandez, Brad Kemp, Joe Maneri, Aaron Trant, and Jonathan Vincent. Mr. Wilson has released several recordings, documenting his performances with combinations of the aforementioned artists. He gratefully acknowledges the influences of Harry Partch, Iannis Xenakis, and Joe Maneri. He is also quite fond of the theoretical works of Morris Berman (esp. Reenchantment of the World) and William Sethares (Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale), which "justify much of [his] musical and non-musical babbling."
Wilson is available for performances in the U.S. and abroad. He is also available for studio work, or to provide music for film, dance, or theatre productions.
Contact Information
Adam James Wilson
140 Metropolitan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
United States
E-mail:
Adam James Wilson Quintet
Web site:
www.adamjameswilson.com
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