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Strunz & Farah - Guitarras (1985)

Genre: Jazz Fusion, World Fusion, Instrumental Virtuoso

Guitarras was guitar duo Strunz & Farah's follow up CD to "Frontera", which was a critical favorite and brought the pair much noteriety. Their 1985 offering displayed brilliance, esoterica and creativity all at once. Jorge Strunz plays acoustic nylon guitar on the bulk of the tunes, while Ardeshir Farah wields a mighty steel string acoutic guitar - a great sonic mesh which yielded a few standout tracks. First, the percussive "Zambalera", based around a South American rhythm; then "Suenos (Part I)" which begins with a dream-like quiality and develops into a Strunz/Farah showdown; and finally "The Feathered Serpent", a dynamic track inspired by Mexican legends. The percussion elements on Guitarras alone make the music worthy in a crowded world music market. ~ Buy It at Lowest Price on Amazon

Thousands - possibly millions - of people have come to learn about Strunz and Farah throught their commercial albums: Americas, Primal Magic, etc. But there is an earlier story to this duo: one of a pair of highly inventive, visionary musicians who seemingly wanted to test the very borders between Jazz, Fusion, Hispanic, Flamenco and Arabic music. Much as John McLaughlin challenged the world with groups such as Shakti - his Jazz/Indian fusion group - here were a pair of musicians who (on their "Frontera" album) shamelessly pairing the Jazz sensibilities of players such as Stanley Clarke (acoustic bass) with music that seemed want to drag Flamenco back, kicking and screaming, to its Arabic musical roots.

Considering the time "Frontera" was released, it is phenomenal music (a prior album - Mosaico - predates and presages some of McLaughlin's most famous work with Flamenco maestro Paco De Lucia). The music is powerful, intense, inventive and unashamedly ambitious and grand. It shows both melodic and harmonic mastery.

However, in some ways, this album is more focused and mature than "Frontera", with less of the musical showcase of guest musicians, and more focus on compositions. While "Frontera" was more of a tour de force, with highly pieces (arguably needed to allow room for all the guest musicians), the focus is more on the composition as a platform for small ensemble interplay.

The result is pure magic. The twin tracks "Suenos" (parts 1 and 2) particularly show melodic accomplishment, ending in a passionate torrent of improvisation from the duo. Suenos pt 2 in particular threatens even to veer towards the type of melodic/harmonic inventiveness reminiscent of Allan Holdsworth. For someone who is more inclined to listen to Jazz than "Gypsy Kings" music, it is rewarding music and shows both a Jazz sensibility and attention to structure and arrangement that would make the likes of Al Di Meola and John McLaughlin look to their laurels.

Strunz's solos are defintely on fire here. Although, as I have come to learn through repeated live concerts, he is not really an improvisor - his "solos" are actually composed and are usually played note-for-note in concert - his solos retain a spontaneous feel. However, Ardeshir is no slouch either.

However, it is a very rich and heady mix. People more accustomed to their more commercial offerings, and whose ears are not ready for the radically altered harmonic content (modes of the Hungarian Melodic Minor Scale, for example) may find this music confusing and, frankly sometimes, challenging. It is certainly not dance music and does not have the "Latin Theme Park" feel of some of their less challenging commercial pieces. As people, who have tried so-called Indian food at a strip mall restaurant are unprepared for how real Indian food tastes on the streets of Mumbai, so too will many people - whose tastes are more conventional - be unprepared for this musical menu.

And it certainly does not surprise me that some people who have come to them through their commercial music find this "less rewarding".

However, there are some of us for whom evoking romantical musical images is far less important than scaling the heights of artistic achievement, and this album has artistic achievement and integrity in spades. Indeed, having had the opportunity to ask the gentlemen themselves, as well as their close friends, it is clear that they too hold this album very dear.

So, to those who are Armik and Gypsy Kings fans, be ready to be challenged: if this music leads you to explore music more deeply, than you will be rewarded with a profound musical experience.

But for those of you looking for dance music, or dreams of Spanish romance, or the sort of pseudo-Spanish schlock perpetrated by Ottmar Liebert, this is defintely not for you.

Thankfully. ~ Review by Kalenski 2 @

Tracklisting:

1. Curandero (4:23)

2. Chumash (3:43)

3. Suenos (Part 1) (4:42)

4. Suenos (Part 2) (3:33)

5. Zambalera (4:41)

6. Tropico (5:19)

7. Talisman (4:12)

8. The Feathered Serpent (4:32)

9. Mirage (5:43)

Total Time: 40:48

Listen to samples and/or

Line-Up:

- Jorge Strunz / Nylon-String Guitar, Production

- Ardeshir Farah / Steel-String Guitar, Production

- Luis Conte / Percussion (Selections 1, 3-8)

- Miguel Cruz / Percussion ( 2, 7)

- Omaya Al`Ghanim / Second Guitar Solo ( 2)

- Enrique "Quique" Cruz / Zampona, Kena ( 5)

- Hugo Pedroza / Charango ( 5)

- Majid Ghorbani / Dombak, Percussion ( 9)

- Ashish Khan / Sarod ( 8)

- Hayadeh / Vocals ( 9)

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Rating:
2.5 out of 5 by Book123