American Landscapes For Guitar

Brad Richter is an American-born Classical and Spanish style guitarist. Here is an album of Richter’s own compositions, all inspired by the landscapes of the American West. His technique is outstanding, and the playing is terrific throughout. The compositions may have their ups and downs. All solo guitar (save for #10 & 11 which include a guest cellist).

All instrumental. No FCC issues.

1-2. Two part suite, named for a forest in northern Germany.
1 ** “Light.” Fast Spanish fingerstyle. Some rapping on the guitar. Bright sound, lots of treble. (2:45)
2 “Shadow.” Slow. Harp like arpeggios in a minor key. (2:42)

3 *** Mid-tempo. Classical guitar with a slight Latin touch, like a Villa-Lobos piece. Liner notes say it’s meant to evoke some of the tunes in “West Side Story.” (3:28)

4-9. A suite of tone-poem impressions inspired by the Colorado River region. Pieces can stand alone.
4 Starts almost imperceptivity quiet, grows to load and energetic, then fades out. (2:51)
5 *** Mid-tempo. Richly textured with a variety of strumming & picking techniques. Harmonic overtones. One of the better compositions here and a very strong performance. (3:14)
6 Mid-tempo. Very mellow, impressionistic, improvisational. New Age feeling. (2:59)
7 Slow to mid-tempo, but with fast runs. Showy piece but not especially moving. Lacks unity. (3:57)
8 ** Mid-tempo. A Debussy-like Impressionistic fantasy. (3:37)
9 *** Between Classical & folk. Super fingerstyle play. Like something John Fahey might do. (3:38)

Classical-sounding duets with guitar and cello.
10 *** Slow. Cello leads with beautiful melody; guitar accompanies almost as a piano would. (3:18)
11 *** Faster. A more “modern” Classical piece. A bit jagged, dissonant & syncopated. (3:29)

A pair of movements from some larger work (with no further explanation in the notes)
12 ** Fast. Hard, driving thumb-thumping on bass strings. Syncopated melody on treble strings. (2:20)
13 Starts slow, becomes faster. Full of harp-like arpeggios. Sort of dreamy and New Age. (4:19)

Eight short impressions. These seem unrelated and each can stand alone.
14 Medium fast. Bright, happy sound. Steady, churning rhythm. (1:31)
15 Slower. Heavy, ponderous rhythm. With some high note accents. (1:19)
16 * A pretty little waltz. Played almost as if guitar is a piano. (1:34)
17 Thumping on guitar body might be distant thunder. Harmonic overtones might be raindrops. (1:45)
18 Mid-tempo. A somewhat aimless and repetitive improvisation. (1:06)
19 Slow. Harsh and somewhat atonal. Almost interesting but so short. (1:06)
20 Mid-tempo. Around and around and around it goes. (1:29)
21 ** Mid-tempo. A bright, fun sound. A bit of a calypso beat. Some humorous effects. (2:25)

Brad Richter has done a wonderful job in this album

1 - Licht - Energetic - starts with a high speed note and slows down
2 -Schatteb - Calm - slow paced rendering
3 Celebration day - (at 2.10 sec looks like a pause - no sound) - but ends well
4 - Snowmelt - like a bell curve - relaxed beats but picks up speed in the end
5 - Confluence - very pleasant
6 - Leaving MArble - Calm and quiet
7 - Lava Falls - Medium - very energetic and brings up the positive mood
8 - Ebb and Flow - pleasant
9 - Storm Chaser - AS title suggests chases well and picks momentum in the end

Guest Artist Cello starts here

10 - Facing East - - melacnoly note
11 - circles - Deep in emotions - starts slow but pick up momentum

Back to Brad Richter

14 - 21 - different than 1 - 9 totally tries variety of notes

Overall - liked all of them - hard to pick just a couple