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Pete Oxley and Nicolas Meier: Travels To The West
ByOxley and Meier are both experienced and gifted players who combine fluidity and power. Eminently listenable separately, together they form a rhythmically swinging and melodically inventive duo. Oxley's projects include Curious Paradise, with saxophonist Mark Lockheart, and a guitar duo with Luis Dagostino. Meier, Swiss-born and now resident in the UK, performs with his own jazz groups and in the heavy metal band Seven. They also play together in Eclectica!, a quartet with a lineup of two guitars, violin and cello whose "Flight Of Fancy" and "Yemin"from Flight Of Fancy (MGP Records, 2011)both appear on this album. On Travels To The West, their undoubted technical skill and obvious joy in playing are readily apparent and the warm reception given to them by the audiences is well-deserved.
Oxley and Meier perform covers such as pianist Chick Corea's "Spain," as well as a number of originals. Meier's lovely "Breeze" features the unusual pairing of Oxley's 12-string electric guitar and Meier's 11-string glissentar. The tonal qualities of each instrument combine to give the album's most distinctive sound. "Yemin," another Meier composition, couples Oxley's steel string guitar with Meier's baglama to create another unusual tonal combination that emphasizes the tune's grace and air of mystery. The duo's version of guitarist Pat Metheny's "Travels" veers towards smooth jazz territory, but Oxley's "Lodder Leaps In" soon ups the pace and energy again, and a brisk nylon string guitar duet on Corea's "Armando's Rumba" is a crowd- pleasing closer.
The sound on Travels To The West is superb: bright, open and with the audiences' responses adding to the live atmosphere. Oxley and Meier are to be congratulated on this in their roles as co-producers, as well as on their masterful and intimate playing.
Track Listing
Esmeralda; Vera Cruz; The Butterfly Touch; Spain; Breeze; Flight Of Fancy; Travels; Lodder Leaps In; Yemin; Armando's Rumba.
Personnel
Nicolas Meier
guitar, acousticPete Oxley: nylon string guitar, steel string guitar, jazz guitar, electric 12 string guitar; Nicolas Meier: nylon string guitar, steel string guitar, jazz guitar, glissentar (5), baglama (9).
Album information
Title: Travels To The West | Year Released: 2012 | Record Label: MGP Records
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About Nicolas Meier
Instrument: Guitar, acoustic
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