Timbreline Music
Michael Gulezian : Concert at St.Olaf College (US,2004)****°
From an early age on Michael was encouraged by his father, an Armenian oud player. From Armenian and Middle Eastern forms he also got into everything from rock, folk, soul, and the blues to traditional Indian artists like Ravi Shankar. Next influence was the acoustic Mississippi country/blues legends. At the time he got into Fahey, Kottke and Basho, and played one time, when still in college, a track to Robbie Basho who encouraged him to send a demo to Fahey and his Takoma label. Fahey became then like a kind of personal tutor until Michael released an album, “Snow”, on his own label Aardvark Records. Takoma at that time had become a label with bigger distribution and decided to reissue the album with a few changes under the title “Unspoken Intentions” in 1979. Michael Hedges mentioned it later as his major influence, and also fahey described it as being a groundbreaking album. When Takoma went bankrupt in 1985 Michael, somewhat disappointed, took a distance from the recording industry and went back to college for a degree in marketing. In the early nineties he established his own label Timbreline and released 5 albums so far, which also includes the original Takoma reissue.
This perfect live album shows some of the variety in the talent of Michael. His remarkable technique has an almost jazzfusion like fluidity as if it’s built upon waves of playing with a natural energy, with pickings combined with the right accents within a rhythmic pulse. The playing has a rich body and an emotional depth. At times, like on “Watermelon” this playing has an early Kottke like speed and fluidity. Other people also mention some characteristics from the late Michael Hedges. But the technique has more variety in it than can be described with some references only. On a track like “My trampoline Heart” the quick pickings have such a degree of emotional power and intensity as if there are more layers of melodies played at the same time, and as if the guitar is divided into different instruments for bass, rhythm, melody line and for pitched accents. On the more quiet tracks, with a bit of added echo, like on “Tumbledweeb”, it is as if a whole landscape follows with it. Also here one should almost forget that this is a reality expressed by only one guitar. “Little Meggie” has a sound so recognisable, as an affectionate melody, one could overlook the idea how much virtuosity is behind it, because this almost sound just beautiful and simple. Michael did also something different with the Bach tune “Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring” adding perhaps even a blues/ gospel-like accent to the tune, and also here there's some of the echoing space which counts to the added accents. A truly wonderful album and performance.
