England-based guitar picker Nicolas Meier (originally hails from Switzerland) is a great admirer of the music of guitar virtuoso Jeff Beck, and he even played in the notorious Jeff Beck Group for two years. Meier's new album called Last Sunset is inspired by Beck's unique music and it is an instrumental guitar roller coaster featuring jazz, rock, Asian and even metal influences galore. Last Sunset features the following "band" members of Meier (electric guitars, acoustic nylon and steel guitars, 12-string guitar and synth guitar): Gary Husband on drums, Jimmy Haslip (Yellowjackets) on bass guitar, Richard Jones on violin, Arran McSporran on bass guitar, Lizzie Ball on violin and Vinnie Colaiuta (Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa) on drums. Last Sunset is a truly diverse album and the opening track Rose On Water sounds very oriental and that is mainly due to the violin passages, setting a tone for this album as a mix of oriental atmosphere and rock music. Follow up Plan 9 features a classic, catchy guitar riff, while Legend, featuring guest Indonesian guitar player Dewa Budjana sounds rather exotic. Bosphorus is a beautiful guitar ballad making me think of Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Jeff Beck, of course.... Meier's soaring guitar solo here gives me goosebumps all over, making this my favourite track of Last Sunset for sure! The Eye Of Horus, the concluding piece of this album is a dark rocker, again more in the veins of Joe "Satch" Satriani; ending this album in style indeed. Last Sunset is an amazing album that will appeal to fans/lovers of instrumental guitar music, as Nicolas Meier is definitely one of today's most ambitious and skilful guitar talents on this planet. Check it out and play it LOUD; listening tip: Plan 9. ***+ Martien Koolen (edited by Dave Smith) Where to buy? |
