| SHAWN TROTTER - SHAWN TROTTER |
| CD REVIEW (This review was also published at www.701.com) |
| This CD is a 5-track collection of instrumental songs by this Maritimes-born guitarist who was obviously classically trained but who has explored many other different styles of playing - roots, Celtic and jazz among them. His style shows influences by Bruce Cockburn, Michael Hedges and any number of classical guitarists, but he has gone beyond these influences to create his own particular musical pastiche. The opening track, "Shift", has a joyfully passionate flamenco feel to it, but it is interspersed with melodies that also evoke emotions of sadness, frustration and confusion. "Because They Sing" has a mellow, lighthearted peacefulness to it, with a slight tinge of Jos� Feliciano's style to it. I found it a tad long, although I find his self-accompaniment technique here rather interesting. "Jack Stewart", the only non-original on the CD and a traditional Celtic ballad, perhaps even a lullaby, is very bluesy in a wistfully nostalgic kind of way. It's quite a beautiful and engaging tune and sounded vaguely familiar to me - a very good selection and interpretation. I'd love to hear Shawn's interpretion of Steve Miller's "Slinky" or "Maelstrom", the latter instrumental composed by Greg Douglass and performed in a duet with Mr. Miller on his "Living in the 20th Century" album. "From Across the Room" is another bit of dream-filled moodiness, but the melodic flow is ever-changing and unpredictably so. Unlike "Because They Sing", Mr. Trotter kept this one short and sweet at an even three minutes in length. Shawn closes off the CD by recording the excitable side of his personality in the closer, "Beaver Crossing", a somewhat funky "roots-boogie", if I may call it that. And make no mistake, if the tempo calls for it, this man can perform at warp-speed! This flawlessly-produced CD was recorded and mixed by Shane Tunney at his Burlington studio, with Shawn sharing in the production credits. The only improvement I recommend is adding another five songs to it. You can catch Shawn (and Shane) live in action in and around Halton and the GTA regions as vocal and instrumental members of their Celtic band, Bushmill Minstrels. In that group, Shawn leaves the guitar-playing to Shane (who's no slouch himself!) and instead flaunts his virtuosity on the mandolin! David Simpson accompanies on drums and James Gannett keeps the groove on bass. There is a third alternate guitarist, Charlie Calvert (Bonnie Prince Charlie, by nickname), who often participates as well. They are well-seasoned performers who guarantee 100% fun! |
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