John Fahey, Robbie Basho, Brij Bushan Kabra, Augustin Barrios Mangore, Robert Walser, Denton Welch, Daniil Kharms, Dino Buzzati, Kenneth Fearing, Luigi Pirandello, Etta Baker, John Jackson, Zia Mohiuddin Dagar, Nikhil Banerjee, Erik Satie, Jimi Hendrix, Sol Hoopii and so on and so forth.
Since 1989, Glenn Jones has led Boston’s “avant -garage” instrumental rock band, Cul de Sac, whose musical adventures are documented on nine albums to date, including a soundtrack for cult-director Roger Corman, and collaborations with guitarist John Fahey and former Can vocalist Damo Suzuki.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A 30-plus-year devotee of the so-called “Takoma school,” Jones has written extensively on the steel-string guitar’s leading lights: John Fahey, with whom he was friends for nearly 25 years, and Robbie Basho, who befriended Jones during the five years before his untimely death in 1986. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With former Takoma label guitarists Peter Lang and Michael Gulezian -- along with Loren Mazzacane Connors, Henry Kaiser, Gary Lucas, Tony Conrad and others -- Jones performed at sold-out concerts honoring John Fahey, in NYC and San Francisco, shortly after Fahey’s death in 2001.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In 2004, Jones stepped out of the long shadow cast by Takoma’s guitar visionaries and offered his own "new possibility" -- This Is the Wind That Blows It Out -- for Strange Attractors Audio House. Its release was followed by a month-long tour of Europe with guitarist Jack Rose. Jones has since shared bills with Steffen Basho-Junghans, Max Ochs, Matt Valentine / Erika Elder; along with Rose, he’s toured with Peter Lang, and with some of the best of the new breed of solo guitar upstarts: Harris Newman, Sean Smith, and James Blackshaw, among others
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jones' second album -- titled Against Which the Sea Continually Beats — will be issued by Strange Attractors in March 2007. The new album MAY be followed by a tour of the U.S., with Steffen Basho-Junghans, in March / April of 2007.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reviews of This is the Wind that Blows it Out:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “. . . gorgeous luminous settings . . . scored across a series of open tunings, which he threads with beautiful rolling melodies, his slide work soundings like the flutter of tiny metal butterflies . . . one of the best of the recent deluge.” --David Keenan, The Wire ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“. . . a lean and lively hound among the sheep.” --Bill Meyer, Dusted ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “. . . done with a natural, unforced feel devoid of flash and etched in slow detail so every nuance of his vibrato and tone can be absorbed. Really, the right word is ‘felt,’ since these instrumental compositions all have genuine emotional resonance, no slight accomplishment.” --Ted Drozdowski, Boston Phoenix ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Jones dispenses with the modern aesthetic, and instead delves deeply into the traditional, and comes up with a beautiful, haunting, and indeed poetic album. . . .” --Jeff Fitzgerald, Aural Traditions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “. . . sensitivity and power that instantly communicates . . . demonstrates that his mastery of his instrument goes well beyond the speed of his fingers and lies in the investment of his mind and soul in his art." --Michael Patrick Brady, Brainwashed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Fahey gathered in the blues, traditional folk, experimentalism, slack key, and a dozen other strains to birth a whole school of thinking about acoustic guitar. Jones is a worthy student, especially because he both incorporates doctrine and gently plays against it. Moments can feel downright epic (‘Sphinx Unto Curious Men’), gleeful (‘Linden Avenue Stomp’), and believably melancholy (‘Doll Hospital’). . . . Solo displays can often feel labored or too demonstrative but Jones conveys a profound pleasure in excavating this music that dispels any thoughts of scholarship or technique. This is what one person can do with one instrument and it is a beautiful thing.” --Dennis Cook, Jambase ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “. . . in light of modern trends in fingerstyle (anti-structure exemplified by Jack Rose and Six Organs of Admittance), Jones conceives his songs with a degree of competence and sensitivity unparalleled by any of today’s musicians . . . the first non-Fahey fingerstyle album worth buying in years. . . .” --Matthew Baldwin, Monterey County Weekly
CIAN NUGENT 'Childhood, Christian Lies & Slaughter' CD Cian Nugent is a 19 year old guitar player from Dublin who combines squicky pre-war blues, Appalachian string band music, and the Takoma school into a deeply personal style. This cd documents a great live set, produced by Jozef Van Wissem.
just a quick one to say there's a couple of new tunes on the black crow morning page, and the 'songs of the crow' EP will be available from August 4th, via my page...
hey Glenn, nice to meet your solo works there. the ways you're steppin on is really an experience... freedom raga is a masterpiece. greetings from salonika...
