The electric guitar meets the avant-garde in the recordings of Sean Shibe, who has to do less arranging than one might think. Here, he concedes that "[t]he composers and pieces on this album might not immediately stand out as having very much in common; this album is less portraiture than a journey that revels in eclecticism." Though he concedes, "If an image did come to mind, it would be something like an overflowing toybox." It is true; with materials from Hildegard of Bingen to the young composer Shiva Feshareki, Shibe ...
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The electric guitar meets the avant-garde in the recordings of Sean Shibe, who has to do less arranging than one might think. Here, he concedes that "[t]he composers and pieces on this album might not immediately stand out as having very much in common; this album is less portraiture than a journey that revels in eclecticism." Though he concedes, "If an image did come to mind, it would be something like an overflowing toybox." It is true; with materials from Hildegard of Bingen to the young composer Shiva Feshareki, Shibe might seem to be taking on an unruly collection of pieces, but they share a certain mood and, above all, a certain spirituality that makes the program click. Sample the pieces by Moondog, to whom Shibe has already devoted an entire album. They bounce nicely off the works from the mainstream 20th century avant-garde and also the jazz pieces by Chick Corea. Shibe also does well to include pieces by new discoveries, not only Feshareki but also Oliver Leith, represented by Pushing my thumb through a plate (the longest work on the album) and the tragic avant-gardist Julius Eastman, who is thankfully being rescued from obscurity. If one wants to start exploring the work of Shibe, an undoubted original, there is no better place than here. ~ James Manheim, Rovi
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