Category Reviews & New Releases

Reviews for classical guitar albums, gear, instruments and more.

New Release: Samatureya by Frederic Hand

Samatureya by Frederic HandLabel: Panoramic RecordingsRelease Date: April 6, 2018 Listen or Buy at New Focus Recordings Glad to hear this nicely recorded new release from guitarist/composer Frederic Hand. A beautiful album filled with solos and ensemble music. I particularly…

Duo Tandem – Watching the World Go By

Duo Tandem (Necati Emirzade & Mark Anderson) have a new album out titled Watching the World Go By. The above video Before you Wake is the first track off the album and comes via their Youtube.. Here’s promo info, “This…

RCM Classical Guitar Series 2018 Edition

Classical Guitar Series 2018 Edition – The Royal Conservatory of Music Toronto (RCM) has a new series of graded books for classical guitar to replace the 2011 Bridges Guitar Series. Click here to see the book sampler (PDF). At first…

Canciones by Adam Cicchillitti

Canciones by Adam CicchillittiAnalekta, 2018Artist WebsiteAlbum Booklet/Notes Buy or listen: StoreNYV | Amazon | iTunes | Google Play | Spotify | Analekta Great to see this wonderful debut album from Canadian guitarist Adam Cicchillitti on the amazing Canadian label Analekta. Cicchillitti has…

Beethoven for Two Guitars – An Album of Period Arrangements

Last year the Schneiderman-Yamaya Duo (John Schneiderman, Hideki Yamaya) released a duo album of 19th-century guitar arrangements of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827). Great playing as usual from the duo and an interesting history of period arrangements. Here’s a brief intro about…

7 Guitars Under $900 by Uroš Barič

Slovenian guitarist/producer Uroš Barič reviews seven classical guitars under $900 from promusica.si and gives a brief studio tour. This is via his YouTube Channel with a full blog post with guitar specs and more info at his lesson and review site: Guitarise – Best Classical Guitars Under $900…

Visesnut Classial Guitar Cases

Visesnut Guitar Cases appear to be one of the best lightweight travel cases on the market with a sleek design and a reputation for durability. Here’s a number of online reviews and videos including a great interview by Guitar Ramble. A…

Review: Cordoba C5 Classical Guitar

Review: Cordoba C5 Classical GuitarEntry Level Model, 650mm scale lengthSolid Cedar top, Mahogany back & sides (Laminated)Price range Approx. $300-420 USD (via Amazon 2018)YouTube Review Link (4k quality) Buy from Amazon.com: Cordoba C5 Guitar Overall, a great guitar for the money. I actually…

American Collection by Matthew McAllister

Matthew McAllister’s new album American Collection for solo guitar features works by composers Chick Corea, Ralph Towner, Philip Rosheger, Lou Harrison and Frank Zappa alongside a Guitar Quartet recording of the Mishima Quartet by Philip Glass. Short documentary film above via…

Concentric Rings by the Victoria Guitar Trio

As many of you know, I play in the Victoria Guitar Trio with two of my closest friends and colleagues, Michael Dias and Adrian Verdejo. Over the years we’ve commissioned and performed many contemporary works by Canadian composers. Last year,…

New Releases: MicroFest, Kjeldsberg, Rinehart, Liberzon

This month has many exciting new releases by some of my favourite artists. In particular, Grammy award winning guitarist and producer John Schneider from MicroFest Records let me know about two new releases from his label. The music of Alex…

Review: Cordoba C10 Classical Guitar

Review: Cordoba C10 Classical GuitarCordoba ‘Luthier Series’ Line of GuitarsSolid Spruce topSolid Indian Rosewood back & sides650 mm scale lengthPrice range from around $1100 USD (via Amazon 2017)Video review link (4k quality): Buy from Amazon.com for the best price (I…