Guitarist April 2021

“Anybody fancy a season of BM re-releases with lots of juicy extras?” asked Brian May through his Instagram feed in 2020. “We’re working on a plan!!!” The first stage of that plan comes to fruition now, with the long-awaited reissue of the legendary Queen guitarist’s superlative debut solo album. Almost 30 years on from its initial release, Back To the Light stands as an intimate and expansive testament to the talent and tenacity of one of the foremost guitarists and songwriters of his generation.

World-renowned jazz guitarist, singer and recent Grammy Award-winning producer John Pizzarelli takes on the songs of Pat Metheny in his new album “Better Days Ahead”. Having loved the recordings of the Pat Metheny Group since his teenage years, Pizzarelli welcomed the challenge of diving deep into Metheny’s cannon of dense, moving material and deconstructing Pat Metheny’s group arrangements on his seven-string guitar. “To say it was flattering to have John address these tunes is an understatement. I had no idea that it was all leading to this excellent solo guitar recording of my tunes” says Methany.

Harmonica player, guitarist, and whistler Jean Baptiste "Toots" Thielemans was credited by jazz aficionados as being among the greatest jazz harmonica players of the 20th century, improvising on an instrument more known in folk and blues music. Thielemans was known to audiences young and old, his harmonica heard on the Sesame Street theme and his whistling heard in an "Old Spice" commercial.