Okay, I went a little crazy over tonight’s featured
guitarist. I’ve never heard him before last Thursday night when I was surfing for
Adam Rafferty songs and stumbled on him. All I can say is “Wow!”
While his YouTube videos are prolific, I can’t find much
about his life other than what’s on his website (http://www.soymartino.com). He was born in 1975 in Banovce nad Bebravou,
Slovakia where he grew up and went to school graduating with a Master’s Degree
from the Faculty of Arts of the Univerzita Konštantína Filozofa in Nitra. After
graduating he worked as a teacher, but later moved to the Canary Islands of
Spain where he worked and played as a solo guitarist. He worked with a friend
and fellow musician Martin Tesak for a year, playing as a duo called “Los
Martinos.” Then, in 2008, he returned to Slovakia.
His website offers a plethora of tab books containing his arrangements of
the songs he plays. What struck me is his repertoire is so diverse and the pop
stuff he plays, refreshingly isn’t the kind of thing other do like the usual
Michael Jackson or Stevie Wonder tunes. How many solo acoustic guitarists
perform Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black,” Roxette’s “Crash, Bang, Boom,”
Madonna’s “La Isla Bonita”, Eminem’s “Cleaning Out My Closet,” or Coolio’s
“Gangsta Paradise” done appropriately from a jail cell.
His resonant tone is gorgeous. Coldplay’s “Scientist” is beautiful, and
his double tracking/loop work on “Fragile” is exquisite. While Gotye’s
“Somebody I Used to Know” is becoming popular among guitarists, Soy’s is one of
the best arrangements I’ve heard.
But my favorites are his renditions of four songs written by Sting, the
last four links below and yeah, I definitely went a little overboard with the
links to 27 of his videos, but I only scratched the surface of the available
work by this little known, but amazing guitarist.
Cancion del Mariachi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ_CdjsxClk
The Godfather Theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIlIcC3CH9c
With or without you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcQrcvL7_b4
The Scientist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrVCIX7Wyek
Another day in paradise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdCdJuJNJqs
Crash, boom, bang: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptDXKpFhbrc
We are young: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbHQzRB65C8
Back to black: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czwq56b53AA
Streets of Philadelphia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiGKHeUPOJ8
Let it be: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF_hzJR8FSg
More than words: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjEf5Szv_ek
Somebody that I used to know: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9jQDH0tnqg
One more try: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avFNlbM6oFY
My friends: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adt1L8R-V9s
La Isla Bonita: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqGfgjzE4F8
Breakfast in America: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1kZyc5SL5o
Cleaning out my closet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYspBJ3N7CA
Gangsta’s paradise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-fR3nAXM3w
Complicated: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp2JN1dayyc
Desert rose: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BviFxf9GATg
Shape of my heart: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htuXMUvUw-Q
Fields of gold: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5XIwvc047Y
Tonight’s just full of new things. One of the guys at my local wine shop
recommended this wine to me, knowing I like Cotes du Roussillons. The 2011 Domaine
Lafage Tessellae Old Vines 2011 ($16.00) comes from a winemaker (Lafage)
whose winery was voted number 1 by Wine Spectator awhile back. The thing that’s
intriguing about Lafage wines is that they’re incredibly good while being an
excellent value, something you don’t often see in French wines today. I’ve
mentioned this before, but I’ll say it again. I always let French wines breathe
by using either an aerator or, in this case, decanting it into a wide-bottomed
flask and letting it rest for an hour.
The wine is a blend of 40% Syrah, 40% Grenache, 15% Mourvedre, and 5%
Grenache Gris. It has aromas of black cherry, strawberries, and herbs. The
flavors echo the aromas with a smooth, velvety mouthfeel. It’s a truly
wonderful wine to accompany the music of a fabulous Guitarist.
Cheers!
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