Dominic Miller & "E-2"

Dominic Miller is a little known, but fabulous Argentine-born English guitarist who has played on every Sting album and tour since 1990. In fact, he’s co-written many of Sting’s songs, including  one of my favorites, “Shape of My Heart.”

He was born March 21^st, 1960 and lived in Argentina for the first ten years of his life. His family moved to Wisconsin for two years then settled in London. He comes from a musical family and became a serious guitarist by the age of eleven. He has studied at London’s Guildhall School of Music as well as Boston’s Berklee College of Music.

His influences are diverse ranging from classical guitarist John Williams to Lindsey Buckingham to the late Jerry Garcia. In his group he alternates between electric and classical guitars and he’s a killer on both. Check out Rhani Krija, his drummer and percussionist. He’s remarkable, especially on “Rush Hour”. I’ve included two versions of “Shape of My Heart; one with his band and a stripped down version with just he and Sting. There’s also a clip of him accompanying Sting on “Brand New Day”.  Miller is a dynamic guitarist/song writer and one whom you should definitely get to know.

Fragile/Bring on the night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eNYBFIzNEU

Shape of my heart (Sting): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6VyvTaX8NE

Shape of my heart: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqzFcOWPlWc

Gut Feeling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyeCkpAJ__0

Air on a G string: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIeao201JIo

Brand new day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mbqeEXvHb4

Ripped nylon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0-dovqisO4

Fields of gold: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0-FPLiJiQY

Meeting point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3eYohCekIA

Adagio in G minor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFpA_UFk3ok

Catalan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYr-93MlO8c

If only: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tFgr4N_-GE

Do you want me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE9YrNMm44s

Lullabye: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d57_GJpSv2Q

Rush hour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8ovO9Feykc

Miller’s music always strikes me as moody, brooding, and bit on the dark side due to his extensive use of minor chord progressions. That calls for an equally dark and brooding wine like “E-2” from Dave Phinney’s Locations project ($19.00). Phinney has a long history of winemaking at high-end wineries in the Napa Valley including Opus One, Whitehall, and Mondavi. His own premium label Orin Swift is best known for it’s “The Prisoner” and “Papillon” wines. The Location wines are based on the concept of taking the best grapes from a country and blending them to make the best possible wine.  The name, “E” stands for España or Spain and is a blend of Grenache from Priorat, Rioja and Toro, Tempranillo from Riojo and Carignan from Ribera del Duero and Carinyena. The wine is dark purple and full bodied with explosive aromas of black fruit followed on the palate by blackberry, kirsh, and a touch of pepper. It has stunning richness and opulence and for my money can’t be beaten for the price. In fact, the Locations wines are some of the best wines money can buy for under $20.00. It’s a perfect compliment to the guitar of Dominic Miller.

Cheers!

Mark Kroos & Bila Haut Cote de Roussillon Village

I’m back after an eight-month hiatus. While I  haven’t been blogging, I have been writing—two more thriller novels (Color Me Deadly and Tenebrae) completed and the third (SybrKombat) about to go to my editor for final cuts. Just to refresh your memory, I review mostly acoustic guitarists as well as a few electrics and a smattering of bass players and I pair them with a wine that I think fits their music. As far as the wines go, I limit them to those that I can find for less than $30.00 as it’s more of a challenge and probably suits the average Joe’s budget best.

Tonight I’m featuring one of my favorites, Mark Kroos. Mark attended Bowling Green University’s school of music from 2004-2006, majoring in guitar and jazz. While he learned much from his instructors, Chris Buzzelli and Matthew Ardizone, he decided jazz wasn’t his thing and left to tour with a punk band. When the band disbanded in 2009, Mark began teaching and switched to the acoustic guitar. The musical wizard that is him today was birthed after a whole lot of writing and practicing on a double necked guitar.

He uses a number of open tunings and relies on incredible tapping technique to play both necks simultaneously. His influences are drawn from folk, Celtic, indie and even a few punk artists as well as other virtuoso guitarists like Michael Hedges, Tommy Emmanuel, and Leo Kottke.

In July of 2011 Mark was invited, along with four other musicians, to compete in Guitar Player Magazine's International Guitar Superstar Competition in Nashville. The judges were Larry Carlton, Muriel Anderson, Reeves Gabrels, and Carl Verheyen, all of whom are guitar giants. Mark took 1st place out of the 5 invitees who were chosen from thousands of others who had submitted demos online.

In March, 2013, Mark posted a video of him simultaneously playing both the banjo and guitar parts of the Deliverance theme on his double neck. It exploded on YouTube, and I think after you see it, you’ll understand why he’s so unique in the world of guitar. Hope you enjoy him.

Deliverance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0eknUtEMWw

Smoke and mirrors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uORPLKTjLE

The demons were gone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikuLzJmx9QM

Hope floats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKOYKmT5mFs

Indigo child: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX8usJ1W1uc

My heart will go on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhS3XQm4N8U

Yellow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCh07m1eZxY

Kroos on the loose: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkMCdORyWVI

Flowers for April: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpsy_Wyedes

Joy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhlHIB5-gxA

Petals change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO2-UoHqJwA

Flight attempt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMudYhABjfI

Pachebel’s Canon in D: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qlFPAb3fpU

Amazing grace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ShZxsbyNNc

An incredible guitarist deserves to be paired with an equally incredible wine, so I suggest the 2012 Bila Haut Cotes de Roussillon Village les Vignes de Haut ($14.00). This French vineyard, owned by Michel Chapoutier, is located on the slopes of the Angly valley, just north of the Spanish border. Chapoutier is a reknown enologist and anything he makes is excellent. This particular wine is dark purple with an aromatic mix of red and black fruits and herbes de Provence. It’s a rich, juicy wine filled with blackberry, raspberry, red currants, and a touch of white pepper on the palate, finishing with a vibrancy characteristic of the region. You can find it online from a number of vendors. Pick up a case then wait for a rainy afternoon and curl up in front of a fireplace with a good book, a glass of the Bila Haut, and the music of Mark Kroos.

Cheers!

Eric Mongrain & Volver Tempranillo

Erik Mongrain (born April 1980 in Montreal, Québec, Canada) is one of my favorite acoustic guitar innovators. He grew up in Canada and began teaching himself how to play guitar at the age of 14. His early influences were Michael Hedges and Don Ross, the latter another fantastic Canadian guitarist. His style has evolved over the years I’ve been listening to him, getting more and more complex and reflecting a variety of moods. He’s an innovative player and composer who uses alternate tunings and some rather unorthodox techniques as he weaves his intriguing melodies.

His trademark “lap-tapping” technique is fascinating to watch and hear. Alternatively hammering and strumming the strings with the extended index finger of his right hand while generating percussive rhythms on the guitar’s body his fist and knuckles, he produces sounds that ring like bells as he taps out a melody with his left hand. His 2006 YouTube video of “Airtap” (see below) generated 10,000,000 views.

He’s released three albums: 2006’s “Fates”, 2008’s “Equilibrium”., and 2012’s “Forward.” While his CDs are excellent, if you get a chance to see him live, do it. You’ll witness one of today’s guitar virtuoso’s.

Airtap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93VxH1L44zM

PercusienFa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUQzXQhAgvw

Fearless: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYLqHm-269c

Aftermath: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOgRKhZO4NM

Verso: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVFdo2eRKFs

Salvation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRHYejhQVbE

Rewind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJNJQ_YXBn0

Fusions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4B_Q7AWYaw

I am not: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RkT4nvi8K4

Forward: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45okWHWUjOo

Equilibrium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNpIoCuvHfg

Pandora’s box: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFAo2Wevkoo

Mais Quand?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1vVVqYIfeQ

Fates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfQ409djfF4

A Ripple Effect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKQ5yrLVHE4

I’m pairing Eric with a 2012 Volver ($15.00), a single vineyard Spanish wine made from 100% Tempranillo. The wine is deep ruby in color and explodes with aromas of black cherries, boysenberry, and exotic spices. The palate follows the nose adding blue and blackberries and closing with a long lingering spiciness. Ordinarily I would drink this hearty wine in the winter months, but we’ve had some unseasonably cool weather this summer, a welcome change from our usual summer inferno, so the Volver paired with lap-tapping Eric Mongrain is a perfect combination.

Cheers!

RIP Johnny Winter and Stolpman Syrah

Johnny Winter, one of the greatest Texas-bred guitarists and singers and a mainstay of the blues-rock world since the 1960s, died of unknown causes on Wednesday in his hotel room in Zurich. He was 70 and had been on tour in Europe.

Imagine a 130-pound, cross-eyed albino with long fleecy hair playing some of the gutsiest, yet fluid blues guitar you’ll ever hear. That was Johnny Winter. I discovered Johnny when I was 15 while strolling the aisle E.J. Korvette’s record section. His appearance reflected in the back of a National steel guitar on the cover of his “Progressive Blues Experiment” album was so intriguing that I had to buy it. From that moment on I was in love with his music and the blues.

In 1977 Johnny began a series of collaborations with Muddy Waters, his idol, producing his album “Hard Again.” That record, and two that followed won acclaim for their raw sound, and each won a Grammy Award. As Winter told Look Magazine, “I love the blues. You can feel that nobody cares about you, and you sing, and it doesn’t make any difference and you don’t care. It’s not a happy feeling, it’s not sad. You can cry, and it’s good.”

Commentators rarely mention the fact that both Johnny and his brother Edgar had albinism, a condition that severely affects the eyes and caused Johnny to become legally blind later in his life. He may have been blind, but he was still one hell of a musician. Rest in peace.

Woodstock 1969: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6kPQLLLYAc

Dust my broom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIpmUroL2D4

Don Kirshner’s Rock show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9srJIjp55Bs

Toronto Concert Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjaFWurTS1U

Highway 61: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvNUTqDJJaI

Mama talk to your daughter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic7k7ZaoE8o

Come on in my kitchen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcC5sp27W8g

Rollin and tumbling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js8bASk_mxE

Red House with Leslie West: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh4zc288ERg

Be careful with a fool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tyg5SJDpiQ  

Goin down slow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1YwVrxC7Hc

Johnny Winter requires a wine with a lot of depth, so I suggest a 2011 Stolpman Vineyards Estate Grown Syrah ($24.00). The wine is 94% Syrah, 3% grenache, 2% roussanne and 1% viognier.  Dark ruby red color with aromas of black raspberries and dark plums.  This is a dense wine, yet vibrant and with good acidity combined with sweet dark fruits, spices, and pepper flavors.  It’s a very juicy wine whose taste and aromas finish long.  Pour a glass and toast one of the greatest blues guitar masters to ever pick up the instrument.

Cheers!

Will McNicol & Cline Cellars Mourvedre Rosé

Will McNicol was born in 1989 in Glasgow, Scotland. At the age of six, his family moved to the south coast where he began studying classical guitar under Maurice Albin. He studied at Trinity College in London and graded with merits and distinction on all of his exams. Since then he gained Associate and Licentiate performance diplomas from Trinity and in 2011 was awarded a Fellowship diploma, an achievement rare for a twenty-one-year-old. Coincidently, he was also named 2011 Guitarist of the Year by Guitar Magazine.

He’s studied with several world-class classical and acoustic guitarists, including Gerald Garcia, Stuart Ryan, and Thomas Leeb. He’s a prolific composer and had released four albums and has written for theater and dance as well as for corporate films.

Will is currently based in Wimborne Minster, Dorset where he teaches acoustic, classical and electric guitar at Bryanston School, Yarrells Preparatory School and the Academy of Contemporary Music's regional center in Bournemouth.

His compositions are beautiful and his technique flawless. I hope you enjoy him as much as I do.

Wake Up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U_FeOSEQvw

Casting shadows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMTC8RESTS0

Emma: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp2HuM5Bf74

Home: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNGPs7F3AyI

Ain’t no sunshine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYR_uFpJSvc

Wake up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE_uafKq5b8

As the leaves fall: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8_3a9bdjBM

Locomotion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ia1qe10uiY

Island Sands: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORzaYF43Iyc

Held to ransom: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkWu10WsD00

By the water: http://ww w.youtube.com/watch?v=-TvcZV7c1Gc

Soho: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3z7Ms3YNKE

Dual: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g9pPG1h-xY

Summer hit this week and with temperatures in the mid-90s and the heat/humidity index around 105, it’s time for a refreshing Rosé. I love Rosés for their fresh fruit, bright acidity and a finish that makes you want to throw away the glass and sip it straight from the bottle with a straw. But of course, then you’d miss the fruity aromas. Cline Cellars Mourvedre Rosé is good one and a great bargain at $10.00. The first thing you notice is the aromas of strawberries and watermelon. The palate follows with more strawberry and bright cherry. And this one definitely calls for a straw. Great for a summer evening after the blazing sun has set and the humidity is bearable, and, of course, listening to the guitar of Will McNicol.

Cheers!