Track Listing

1. Rickover's Dream
2. Aerial Boundraries
3. Eleven Small Roaches
4. Ragamuffin
5. Ritual Dance
6. Chava's Song
7. Double Planet
8. Jitter Boogie
9. Java Man
10. Bensusan
11. Because It's There
12. Unexpected Visitor
13. 2nd Law
14. Baal T'shuvah
15. Dream Beach
16. Gospel
17. Sofa No 1
18. Rickover's Dream

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48812 in Music
• Released on: 2001-09-17
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

CD Description
There were few boundaries for the late Michael Hedges, who did everything he could to dissolve the limitations of the acoustic guitar and give voice to the symphonies in his head.Tapping with his left hand, slapping with his right, thwacking the guitar body percussively, he didn't allow a single inch of his instrument to go unplayed.
In his later work he experimented with vocals, flute, and keyboards, but BEYONDBOUNDARIES compiles his most moving solo guitar compositions. Here he employs unusual tunings, subtle harmonics, and aneclectic writing style that takes him far beyond the confines of the "new age" tag. He explores finger-picked folk ("Rickover's Dream"), frolicsome baroque ("Eleven Small Roaches"), harp guitar ("The Double Planet"), slow jazz ("Dream Beach"), space-funk ("The Funky Avocado"), even a Frank Zappa cover. As impressive as his compositional skills and techniquewere, his approach to songs was always playful and humble. For the uninitiated, this is a handy introduction to the music of a virtuoso and blithe spirit.

Customer Reviews

The best of a truly original musician and dazzling guitarist
This CD collects together a selection of some of the most original acoustic guitar based instrumentals from the late Michael Hedges. A great innovator he always made the guitar serve his musical ideas. In so doing he invented and developed new styles in both right and left hand techniques. This album shows his fusion of rock, folk, jazz and world music, not just a mixture of copied styles, but his own very personal musical explorations. He not only adapted musical idioms but also used a variety of guitar hybrids and special tunings to increase the dynamic range of the instrument. He could mix a percussive bass attack with strumming and a fingerpicked melody all at the same time. These recordings capture the incredibly clear sound of his guitars from the punchy rock bass to the delicate shimmering sound of the harp guitar with its resonating sympathetic strings. What you hear on this CD is REALLY the work of one man on one instrument making beautiful music. Sadly missed, but what a legacy!

Mind-blowing
This album is shattering - Imagine Leo Kottke at his very best .... then throw in Hendrix-like fireworks with string and fret-tapping .... then add the melodic fury of Tommy Emmanuel .... and then, just when you thought I was describing totally OTT music, add in the lilting beauty of Gordon Giltrap, John Renbourne and Bert Jansch. Finally add just more than a dash of Davy Graham's jazz style. That takes you about half way to imagining how fantastic this record is. If you love acoustic instrumental guitar, this is a MUST buy. Glorious.

The only acoustic guitar CD you will ever want to own?
Possibly. This is perhaps one of the most carefully thought out compilation CDs I've ever come across. Every track is a standout, even the previously unreleased "Echoes" tracks at the end. It doesn't contain every single beautiful guitar solo by Michael Hedges, but then you would need a box set to do this man justice.

If you play the guitar, you'll know that 99.99% of all songs are played in a standard tuning - EADGBE. Not Michael Hedges - this would have been far too simple. But don't think that the art is drowned out by the technique, quite the reverse. Every tuning he used created its own atmosphere, its own resonance and its own unique sound. It allowed him to create music on the guitar that just didn't exist anywhere else, then or now some five years after he died tragically in a car accident.

The track "Aerial Boundaries" is a good example of how the combination of his tunings and special two handed picking/hammering style almost created a guitar orchestra sound - but it's just one man and his guitar in a single take. "Baal T'Shuvah" is another breathtaking song - words aren't enough to describe it's simple beauty.

Is this the only acoustic guitar CD you'll ever want to own? No,because once you hear this you'll want to hear more.