Peppino D’Agostino – Connexion (A-Train Entertainment, 2020)
Fingerstyle guitar virtuoso and composer Peppino D’Agostino has released “Connexion” his first solo album in six years. D’Agostino is an Italian musician based in the San Francisco Bay Area, in the West Coast of the United States. He is known for his beautiful, melodic guitar pieces inspired by a wide-range of musical genres and natural spaces across the globe.
D’Agostino plays practically all the guitar parts on the album using overdubs. The only guest is Stef Burns on electric guitar.
The musical pieces on Connexion showcase D’Agostino’s versatility and diversity in terms of musical genres. The album opens with ‘High Plains Guitarra,’ a tune that celebrates the work of spaghetti western movie composer Ennio Morricone and the late Spanish guitar maestro Paco de Lucia.
The album continues with other fascinating musical pieces inspired by doo wop, Mexican music and the creatures in the ocean. He also adapts a mandolin composition to the guitar and delivers exquisite interplay between the acoustic and electric guitar along with Stef Burns.
D’Agostino expresses: “The challenges in composing for steel string guitar are multiple and difficult to overcome. The general tendency is to either relax into predictable and boring musical territory or to show off with useless displays of speed. As my composition instrument of choice, I’m approaching the steel-string guitar as an orchestra with infinite possibilities.”
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Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.