Join Guitarist Johannes Linstead For A Midnight Rhumba

[Eugena]

[INDENT]For the handful of people out there who do not know who Johannes Linstead is, he plays instrumental Latin-style nylon-string acoustic guitar in a very enjoyable and popular style. His melodies are catchy and memorable. He is a Canadian of German descent who lives part of each year in the Caribbean (the Dominican Republic). He surrounds himself with a handful of international musicians on each tune, most notably accordion player Jordan Abraham, violinist Vasyl Popadiuk, and percussionist-drummer Anastasios Bigas. These instruments give the music truly a world-fusion sound combining Old World and New World elements. One moment you feel like you are sitting at a European cafe or bar, perhaps in Italy (“L’Italiana”), and on the next tune the mood has shifted to South America (“Radio Argentina”). The ambience is definitely from anywhere it is warm (and in the background materials Linstead says he wanted the music “to serve as an exotic musical escape from day-to-day-life” like “when you visit the warmer climes, especially all the Latin countries on both sides of the Atlantic”). The next piece whisks you to a “Pineapple Grove” in Hawaii followed by a trip to Spain for “Siempre (Now and Forever)” (it just FEELS like a love song) and “El Lobo.” Then he moves to France for “Balzac’s Brew.” The next two are sort of religious numbers, “Angel on my Guitar” and “The Oracle,” and could be from anywhere (Greece, Portugal, Cuba ?). “Midnight Rhumba” feels like South America (Brazil or wherever). Then Linstead definitely ends the CD with a travel-stop in the Caribbean on both “Calypso Island” and “Bewitched” (there is plenty of voodoo left in those islands). This is Linstead’s ninth album and all of them have been best-sellers in this genre. If you still haven’t turned on to this wonderful musician, now is the time. His CDs and downloads are easy to find. For more information, check out his website (his first and last name dot com).[/INDENT]