Michael Perlowin-Stravinsky:
Firebird Suite
Two unlikely pleasures from pedal steel guitarists
who lead their instrument far from the C&W corral. Joe Goldmark's
Steelin' (available from Lo-Ball, 2259 14th Ave., San Francisco, CA
94116) delivers good-natured instrumental renditions of a dozen Beatles
faves, faithfully reproducing the rhythm arrangements but replacing
the vocals and guitar hooks with fluid steel. The results are often
hilarious but the record is no joke--Goldmark, a member of country-jazz
ace Jim Carnpliongo's Ten Gallon Cats, is a heavy player with gorgeous
tone, a fertile imagination and a great rock-swing feel.
While Goldmark recontextualizes the
pedal steel's country idioms, Perlowin jettisons them altogether for
a jaw-dropping recital of works by Stravinsky, Debussy, Bartok and
others. Pedal steel Shostakovich may seem, far-fetched, but Perlowin
renders the music vath great insight and extraordinary faithfullness
to the original scores. While the pedal steers inevitable portamentos
occasionally sound odd in this repertoire, Perlowin's glides have
an eerie, disembodied quality, reminiscent of early electronic Instruments
like the Theremin and Ondes Marteneot. His E-Bowed take on Debussy's
to Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun is one of the most transendentally
gorgeous guitar transcriptions I've ever heard, while his mega-overdubbed
rendition of the Firebird Suite rivals the and audacity of Kazuhito
Yamashita's notorious solo guitar version. Here Perlowin pulls out
all the stops, using elaborate signal processing, Les Paul-style tape-speed
tricks and a small army of stringed instruments to evoke the riotous
orchestral color of Stravinsky's original. A must-hear recording from
a brilliant maverick.
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