Just in time for the fortieth anniversary of his stage debut, guitar icon Michael Sagmeister has released this album that really does justice to the occasion. On “Power of Resistance”, this jazz and fusion guitarist not only shines because of his technical perfection. Above all, he demonstrates his musical maturity, his deep feeling for sonority, and his lyrical powers.
There are a total of fifteen cuts, eleven of which are his own compositions, and they reveal jazz guitar-playing of the first water. Sagmeister juxtaposes scales and harmonic sequences in a manner that is both virtuosic and incredibly relaxed. He creates themes, improvises around and with them, ultimately returning to their source. This album, which was recorded on a jazz guitar with some cuts on a Spanish guitar, delivers perfect, balanced and solid sounds.
Along for the recording are some of Sagmeister's musical companions and partners in rhythm, like Michael Küttner on drums and Thomas Heidepriem on bass. Their grooves and fills provide support for the master's line and emit a feeling of musical intimacy that becomes more audible bar after bar. And when singer Antonella Dorio joins the trio for vocals in two of the cuts, then Sagmeister steps back and gets in line to give her right-of-way and accompany her voice in the truest sense of the word. It is really hard to resist “Power Of Resistance”.
Michael Sagmeister: guitars
Michael Küttner: drums, percussion Thomas Heidepriem: bass Antonella Dorio: vocals |
