The Guitar Channel

Favorite Albums of 2012

2012 was a tremendous year for progressive guitar music. Here are my favorite releases of the year, in no particular order.

 

Michael Landau - Organic Instrumentals

Landau's first instrumental album since 1990's Tales From The Bulge is one of my favorite guitar records in many years, let alone this one. Awesome tones, dynamic playing, deep writing. A must-have for serious guitar geeks.

Wayne Krantz - Howie 61

Krantz took a bold new step with this album, and the results are rich and engrossing. A fantastic production filled with heady writing, and an amazing lineup of musicians.

Jimmy Herring - Subject To Change Without Notice

Awesome follow-up to 2008's Lifeboat. Highly textured with killer playing and grooves.

Alex Machacek, Raphael Preuschl, Herbert Pirker - FAT

Adventurous and dynamic with a great variety of guitar tones. Further proof that Machacek is among the most forward-thinking modern jazz composers of his generation.

Kurt Rosenwinkel - Star of Jupiter

Can't get enough of this one. Uber-deep jazz record, filled with great writing and improvisation.

Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats - Live Meat And Potatoes

Funky, energetic live release with killer guitar work from Jeff Kollman. Nobody grooves like the Meatbats.

OHMPhrey - Posthaste

Stellar recording from the OHM-meets-Umphrey's McGee supergroup. Loaded with great riffs and playing. Everybody shines here, but the twin guitar attack of Chris Poland and Jake Cinninger is particularly awesome.

Scott Henderson, Jeff Berlin, Dennis Chambers - HBC

What a band. Killer disc packed with guitar-driven trio versions of fusion classics. Henderson is amazing as always.

Karizma - Perfect Harmony

A 3-disc smorgasbord from keyboardist/composer David Garfield's classic west coast jazz band. Features a who's-who of the genre's luminaries, including Michael Landau.

The Aristocrats - Boing, We'll Do It Live!

Amazing live CD/DVD release with insane playing and band interplay. Guthrie Govan's guitar work is both musical and mind-blowing.

Other favorites from 2012:

Prashant Aswani - Visions
Chris Poland, Frank Catalano, Sean O'Bryan Smith, Jim Gifford - Polcat
Tribal Tech - X
Tohpati Bertiga - Riot
John McLaughlin & the 4th Dimension - Now Here This
Paul Gilbert - Vibrato
Gary Husband - Dirty & Beautiful, Vol. 2
OHM - Tsunami Jams
Ed DeGenaro - Holiday In Madras
Flying Colors
Chad Wackerman - Dreams, Nightmares and Improvisations
Chris Buck - 3 Crows
Jason Sadites - Broken
Renegade Creation - Bullet
Led Zeppelin - Celebration Day
Van Halen - A Different Kind of Truth (Ed note: \m/)

See Also:

Favorite Albums of 2011
Favorite Albums of 2010
Favorite Albums of 2009
Favorite Albums of 2008
Favorite Albums of 2007
Favorite Albums of 2006

Guitar Player Article on Marco Minnemann's Normalizer 2 Project

Barry Cleveland has a cool article in the October 2011 issue of Guitar Player on drummer Marco Minnemann's Normalizer 2 project. The project involves various composers who've written their own music over the same 52 minute Minnemann drum solo. Cleveland profiles the Normalizer 2 recordings of Mike Keneally, Alex Machacek (Review), John Czajkowski, Trey Gunn, Jason Sadites, and Phi Yaan-Zek. Check out streaming samples of the albums on Guitar Player's website.

 

Jason Sadites Releases New Single Featuring Alex Machacek, Tony Levin, Marco Minnemann

Guitarist Jason Sadites has just released a cool new single entitled "Why" which includes Alex Machacek on guitar, Tony Levin on bass, and Marco Minnemann on drums. The song is available for download through CD Baby via the link below.

CD Baby: Jason Sadites - "Why"

Current Listening

Here's some stuff I've been listening to lately...

 

FRO - The Paisley Album

Harold Davis Jr (aka Fro) is a great funk/fusion player out of New York, and his stuff is super-cool. Sort of a Hendrix-meets-Tribal Tech type of vibe. I'm also digging his Surprise Music EP.

 

 

 

 

Jason Sadites and Marco Minnemann - Behind The Laughter

This is Sadites' contribution to Minnemann's Normalizer 2 project, and it's one of my favorites. Great writing and playing with a heavy Zappa vibe.

 

 

 

 

Stu Hamm - Just Outside of Normal

The bass legend's latest includes guests Joe Satriani, Frank Gambale, and Robert Fripp. Cool stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

David Binney - Graylen Epicenter

Excellent jazz album from the New York-based sax player. Love Wayne Krantz's melodic lines on the title track.

 

 

 

 

Bruce Arnold - The Art of the Blues

Great, adventurous jazz blues record. Arnold's fusion disc Heavy Mental is also cool.

 

 

Jason Sadites - Normalizer 2 Contribution "Behind The Laughter" Coming Nov 23rd

Guitarist Jason Sadites has completed a contribution to drummer Marco Minnemann's Normalizer 2 project. The album is entitled Behind The Laughter, and will be released November 23rd. As with the other Normalizer 2 related albums (by Alex Machacek, Mike Keneally, Trey Gunn, John Czajkowski, and others) Behind The Laughter features music composed over a 52 minute Minnemann drum solo (Click here for an mp3 sampler). The disc is now available for pre-order through Abstract Logix.

via Truth In Shredding

New releases

Here's some new or upcoming stuff that popped up on my radar:

Shane Theriot - Dirty Power

I really loved Theriot's last album The Grease Factor. His latest includes Sonny Landreth, Ritchie Hayward, and Adam Nitti among others.

Jason Sadites - Weve

Includes Brett Garsed, Tony Levin, Marco Minnemann, Chad Wackerman, and many others. Sadites has some serious chops.

Mike Stern - Big Neighborhood

Release date: 8/11/09. Guests include Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Medeski Martin and Wood, and many others.

Robben Ford - Soul on Ten

Release date: 8/11/09. Follow up to Truth. Has anyone seen the cover art for this yet?