The Guitar Channel

Favorite albums of 2008

2008 was another great year for jazz rock fusion progressive whateveryoucallit guitar music. Here are my favorite albums of the year, in order of their release.

Tim Miller - Trio Vol. 2

Fantastic Holdsworthian fusion. Great acoustic/electric tones.

John McLaughlin - Floating Point (Review)

Western jazz fusion played with Eastern musicians. McLaughlin's best album in years.

Greg Howe - Sound Proof (Review)

Outstanding writing and playing. True heavy fusion.

Alex Machacek/Jeff Sipe/Neal Fountain - The Official Triangle Sessions (LIVE)

An Abstract Logix exclusive. Awesome live recording featuring tracks from the Improvision album.

OHM - Circus of Sound (Review)

Highly creative heavy fusion from Chris Poland and co.

 

Jimmy Herring - Lifeboat (Review)

Remarkable writing and playing. My favorite album of the year.

Jeff Beck - Performing this week...Live at Ronnie Scott's

Great live album featuring all of Beck's classics. Look for my review soon.

Other favorites from 2008:

Paul Gilbert - Silence Followed by a Deafening Roar (Review)
Charlie Hunter - Baboon Strength
Mike Miller Quintet - World Goes Round
McCoy Tyner - Guitars
Claude Pauly - Mind Meets Matter
Tadashi Goto - Innervisions
CAB - Theatre De Marionnettes

John Stowell & Gustavo Assis-Brasil gig to include Tim Miller

New England jazz guitar fans take note: Gustavo Assis-Brasil has announced that his duo gig with John Stowell on August 21st at the Lily Pad in Cambridge, MA will include special guest Tim Miller.

Tim Miller - Live at the Beehive: June 30th, 2008

Kudos to Laurie at Truth in Shredding for spotting this one. This is guitarist Tim Miller live at the Beehive in Boston on 6/30/08, with Steve Hunt on keys, Mark Walker on drums, and Joshua Davis on bass. Miller has another gig at Beehive tonight at 9:00pm EST.

Tim Miller's "Trio Vol. 2" reviewed at All About Jazz

All About Jazz has a great review up of Tim Miller's new album Trio Volume 2. I'm really digging this CD lately. It's only March, but so far this is one of my favorite albums of the year.

All About Jazz review: Tim Miller - Trio Volume 2

Current listening

Here's a quick rundown of what I've been listening to lately.

NEW STUFF

Tim Miller - Trio 2

Awesome Holdsworthian jazz. Great writing. I love Miller's acoustic/electric tones.

Whoopgnash - Lack Of Education

Also Holdsworthian, but far more "out there" than Miller. Great guitar work by John Erickson.

Paul Gilbert - Silence Followed by a Deafening Roar

Gilbert's follow-up to Get Out Of My Yard. Great tones and writing.
 

OLD STUFF

Mathieson, Laboriel, Colaiuta, Landau - Live at The Baked Potato

I actually prefer the follow-up, Another Night At The Baked Potato, but this one is growing on me. Landau is awesome as usual.

Larry Carlton with Robben Ford - Live In Tokyo

Saw these guys in Chicago recently; great show. As a result I've been revisiting this disc. Well worth picking up.

Bassist Tony Grey to release new album on Abstract Logix Records

Bassist Tony Grey will release his new album Chasing Shadows on Abstract Logix's recording label. Joining Grey on this release are guitarists Tim Miller, Lionel Louke, and John Shannon. A Berklee College of Music grad, Grey played on John McLaughlin's Industrial Zen album (2006), and is the the bassist for Japanese keyboardist Hiromi. Chasing Shadows is scheduled for an April 2008 release.