Altiplanos
There is only a handful of guitar players who have taken the sound ofJohn Fahey,Leo Kottke, andBert Janschto another level.Michael Hedgeswas one. Pierre Bensusan is another. The French guitarist was all the rage in the 1980s with his intricate finger-style picking, lush melodies, and influences that ranged from Ireland to India. PianistGeorge Winstonsang his praises and Michael Hedges named a song after him. The buzz may have waned over the last 20 years, but Bensusan has only grown more impressive as a player.Altiplanosfinds the guitarist in rare form with songs that are marvels of internal logic and whimsical digressions. He seems to be carrying on interior conversations, but he does it all with such technical ease and melodic grace that it never sounds contrived, however knotty it becomes. Bensusan is a willful individualist, which accounts for a couple of vocals sung in his slurry French and experiments in textural improvisation like "Sylva" (which sounds like aGrateful Deadspace-jam outtake, only very short). But these are anomalies in a mostly solo acoustic guitar CD that may well be Pierre Bensusan's definitive guitar album.--John Diliberto