Eric St. Laurent knows how to handle a guitar. With sounds ranging from Ali Farka Toure through that of the African harp known as the balaphon to the electric frenzy of Hendrix, this 10-part suite will delight music fans and keep guitar aficionados guessing as to how St. Laurent managed to create such an incredibly rich tapestry. In addition to guitar, St. Laurent performs on piano and electronics accompanied by Turkish musicians Bikem Kücük on percussion, predominantly tablas, and Turgay Hikmet on bass clarinet and piano. The trio met in Istanbul where St. Laurent was performing a concert. He returned six months later with a team of Berlin sound engineers to record this album of what he calls South East Asian sounds. Truly an international realization worthy of being funded by the UN, which it wasn’t.

Published in Volume 63, Number 21 of The Uniter (February 26, 2009)