TONY McMANUS
Mysterious Boundaries
Compass 7-4612

www.compassrecords.com
 

If you’ve ever heard Tony McManus add a delicate bridge to a fiery Scottish reel, lay it down double time with Quebeçois musicians, or jam with jazz musicians on Charles Mingus compositions, you already know that there’s not much he can’t do on the guitar. If you need further proof, check out the artistry on Mysterious Boundaries. This time he puts his stamp on longhair stuff – the classics, not the hippies – on a project that began when Mike Marshall challenged McManus to learn Bach’s E major “Prelude.” That one’s on the new album, along with two others by Bach for good measure (“Allemande” and “Chaconne”). Among other things, you’ll also hear two from Baroque composer François Couperine, Claudio Monteverdi’s “Nigra Sum,” and “Gnossienne #1” from avant-garde classical composer Erik Satie. As you can probably anticipate, McManus is technically flawless – his precise fingering of crisp melody notes in perfect resonance with resonating bass. I’d rank Mysterious Boundaries among the year’s top classical releases.

Call it preference. I appreciate the complexity of classical music, but I don’t like it much. I missed the passion and fire I associate with McManus. Or, to be more precise, the way we define passion and fire in our age rather than in the past. John Renbourn once called Tony McManus the “greatest Celtic guitarist in the world.” I agree, and I’d rather hear him raking barred chords up and down the neck, or adding crystalline contrast to pipes, fiddles, and accordions. McManus has more than earned the right to play whatever pleases him and if you’re a fan of classical music, Mysterious Boundaries will no doubt startle you. But I’ll trade it for a future McManus release with more spit and less polish.

— Rob Weir