Michael Hedges

Do you have any other of his Cd's that you might compare it to? I only have his best of and AB.
Thanks,
MaxCast

All of his recordings are wonderful from a musical standpoint and very good to excellent from a recording standpoint! My favorite, from a musical standpoint, is Aerial Boundries, though it does have some reverb added that will annoy the purist. Oracle is probably the most natural recording.

I deeply miss him and his visionary talent.

Anyone know how he passed?
I saw him at Ravinia (north of Chicago) 20 years (or so) ago. -A true genius...

If memory serves, he rolled his car off an embankment while driving solo. Speculation was that he nodded off at the wheel.
I read some gripes about the cavernous sound on his recordings. A great musician can make great music and interesting sounds in a tunnel. He was an amazing player and alot of his compositions will last. At the shows I went to he always sounded alot like his recordings (great), and the real special effects behind his sound were his fingers and his brain. Maxcast, you might like Breakfast in the Feild, or Leo Kottke/One Guitar no Vocals.

I saw Michael live around 1990, and he was an amazing one man show. With his double neck guitar, he would pluck the bass, strum or pluck the guitar neck, while thumping the beat with his thumb on the guitar body.

I have not listened to his recording in a while, but Breakfast in the Field stands out in my memory. A very pleasant acoustic guitar recording. But you won't be disappointed by any of his recordings.

Happy listening.

Most of his recordings are pretty good, but seeing him live was awe inspiring guitar gymnastics. It's difficult to believe that some of the songs you hear are acually one guy, one guitar and one track until you saw him do it live. I know of one Windham Hill concert video that is available that can give you a glimps of a live performance. I believe it was shot at Red Rocks. You might find it at a rental store.

My top picks would be:
Breakfast in the Field (nice acoustic sounds)
Aerial Boundaries (1 track played with another in reverse)
Live on the Double Planet (great live album)
Taproot (the best of his modern work)

Stewart

Thanks for the rec, Duanegoosen. Looks like others like that as well...on the list to get.

Does anyone also enjoy Phil Keaggy? I cought him on PBS one night. Never heard him before and was very impressed. I only saw the last 10 mins. :( I then bought Beyond Nature which I found really good.

Maxcast, Phil Keaggy is great. I have lots of his music--not all. Beyond nature is a classic for that style; Lights of Madrid is along the same lines, with some songs having orchestral backing. He is also an exceptional electric guitarist. One CD to pick up is The wind and the wheat; some songs are electric, some are acoustic. One thing, though; Keaggy is a devout Christian, and his songs on the vocal LP's all reflect that. Not being critical, everyone's beliefs are fine, but some people may be put off by that, and stick to the instrumental albums.
If I can make another recommendation, try to pick up a CD by Tom Yoder called Eat this it's safe; it may be hard to find, it's an independent release. I'm biased--Tom is my best friend from high school--but one cut was a finalist for best new age acoustic song in the Independent Music Awards, and his music has been used in the NPR All things considered show. All instrumental acoustic, closer to Leo Kottke than Keaggy, IMO.

Thanks Oneprof. I'll be checking out the others as well.
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MaxCast