On the Great Alkali Plains is the new album from acoustic guitarist Espen Jorgensen. Basically an all-instrumental affair with Jorgensen on acoustic steel string guitar & 11 string harp guitar, Hakon Morch Stene on orchestral percussion, and Terje Isungset on natural percssion, the CD is eight tracks of sometimes lush but always mysterious world-prog-fusion. Images of the late Michael Hedges and even Ralph Towner come to mind when listening to On the Great Alkali Plains, as the lulling, classically inspired arrangements sweep you away into never-never land. Jorgensen's technique is stunning, and despite your penchant for sparse arrangements, it's hard not to be sold on his skills as a musician and composer. Songs like "Farbror Melkers bekymring" and "Move Ahead-Quickly" have an intriguing folky quality, as the guitarists whisps around the fretboard crafting one cunning passage after another. Overall, it's not the most exciting release you will ever hear, but you can't help being moved by the beauty of it all.
Track Listing
01. The immaculate conception
02. Move ahead - quickly
03. Mirabell
04. Down from the high peak
05. Barren
06. The woods
07. Farbror Melkers bekymring
08. Himmelsangen
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