Bohemian Strings By Johannes Linstead

 

Bohemian Strings

By

Johannes Linstead

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

It is so nice to see an album by Johannes Linstead on my desktop for review, he has to be one of the most vibrant and exciting guitarists around today, his depth and fluency resonate beautifully here, especially in the Mediterranean, and this is partly the location of this musical sojourn we traverse today, through the medium of the album, Bohemian Strings, where he is joined by a selection of musicians from around the world.

Old style Europe is full of passion and colour, and I am lucky to live in it, this musical extravaganza by Linstead brings back those days of fun, colour and summer heat, like one of the places where I spend a good deal of time, La Taberna. Linstead portrays this laid back venue so brilliantly that one can almost smell the Coffee and hear the wine corks popping.

There of course is always time for romance, and the track In the Stillness of Love is a reflective composition that watches the sun slowly set in the arms of a love one, performed with a wonderful partnership of guitar and keyboards, and such a delicate almost chilled percussive beat, which made this one my favourite tracks off the album.

Quite appropriately there are 11 songs on this eleventh release by the artist, and each one is picture perfect and idyllic. The Garden of Forever is another personal favourite of mine, this sun kissed performance warms its way into our hearts, whilst always keeping in the shade of this musical summers day, listen specifically to the guitar solo just after the mid-section of the track, it is outstanding and builds to a crescendo, to what I believe to be one of the best performances of Linstead’s musical career.

The penultimate piece is our title track and of course called Bohemian Strings, a more vibrant sensual offering you will not find, the album is then concluded with El Presidente, a smooth Latin offering that sums up the entire project perfectly.

Bohemian Strings by Johannes Linstead is probably the most colourfully energetic albums that has fallen across my desk this year, and its vibrant and exciting compositions are exactly what we all need right now, to lift our moods and raise our spirits, and of course this makes it simply, and so very easy for me, to give Bohemian Strings by Johannes Linstead a big old thumb up, because you got to give the people what they want.