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Released 2004 | Q-RIOUS Music Ltd |
QRM 106-2
Review: from
Bridge Guitar Reviews by Henk te Veldhuis
This Buenos Aires-born guitarist is
foremost known as a guitarist for Sting, but meanwhile, Dominic
Miller recorded several solo albums like First Touch,
Second Nature, New Dawn with
Neil Stacey and the more classical album Shapes.
Dominic played with lots of interesting people like Tina Turner, Mark
Hollis (Talk Talk), Steve Winwood, Sheryl Crow and many other
artists. First Touch and Second
Nature were well received by his fans and the press. Dominic
plays a genre which is for the fans of pure acoustic music, although
he plays equally well acoustic and electric guitars. The styles of
music he represents are several, from classical to jazz, funk and
fusion, but he is not limited to one genre, and plays musical stuff
others do not dare to play. His music is based on emotion and he
creates extraordinary melancholic poetic landscapes in several
engaging moods. The guy is a genius and a virtuoso on any guitar.
His approach to music means a lot of passion, creativity, balance
and structures in harmonic improvisations. Recently I listened to
Pat Metheny's new cd One Quiet Night, and what I
kept in mind was Miller's same approach to music, based on skilful
techniques but what one notices is the purity in his pieces. He
seems to be able to empty his mind totally and then he paints music
which goes beneath the surface of the soul. Every one of
Dominic's pieces has, as well, a superb balance, structure and a lot
of intimacy, which touches one deep inside. On some pieces he uses a
bass player and percussionist, as on Partido Alto, where Pino
Palladino and Miles Bould accompany him on bass and drums. On
Letter Unsent, Gus Isidore assists him on a steel
string guitar. On Denver Sun, Dominic is joined
by William Topley with touching vocals. The total album is a true
masterpiece. Dominic Miller has the ability to absorb a listener in
12 moving pieces performed with his rousing own touch.
Review: from
Akustic Gitarre magazine
When Dominic Miller is not on tour with his boss Sting, he works at his own
projects or plays in an acoustic duet with Neil Stacey. Dominic's solo-album
is surely a surprise for those who only know him as the sideman of Sting. He
turns out to be an acoustic fan with a preference for nylon-string sounds
and presents a more quiet and thoughtful side. But his music also contains
grooves and world-musical aspects. Interesting to see is his affinity
towards classical and contemporary music which guarantees an interesting
musical mixture. Third World is graceful, thoughtful, slow, soft and
gentle. Many guitarists, who walk out of the shadow of their
sideman-existence, decay to technical show-off and want to show what they
really can do. Dominic Miller is a laudable exception. Of course he is
gifted, but in the most musical way without posing. Third World is
mainly played in overdub-duet with himself. Keyboards are rarely used, as
are loops and sounds. Pino Palladino (bass), Miles Bould (Drums and
Percussion) and Kipper (keyboards) add their parts. The result is an
atmospherical production, which totally follows unexciting its river and
moves stylisticly between latin, jazz, classic and pop. Millers nylon-string
sound is conspicuously clear and pure. This affects of the instruments used:
the string-virtuous played mainly with an electrified solid-body
nylon-string, which creates an easy chilly sound-aesthetic. But this clean
and dry sound is in good hands with Dominic Miller and supports the
transmission of silence and calmness.
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