Dominic Miller describes the making of his first classical CD, Shapes, as having been a voyage of discovery. However, the truth of the matter is that it is the listener that is treated to the real voyage of discovery. Within a few minutes of dropping the CD into the changer, one begins to view "Dominic Miller the guitarist" in a different light. As the 12-track journey meanders through compositions created as early as the 17th century and as recently as the last decade, one cannot help but feel mesmerized.

You are taken through a historic retrospective of partitas, adagios, sonatas and the like all interpreted through the technical virtuosity of a 21st century guitarist.

"Coming from a more pop or contemporary world, it was important for me to approach these works in a way that I could relate to. This started off by deconstructing the pieces purely for the sake of understanding their workings and nature and then rebuilding them. I have had two main rules: firstly, the need to try and make a sincere connection with the composer and secondly, the need to be as sincere as I could to [the listener]."

The message that Dominic wants to leave behind is that these compositions are as modern as anything he's ever heard, despite the fact that many were created centuries ago. "They've got fantastic chords, they've got emotion."

Above all, Miller hopes that Shapes is an album about breaking down barriers. "I'd like to take people who are afraid of the classics on a voyage of discovery," he says. "It's not difficult music. They are just great tunes which I've tried to interpret in an enjoyable and genuinely new way."

Sometimes a course of action is planned from the outset and sometimes one stumbles into creative destiny by simple happenstance. The latter turned out to be the case for Dominic Miller.

Finding it difficult to write music while on the road, he began to do so almost immediately after the two-year Brand New Day tour ended late in 2001. As Dominic explains, the goal was to write "the third 'whatever'" in keeping with the naming convention established by his two previous solo works - First Touch (1997) and Second Nature (2000).

"I set to it right away and I came up with five tunes that I was really happy with," he begins the tale.

Then in May 2002, acclaimed producer and friend Nick Patrick rang Dominic and asked if he had been working on anything new. A meeting resulted.

"I played him the songs and he really liked them. Then I played him one of the Bach partitas which I had recorded and he was really blown away by it," Dominic says.

"It sounded fresh and new and I immediately felt he should do an entire album of that," says Patrick, who has worked with everyone from Roy Orbison to Russell Watson. "As a guitarist, Dominic's got a unique touch and although he's very disciplined, he's an instinctive and soulful musician with an entirely free spirit."

Admitting to being somewhat obsessed with J.S. Bach, the new musical love affair began at the beginning of the Brand New Day tour when Sting gifted Dominic with a book of Bach partitas and sonatas. Sting's message was, "This should keep you occupied." Little did he know how prophetic his statement would end up being.

Time on the road during the Brand New Day tour also marked a time of personal transition for Dominic. Instead of spending his free time in rock and roll fashion, he frequently stayed in his room working out how to play Bach's violin partitas on guitar. At first it began as a technical exercise, working out guitar fingering. From there, he began to explore the meaning and soul of the music.

With Nick Patrick encouraging him, Dominic put his original compositions, which were originally slated for the third album, aside and began to explore other classical options. But not without a bit of resistance at the outset.

"I didn't want to compete with classical guitarists," he humbly explains. "But I finally agreed to try as long as I could do it my own way."

Patrick encouraged him to try Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata next and "basically that's what got the whole ball rolling."

But it wasn't until Dominic attempted Bach's Ciaconna that real momentum started to build. "I had set myself on the Isle of Wight and thought I'm going to try Ciaconna. I'm just going to put a drum beat onto it; nothing to do with classical."

The interpretation turned out to be a crossover treatment as opposed to being purely classical. It had just the right touch of "weirdness", according to Dominic, to get the attention of several record labels interested in the project.

Dominic signed with BBC Worldwide and then entered into "the fun part of choosing a repertoire. We didn't have a lot of time to go through every single tune and demo them… especially when you are recording with an orchestra. We spent about a week going through the tracks. The A&R guy and musical director Jane Carter at BBC picked some tunes that I would have never picked," Dominic says.

As such, one of the important learning curves, Dominic admits, was learning to delegate and trust the decisions of others. His prior two solo releases were largely independent efforts, which he totally controlled. This would be the first time that he would be going with a major label as a solo artist.

"I was apprehensive about control. There are a lot of people involved. It's a new venture for me. In a way, I am forfeiting my solidarity, which is against my political principals," he notes.

On the other hand, he acknowledges that it was "a joy to play with grownups!" And also to "allow other people to have a say as to how I am presented. Normally I would argue a certain point musically. Now I give my producer benefit of the doubt."

As one goes through the track listing and notices the names of venerable composers Franz Schubert and Edward Elgar alongside Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven, one can't help but stop on the more contemporary and familiar names of Miller and Sting.

Their collaborative composition, Shape of My Heart which originally made its appearance on Ten Summoner's Tales and most recently found its way on the live September 11, 2001 recording of All This Time, also occupies a spot on Shapes.

Shape of My Heart began many years ago when Sting phoned Dominic to ask if it would be okay to write a song around a Miller guitar riff. "It wasn't difficult to answer. The opportunity to co-write a song with someone who is not only a good friend, but also one of the greatest songwriters of all time wasn't to be missed. It seemed fitting to invite him to rerecord this song with me in a way that would blend in with the rest of the album."

In addition to the new luscious, string-laden interpretation overlaid with Sting's distinctive vocals, there was also a deeply personal twist. Dominic invited his eldest son, 17-year old Rufus to play harmony guitar. The reasons are simple and driven by the purest form of unconditional love. "He is a really good guitarist and he is my son. I hope he always remembers the experience. I know that I will."

Shape of My Heart is the first of three vocal tracks on Shapes. In arithmetic balance, the vocal tracks occupy spots three, six and nine. Noteworthy is that each of them has a distinct personal connection to Dominic.

Aside from the Miller/Sting composition (track three) the two other vocal tracks are Ave Maria (track six) and Misa Criolla (track nine).

Misa Criolla, a well-known piece of church music, occupies a special place in Dominic's heart and "sends shivers up my spine every time I hear it." The tune was written in 1963 by Argentine composer Ariel Ramirez. (In Argentinean Spanish, Criolla is pronounced Kree-OH-zsha; traditional Spanish pronunciation is Kree-OH-ya.)

Dominic, who was born in Buenos Aires in 1960 and remained there until the age of 10, grew up listening to Misa Criolla, which means Lord Have Mercy. It is considered a folkloric piece, reflecting various textures of Argentine music.

"It is arguably the most beautiful Argentine work ever written," Dominic says.

And who better to sing the vocals than one of the finest tenors of all time - Placido Domingo.

When asked how he managed to retain the services of the world-renown tenor, the connection comes from an unexpected quadrant of Dominic's life. The delivery of the answer is also representative of his dry sense of humour, which sneaks up on you when least expected.

"I went to college with his son, Joe. [London Guildhall]. It's kind of a funny story. Joe was my best buddy when I was 19 or 20. Joe would say to me, 'my father is performing tonight at the Opera House in Covent Garden, do you want to go?' So, we would go there, hang out backstage, eat the man's food, drink a little of his champagne while he was onstage singing Othello."

"We didn't give it much thought. We really didn't even watch the opera. And then afterwards, it was sort of 'yeah, great show… loved the vocals… you ROCK!'," Dominic says laughing remembering his antics of half a lifetime ago.

As time went on and Dominic continued on his own musical journey, he would think of Placido from time to time, wondering if the great man remembered him as "the crazy young dude wandering in and out of opera houses." He remembers thinking to himself that "I wish Placido knew what I was doing now."

Enter Shapes. Dominic once again thought of his friend's father. "I called up Joe and said, 'Hey, do you think your dad would be interesting in doing something with me?'"

Joe explained that indeed, his father was aware of Dominic’s career - particularly his association with Sting - and had listened to his recordings, watched him on numerous TV appearances over the years and was quite happy at his success.

With Placido committed to the project, "the last thing I wanted to do is give him another aria to perform." That's when it became obvious that Misa Criolla would be the perfect vehicle for his voice.

When it came time to lay the vocal track, Dominic was at Lake House, Sting's Wiltshire estate, rehearsing and unable to go to Rome where Placido would be recording the vocals. Similarly, Placido also had a hectic schedule.

On the night recording was scheduled, Placido had his own performance, followed by an evening engagement. He entered the studio at 1am. and finished the track by 3:30am. Further, Placido, although a Madrid native, delivered his performance in a South American Spanish accent, staying true to the composition, Dominic says with respect and admiration.

For Ave Maria, the third vocal track, Dominic felt strongly about enlisting the aid of an Irish singer - preferably female. It was in homage to the Irish side of his ancestry and the Catholicism of his childhood. He originally invited Enya to perform the vocals, but when she was unavailable, he prevailed on noted Clannad member Moya Brennan. In addition to being a great singer in her own right, Moya is Enya's sister and "sings all of the great backing vocals on Enya's tracks," Dominic says.

"When Schubert wrote this, all I can imagine is he must have been in some kind of spiritual state. Regardless of any beliefs anyone may or may not have, this music gives one a sense of faith. Schubert is a composer I will always want to listen to. Be it to interpret his work or to just absorb myself into listening to him. This is the only piece I recorded which I couldn't and didn't change because of its perfection," he explains.

In terms of technical challenges, the piece Dominic found most challenging to perform was Bach's Presto. "It's pretty fast and it's all arpeggios. It's kind of like finger yoga." But in addition to technical demands, Dominic had fun adding different bass lines, rhythm parts, hand clapping, etc. "In the end, it sounds like a South American folk tune. God only knows what he'd think if he [Bach] could hear this. Maybe I'll find out some time."

The project also presented Dominic with the opportunity to work with other "best-in-their class" musicians. For example, Richard Cottle contributes on keyboards and programming. Richard's resume includes the likes of Tina Turner, Celine Dion, Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton.

On piano is Jason Rebello, with whom Dominic has worked with over the past five years on Sting projects. Noted percussionist, Miles Bould, had previously worked with Dominic on his Second Nature release and also with a plethora of other recording artists, including Sting, Joe Cocker, Joan Armatrading and Julia Fordham.

Bassist Pino Palladino rounds out the list of former and current Miller collaborators. Pino is part of Dominic's trio effort, along with Manu Katché, called the Tweeters. Pino's discography has crossed the 200 CD mark and reads like a music superstar who's who. Just looking at the "C's" for example, his session credits include Phil Collins, Eric Clapton and David Crosby projects.

The list of musical contributors would not be complete without a nod to the Budapest Film Orchestra, conducted and arranged by Nick Ingam. The forty-piece string section helps lift and carry each piece into an ethereal level.

And what about Dominic's own "tool of the trade?" His weapon of choice is what he calls "his baby" - a 1986 Miguel Rodriguez classical guitar made from spruce (top) and Brazilian rosewood (sides and back).

"Everyone has a Spanish guitar in the house, however, this is the crème de la crème of guitars. The difference in sound is astronomical. I first bought it when recording the Soul Cages with Sting," Dominic says.

But as much as he loves the guitar, seemingly Dominic has gone out of his way to lose it. "You don't know how many times I've left it behind in taxis, restaurants and hotels. I've had to chase after taxis and phone restaurants. And I always get it back. Somehow it's like someone is watching over me," he says laughing.

Finally, what would any new major release be without marketing. Dominic has his first stylist designed album cover and his first solo video currently being aired on Classic FMTV in the U.K.

The video is of the second track, Albioni's Adagio in G Minor and is done in a Vertigo theme, he explains. "They've got me standing at the top of a tall building in London and then at the edge of a cliff at Beachy Head [Sussex, England], a spot known for suicides. "I'm right at the edge and they've got me harnessed in! And that's where I'm going to jump off of if the CD doesn't do well," he quips.

The first public appearance for the CD was the Classical Brit awards on May 22nd at London's Royal Albert Hall. Due to air on ITV in the U.K. on June 1st (ITV 10.45pm), the performance will also feature Sting who joined Dominic for Shape Of My Heart. A second push for the CD will be in the fall.

When asked about public appearances for the CD, Dominic does not rule that out. "I don’t want to do it in opera halls. I want to do it in clubs and small theaters. The whole point is that I want it to be modern. I wouldn't take an orchestra with me. I would use individual musicians," Dominic says.

Shapes clearly represents a new point of light in Dominic's already illustrious career. The joy and spirit conveyed in the music has its genesis in the personal peace he has attained. Having married his second wife Fanny almost a year ago, the couple is expecting their first child (and Dominic's fifth) later this summer.

"This renewed happiness and clarity has really influenced me a lot in my music - and in every decision, really," Dominic says.

Shapes is a word with origins attributed to pre-12th century. It is defined by Webster's as "the visible makeup characteristic of a particular item or kind of item." In this context, Shapes is beauty, it is depth, it is modern, it is ancient and it is most definitely breathtaking.

We invite you to take your own journey through Dominic Miller's Shapes. You will not be disappointed.