Released August, 1963 Length 42:23 Label Sutro Park Records | Recorded 1963 Release date August 1963 | |
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Similar Sandy Bull albums, Other albums | ||
Fantasias for Guitar and Banjo is the debut album of the folk guitarist Sandy Bull, released in 1963 through Vanguard Records.
Contents
Recording
Bull recorded the album accompanied by Billy Higgins, a session jazz drummer who had previously appeared on early Ornette Coleman records. Together they recorded three original pieces as well as interpretations of Carmina Burana Fantasy and Non nobis Domine.
Music
The highlight of Fantasias for Guitar and Banjo is usually considered to be its opener "Blend", a lengthy improvisational piece. According to Bull, the ideas behind the piece originated from his admiration of Folkways Records, which documented ethnic music from across the world. He also claimed to being particularly inspired from hearing Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan in New York City. "Blend" has been viewed as a "virtual travelogue of styles done in a then revolutionary modal tuning". The tuning is in the key of B.
Release and reception
Matthew Greenwald of allmusic called Fantasias for Guitar and Banjo an "incredible debut" and lauded it for being well ahead of its time.
Legacy
Author Kevin Fellezs writes that the album is a prime example of an "underacknowledged early fusion-world recording that remains musically compelling today."
Personnel
Songs
1Blend22:00
2Carmina Burana Fantasy4:34
3Non Nobis Domine1:38