333maxwell - Gitanos Expulsado in A Minor

Hear The Track Here

There are many musicians and artists on Soundclick who are very good at what they do, in their own particular style and/or genre. There are a few less who can manage to straddle genres and/or styles and there are an infinitesimal amount of artists who can not only straddle endless genres but master them. One such musician, Chas Holman (aka 333maxwell) not only manages to do that but also contributes to Soundclick forum life in a steady and substantial way, aiding his exposure to new listeners as well as doing the community no end of good. Now that is what I call aware self promotion and a lesson to be learned by some of the endless wannabees we all have to do with on a daily basis.

While reviewing Dream Girl (October 2009) I was musing about how long we had known each other because he seems to have accumulated an awful lot of tracks on my hard drive (7 this year alone) which shows I'm a fan. From the opening notes it was obvious that Gitanos Expulsado in A Minor was a shoo in to join them. Firstly, because it's a wild acoustic gypsy ride and IMO truly world music, mixed with a jazz influence I sneered at when I was younger but have grown to respect more and more as I grow older. The names Django Rheinhart and Stephane Grappelli don't mean much to most young people but to musicians of a certain age, these people are legendary. What 333maxwell has done - most successfully - is to update it and bring it before a new audience.

That doesn't mean to say that all Max has done is copy or duplicate what those great guitarists pioneered, that definitely wouldn't be this musicians style. I like 333maxwell most (obviously) when he's wandering in my own musical fields of interest and on this track he's captured two of my all time favourites; world and jazz. So this is obviously a big hit with me, but what about you guys? Welp, looks like you'd have to be into the two genres mentioned, or have an interest in musical history, to really get more than a pleasant listen out of this but even so, this is a very strong sound. Likely as not to snag the drive by listener I'd say (with enormous bias) Want to know the really, really sick-making thing though? When he requested this review Chas said 'I tossed this one together seconds ago' and that is exactly the kind of believable comment that makes me want to throw up (or throw my toys out of the pram).

MUST HAVE World/jazz acoustic guitar thingie...