Los Angeles Guitar Quartet - SACD Collection (4x SACD, 2002-2007) MCH PS3 ISO + DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

×

Los Angeles Guitar Quartet - SACD Collection (4x SACD, 2002-2007) MCH PS3 ISO + DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Close

Los Angeles Guitar Quartet - SACD Collection (4x SACD, 2002-2007)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 236:31 min | Scans included | 14,98 GB
or DSD64 Stereo (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Full Scans included | 6,3 GB
or FLAC (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 4,54 GB
Features Stereo and Multichannel Surround Sound

The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet is a successful multi-guitar ensemble regularly performing, known for its variety of repertory. They are known for using nylon string guitars to imitate a variety of instruments and effects. They have played in many styles; Baroque, Bluegrass, Flamenco, Rock, and New Age are among their repertoire.

×

Los Angeles Guitar Quartet - SACD Collection (4x SACD, 2002-2007) MCH PS3 ISO + DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Close

LAGQ - Latin (2002)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 68:09 minutes | Scans included | 4,26 GB
or DSD64 Stereo (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Full Scans included | 1,72 GB
or FLAC (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 1,24 GB
Features Stereo and Multichannel Surround Sound | Label: Telarc # SACD-60593

This crossover release by the LAGQ primarily features Latin-flavored pieces by composers ranging from Sting to Copland, with Piazzolla, Rodrigo, and Brouwer thrown in. Most of the pieces were arranged by LAGQ members William Kanengiser and Andrew York. The arrangements and performances capture the spirit of the originals extremely well. Maybe it's just because of being played on guitars, but the Paisaje Mexicano and Danza de Jalicso by Copland and the Carmen suite in these transcriptions sound even more Latin than the originals. Of the non-arranged works, Forrobodó by Egberto Gismonti and Cuban Landscape with Rain by Leo Brouwer are definitely worth sampling. In Forrobodó, the ensemble work is so skillful that none are thrown off at all by each simultaneously playing a different meter. In Cuban Landscape with Rain, it is easy to discern the different types of rain, from delicate small drops to large drops going splot on the ground. The original work by York, Syzygy, adds flute to the ensemble for a jazzy mélange of flamenco themes. The CD ends with the song En Aranjuez con tu amour, arranged from the slow movement of Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez. With such a variety of works, the CD is meant to appeal to audiences of the group's classical albums An Evening in Granada and For Thy Pleasure, as well as of the more contemporary ones, such as L.A.G.Q. and Labyrinth. And although it does offer something for everyone and there is no arguing with their skills and performances, as a whole, LAGQ: Latin may not appeal to those looking for just classical or just smooth jazz with a Latin flavor.

×

Los Angeles Guitar Quartet - SACD Collection (4x SACD, 2002-2007) MCH PS3 ISO + DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Close

Los Angeles Guitar Quartet - LAGQ's Guitar Heroes (2004)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 60:19 minutes | Scans included | 3,4 GB
or DSD64 Stereo (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Full Scans included | 1,64 GB
or FLAC (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 1,12 GB
Features Stereo and Multichannel Surround Sound | Label: Telarc # SACD-60598

A great concept and a grand conceit, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet's disc entitled Guitar Heroes is a disc of radically rearranged and reimagined adaptations, transcriptions, and extrapolations of the quartets' players own favorite guitar players. The arrangements are tremendous, the transcriptions are terrific, and the extrapolations are amazing. Who would have thought that Jimi Hendrix's manner of playing could sound so refined, or that Steve Howe's Mood for a Day could sound so exquisite, or that Chet Atkins' echo effects could sound so ethereal? And who would have thought that the music of Frank Zappa and Django Reinhardt could be so superbly recomposed and yet so true to the soul of the music? But the astonishing virtuosity of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet's playing makes believers of everyone and the astounding reality of the sound of Telarc's recording makes everyone believe that they are sitting in the same room.

×

Los Angeles Guitar Quartet - SACD Collection (4x SACD, 2002-2007) MCH PS3 ISO + DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Close

LAGQ (Los Angeles Guitar Quartet) - Spin (2006)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 64:09 minutes | Scans included | 3,88 GB
or DSD64 Stereo (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Full Scans included | 1,42 GB
or FLAC (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 1,16 GB
Features Stereo and Multichannel Surround Sound | Label: Telarc # SACD-60647

A quick check of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet's discography reveals its strong grounding in both classical and popular music, and makes clear that the virtuoso ensemble's success is largely due to finding the right blend to please almost everyone. That's one reason why Spin, the LAGQ's 2006 release on Telarc, is a bit of a risky venture, since it features no classical arrangements and presents only pop-inflected pieces by group members William Kanengiser and Andrew York, as well as several similarly flavored selections by rising composers of light and tonal contemporary fare. This agreeable program is commercially viable, and since the music is pleasant and occasionally catchy, few casual listeners will be disappointed with it; but because this collection is extremely mild in its fusion of styles and quite mellow in its moods, adventurous listeners will find absolutely no challenges here. With guest percussionist Colin Currie joining the group on Joe Duddell's Freaky Dancer and York's Night Furniture, there are some changes of texture and color that provide relief; but arrangements for guitars dominate the disc, and their timbral blandness tends to pall, especially in music of such limited harmonic and melodic interest. So while this CD has some appealing qualities that LAGQ's fans will appreciate, it is decidedly lightweight in substance and not required listening for the group's classical audience.

×

Los Angeles Guitar Quartet - SACD Collection (4x SACD, 2002-2007) MCH PS3 ISO + DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

Close

LAGQ (Los Angeles Guitar Quartet) - Brazil (2007)
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 53:54 minutes | Scans included | 3,43 GB
or DSD64 Stereo (from SACD-ISO to Tracks.dsf) > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | Full Scans included | 1,68 GB
or FLAC (carefully converted & encoded to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 1,02 GB
Features Stereo and Multichannel Surround Sound | Label: Telarc # SACD-60686

On the heels of its successful Latin album, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (LAGQ) mines the same vein with Brazil – seemingly a decision that diverges from its California pastiche aesthetic, but still one very much in line with the trends. Brazilian songbirds fill clubs that are around the corner from Brazilian steakhouses. And, even if it lacks a certain sense of Brazilian relaxation (call it Brazil speeded up to keep pace with L.A. traffic), the disc showcases its eclectic strengths. There's its welcome ability, for example, to pick out repertory that's worthwhile and has that crucial half-remembered quality that seems to be so hard for classical musicians, who veer between boring their audiences and bewildering them, to find. The opening Más que nada, originally a success for Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66, was not the biggest hit of the bossa nova craze but now emerges as one of the deepest, evolving elegantly into a realm of extended harmonies that the LAGQ handles with aplomb. The group reaches back to the classics of bossa nova, in the form of a lovely medley of songs by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, but also enlists contemporary talents like Sergio Assad, who arranged that medley. The various guest musicians who appear (the vocalist in the Jobim is Luciana Souza) are, as usual with the LAGQ, beautifully worked into the overall concept; one hears, in addition to vocals, a flute, soprano saxophone, and a shifting array of percussion (hear Souza accompanying herself on the fascinating tambourine-like pandeiro on Marco Pereira's Sambadalú, track 9), but there's never a sense that one is listening to anything other than a guitar quartet program. Among the fresh highlights in the form of new compositions is one by another Assad: Clarice Assad, daughter of Sergio, contributed the brisk Bluezilion, track 8. The music sticks close to the bossa nova idiom but spices it sufficiently with turns toward Villa-Lobos and toward more contemporary material. Finally there's the superb sound from Telarc, which would perform a public service if it conducted seminars on how to record guitars close up without leaving the listener awash in distracting noises. The blue print on black background in the booklet will be outlawed and punishable by decapitation come the revolution, so that's not a major problem, and in the meantime anyone looking for Brazilian flavors will enjoy this lighthearted disc.