Don Ross
Passion Session

This record I am about to review is one of the masterpieces of Canadian fingerstyle, not for nothing it is by the so-called "father of the acoustic guitar", "Don Ross".

The album itself features very melodic pieces, even if it deals with funkier themes in "Michael Michael Michael", dedicated to another legend of this musical style, Michael Hedges, and blues harmonies in "Blue Bear". For me, this last piece leaves you truly astonished, it really fills up a lot despite being a solo acoustic guitar, alternating solo phrases with self-accompaniments.

The rest of the pieces are in the same dynamic and style, yet quite different from each other, and in each, I believe one can find something fantastic.

The record opens with "Klimblim", one of his most famous and also most beautiful pieces, "Berkley Springs", which is a cover of David Essig, also a fairly well-known piece but truly spectacular. Expect to find a very melodic album, a great expression of emotions through acoustic guitar. "Tight Tight Night" is a very dark song but fast and expressive, (this is also a very well-known piece by the Canadian guitarist), as is "First Ride", which was already present in the album "Bearing Straight" (his first record).

It continues with "With You In My Mind", a very melancholic piece proposed here with a fairly high tuning, but in live performances, it is presented with lower tunings. After this last piece, I believe comes the most beautiful track of the entire album, namely "Annie And Martin", an indescribable piece with a baritone guitar, even though it is among the less famous but in my opinion, among the most beautiful by "Don Ross".

Remaining pieces like "Give Me Seven Reasons" and "No Goodbyes" will stimulate your melancholic and sensitive side with their incredible acoustic harmonies.

This record is a masterpiece, and according to many, it is the best and most famous of this guitarist. It was recorded in a church in Berlin, thus achieving an incredible acoustics and a distinctive sound. I truly recommend it because it is one of the records that has profoundly marked my life.

I apologize if I have been somewhat monotonous, but it is truly difficult to describe pieces whose beauty can only be captured by listening and not by describing.