Michael Hedges
Aerial Boundaries

THE REVIEW

Preliminary confession: I have a shameless predilection for the acoustic guitar.
The timbre of the instrument, both in its classical version and the (so-called) acoustic version with metal strings, satisfies and nourishes my aesthetic-auditory need... I don't know how to say it.
So, I am strongly influenced by a taste... somewhat lenient towards the "natural" instrument, that is, unplugged.
However...
However when it comes to Michael Hedges, I believe (I believe!) that the authority of the character withstands any subjective taste.
I will be very clear in my judgment: the reviewed CD constitutes a genuine milestone in the fingerstyle guitar interpretation. Listening to it today might not impress as much: there are several dozen guitarists worldwide capable of playing his pieces, composing in his style, surpassing him in instrumental technique. But watch out for the year of production: we're in 1984. It's no coincidence that Guitar Player magazine awarded him as the best acoustic guitarist five times.

When Windham Hill released Aerial Boundaries (never a more appropriate title) it caused quite a stir among guitarists. "Devil, how many hands does he play with, this one." But it's not just about technique. It is the powerful sense of energy and rhythm he could convey, always controlled and never circus-like, through the instrument. An instrument he often morphologically modified, turning it into... strange six-string tools. It is the magic and melodic strength of the pieces that captivate you, amaze you, enchant you; you go back with the player to listen again...
After him, a host of guitarists followed in his footsteps, followed his path and developed his ideas. Among these, surely, Tuck Andress, Don Ross, Tommy Emmanuel, Preston Reed, Laurence Juber, and Pierre Bensusan. To the latter, considered by many and modestly also by myself, one of the best living guitarists, the second track, "Bensusan," is dedicated, superlative.
Hedges thus remains a great innovator. Not only, I repeat, for the two-hand tapping and percussive technique but for the quality of his compositions, particularly of this album.

The 9 tracks are all enchanting. I remain absorbed listening to the eighth track, "Menage A Trois," (the flute introduction is enchanting) or the astonishing title track; but each piece is to be framed.
His subsequent six works, as well as the previous "Breakfast In The Field," truthfully do not compare with this one. His last CD, "Oracle," is from 1996, a year before his premature passing due to a car accident.
Last but not least: don't call it new age. I leave to the staff the burden of genre classification (something he, when asked on the point, hated to do...).