Steve Tibbetts Yr CD

Tibbetts makes metallic folk music for disenfranchised folks. He's an elegant and multifaceted player, his compositions making use of exotic jungle rhythms (courtesy of longtime foil Marc Anderson), jazz-rock signatures, and regal European atmospheres. Tibbetts is one of the more idiosyncratic guitarists of the jazz/rock interface, with an uncanny ability to softly fondle his instrument yet rearrange its vocabulary to resemble nothing less than a sitar or tabla.

The opening "Ur" begins with a pigeon's rush of flailing acoustic guitar before electric strings start to sizzle through the air like errant lightning. The incorporation of tablas, vases, bells, and sundry percussive devices gives the recording a noticeably Middle Eastern flavor. YR is much like rich Gypsy music as played by accomplished technology-savvy types intent on extolling the true virtues of their music. Tibbets and Anderson make beautiful, cascading music for those times when trad jazz just doesn't cut it, the mind has had it with new age, and the heart needs just the right hunk of rock.

Recorded in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Personnel: Steve Tibbetts (guitar, mandolin, sitar, keyboards, synthesizer, kalimba, percussion); Marc Anderson (drums, congas, bongos, percussion, bells); Tim Weinhold (bongos, bells); Marcus Wise, Steve Cochrane (tabla).

Recording information: Minneapolis, MN.

Photographer: Jonette Novak.

Unknown Contributor Role: Tim Weinhold.

Personnel: Steve Tibbetts (synthesizer, guitar, kalimba); Marc Anderson (drums, congas, percussion); Bob Hughes (bass); Tim Weinhold (bongos, vase, bells); Steve Cochrane, Marcus Wise (tabla).

Reissue