Randy Armstrong No Regrets CD

Both as a solo artist and a member of the Doah World Music Ensemble, world fusion pioneer Randy Armstrong has been blending musical genres with imagination and style since the mid-'70s. 2003's NO REGRETS finds Armstrong continuing his efforts to forge a new musical language that combines jazz, classical, African, Indian, and Native American traditions. A wide variety of guitars (including a synth-guitar), percussion (including tabla, djembe and balafon), flutes, and studio manipulations make for a musical journey that spreads its geographical map wide. The results are organic and indigenous, yet decidedly contemporary. Armstrong composed nine of the album's 11 tracks (one of the two covers is Miles Davis's "Blue in Green," which receives a delicate treatment that feels Asian and country-tinged at once), making NO REGRETS an impressive tour-de-force from this talented musician.

Listening to No Regrets, Randy Armstrongs tenth album, is like listening to a whole season of concerts in one sitting. As one of the pioneers of the world fusion music genre in the early 70s with Do'ah World Music Ensemble, Randy brings all of his experience and performance genius to a collection of songs that range from the evocative sounds of a Lakota courting flute to a most sophisticated jazz guitar arrangement of Miles Davis Blue in Green. In between, Randy explores the full range of emotions and captures them in ground-breaking arrangements that further his reputation as one of the most innovative musicians of the era.In No Regrets, Randy provides a showcase album not only of his lyrical flair, but also of his virtuosity with a widevariety of instruments and musical styles. Randy performs on two rare Michael Jacobson-Hardy handmade cutaway guitars, as well a 1948 vintage Gibson L7 jazz guitar and a Godin Jazz Multiac synth-guitar. In addition, he deftly coaxes echoes from cultures around the world playing the North Indian sitar and tabla, West African djembe, balafon, djun-djun, Lakota flute, and other instruments which he plays with equal virtuosity. And of course in No Regrets, Randy explores a genre-defying variety of styles, including jazz, world fusion, western classical counterpoint, flamenco, North Indian, and Native American.

Solo performer: Randy Armstrong (guitar).

Personnel: Randy Armstrong (acoustic guitar, nylon-string guitar, sitar, flute, keyboards, guitar synthesizer, bass instrument, axatse, djembe, mbira, tabla, percussion, bell).