Best known for his flamenco guitar work, Miguel Espinoza mixes styles of all types akin to Al Di Meola on this exciting acoustic collection of musical directions. Usually “fusion” means “plugged in”, but while there are no Marshall amps, there is plenty of electricity, with sparks flying in all sorts of directions.
Espinoza mixes and matches with Dianne BEtkowski/cel, Randy Hoepker/b, Dave Hagerdonrn/vib, Christian Teele/prec, Nabin Shrestha/tab, Howard Levy/harm and Priya Hariharan/vi for a Marco Polo-like musical journey across continents. Espinoza teams with Betkowski and Hariharan in trio fashion for a warm and joyful mix of strings on “Buleria Estila Antique” with some ethereal voicings by Hariaharan. Exchanging bass for violin, a completely different trio format emerges with yearning tones during “ La Lluvia”. Levy’s harmonica adds a bluesy element with some percussion on “Hudson Avenue” with contributing to Espinoza laying down a relentless pulse with Betkowski’s cello on “Howard’s tune” . The team really stretches out on an exciting Afro Cuban table dance of “Barrio Latino” and is dreamy on the Iberian meeting up with Central Asia on the ethereal “Joy” with Hariharan’s voicings floating like a morning mist.
Espinoza’s guitars take you on an exotic musical trek