'I was blown away by your playing. I live in Spain but rarely get to hear playing of such high quality.....'
Chris Stewart, author of Driving Over Lemons
'Me, my wife and the crew of my cd productions, we all love your guitar very much!'
Shiro Sagisu, music producer Bleach Anime.
THE SILK ROAD by Steve Homes and deCasas
Steve Homes magical first album Secret Garden
was special in that it had many British music
influences within the forms and traditions of
flamenco. Looking at the titles of his new disc
The Silk Road shows Steve casting his net further to create a world-reaching flamenco album. This isn’t a cheesy fusiony album though. The music is 100% flamenco in the tradition of Paco de Lucia and Tomatito.
It starts and ends with a tangos. The lively
Ole Sumaya - for Steve’s dance group and Pena favourites Sumaya. Carolina Esteves, Michelle Carrier and Mariana Castellano are almost constantly in the background on this album with tasteful jaleos, giving it a real sense of life. The final track En Mi Petate, features the wonderful singer Ulises Diaz Ropero, who wrote the lyrics, and the brilliant yet subtle Demi Garcia Sabat on Cajon.
Tracks which stand out for me are the amazing Hungry Tiger – a hungry tiger in bulerias form. Dark, menacing, sporadic melodies with something very unsettling at it’s core. Alcazaba – an alegria with a very slow “silencio” start which builds up and up to a joyous ending. The title track The Silk Road is a serious siguriya which bursts into a stunning buleria.
All the while Steve’s incredible guitar technique
is in evidence. Not just tremendous speed, but
originality, sensitivity and musicality too.
I would highly recommend this CD. Not just
A great flamenco guitar album, but what you get more than anything is Steve Homes himself, a truly great composer and musician.
At present The Silk Road is only available from
Steve himself or via his website:
By Alan Haigh – flamenco news.
'This cd is fantastic. I saw Steve Homes live recently, I've also seen Paco de Lucia, Canizares, Nunez and Amigo. Steve Homes ranks alongside the best flamenco guitarists around.'
Review - Jon Vasquez, guitarcds.
Below is a part translation from bleach sound track 3.
What a wonderful performance!!
The awesome guitar playing in the songs featuring Steve Homes in this album always gives me an admiring sigh.
I can positively say that the music in this album is all about his guitar playing. Every time I listen to this music, I get bombarded by the intensity and the “shock” is regenerated. I must admit I’ve never encountered such a sensation.....
I hadn’t expected to find a good SPANISH flamenco guitarist in London for the recording. However, my Spanish friend in the music world told me that he knew an extraordinary ENGLISH flamenco guitarist who is awe-inspiring......
...... Whereas most of studio guitarists usually would come into the studio with a massive amount of gear like amps etc., Steve turned up to the recording studio with his guitar only, as if a commander carried the “Zanpakutou” sword. We, however, didn’t know how powerful his sword would be until we actually heard him play. It was explosive!! All the staff at the studio literally worshiped at his feet.......