CRAFTING AN APPEALING guitar solo for a song is always a creative challenge. There are many different approaches one can take: Do I follow the chord changes so that the notes line up perfectly with th

From espresso machine to percolator, there are many ways to make a cup of coffee, and such is the case with Bach’s cantata, too. Sporting just two soloists plus cameo narrator, tracking down a vocal d

Six decades into his career, Carlos Santana remains excited by the very thought of having a guitar in his hands. Below, he looks back on the music and gear that’s soundtracked his one-of-a-kind life

IT’S WIDELY KNOWN that Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen and Walter Becker were tough taskmasters when it came to the studio, particularly in terms of their session guitarists. The most famous example of thei

There’s a trepidatious growl from the contra-bassoon. Soon, it is joined by French horns, strings and timpani; the sound rumbles, snowballs – and then: abrupt silence. The piano sings into the stillne

The unconventional instrumentation favoured by Tortoise is an indicator of how many different lineups have always jostled for space under the jazz umbrella. The national treasure that is The Pete Alle