Adrian Legg - Inheritance

Adrian Legg - Inheritance

In the liner notes of Inheritance Adrian Legg is referred to as “an unlikely guitar hero.”  After looking at his website and seeing his picture, I can see why they say that.  He looks like a cross between Bill O’Reilly and Bill Murray.  He may not look like a guitar hero, but the man can play.  Adrian Legg is a classical guitarist who is a wizard with the instrument.  Before you decide you’re not interested because you think classical means boring, allow me to give you some facts. Inheritance was released in the U.S. on a label called Favored Nations Acoustic.  That label just happens to belong to another pretty good guitarist by the name of Steve Vai.  Oh, and by the way, Adrian Legg was voted Guitarist of the Decade by Guitarist Magazine.  Pretty decent credentials, don’t you think? I think Adrian Legg probably appeals most to guitarists, but any music lover should be able to appreciate his abilities on the guitar

The CD begins with “Nefertiti – What a Sweetie,” a song with a real delta blues feel to it.  Now, you’re not going to confuse Adrian Legg with Robert Johnson, but the delta blues influence really comes through on that song.  

Legg probably displays his chops best on “More Fun in the Swamp,” which has a sort of Cajun sound.  Again, you probably won’t confuse him with any Louisiana Cajun group, but the sound is there.  Legg also shows some Celtic influences on the song “Doublejigs.”

The rest of the CD falls pretty firmly into the classical category, including a song called “A Waltz for Leah.”  You don’t find too many modern CDs that include a waltz.  Legg ought to be commended for that alone.  I think that if you put Legg beside the best guitarists you can think of, you’d see that he could play with any of them.  This is an extremely well-crafted album with rich guitar sounds.  If you are a guitarist, Adrian Legg is someone whose music you should get to know.
 
 

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