MICHAEL CHAPDELAINE: re-replay

michael chapdelaine

re-replay

© 2006 michael chapdelaine (005761200522)

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After winning the National Fingerpicking Championship, Acoustic Guitar Virtuoso, Michael Chapdelaine, follows up his beautiful Time-Life "with love" series with 16 more of your favorite "60s" and "70" songs with Chapdelaine's romantic and exciting style.

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What the Critics Say

The music of Michael Chapdelaine had made a cameo appearance in Adam Holzman's encore, but nothing could have prepared us for the arrival of the man himself. A time-served classical guitarist who, in his own words, 'used to have a tuxedo', Chapdelaine has now reinvented himself as a ponytailed fingerstyle rocker, who performs on a metal-strung acoustic hooked up to powerful amplification while grooving around the stage to the beat of his own potent compositions. It's well-known that, when classical guitarists attempt to cross the divide, the bridge usually breaks halfway, assuming they even get that far. But Michael Chapdelaine has built his own bridge on his own terms and has grown from being a highly competent classical guitarist (as demonstrated on a superb retrospective CD titled The DBX Reels) into one of the most dynamic and free-thinking live performers you'll see anywhere on any instrument. Most astonishing of all was his wild reworking of Saudade No.3, in which an all-new central quasi-improvisation travelled from Stephen Foster to the Drifters (twice) and to Mungo Jerry(!) before finally returning to Dyens. But there's also a serious side to Chapdelaine, the excerpts from his own Homage to the American Indian, all of which were performed seated, revealing a capacity to create the most delicate and imaginative pictures in sound.
So ended an international gathering in which Greece's burgeoning guitar culture joined forces with some of America's finest. My warmest thanks to the all concerned, and will the next person checking into Room 421 please cancel the sandwiches..............Classical Guitar Magazine (August 2003)


Michael didn't bother wasting his time establishing his credentials by playing "Leyenda" and "Recuerdos" first (I have heard Muriel Anderson and Sharon Isbin both do exactly that, but Michael is beyond giving the proverbial flying fig). He gave us a solid 40 or 50 minutes of arrangements of classic pop tunes, with 2 or 3 originals in the mix. The first three tunes were remarkable primarily for showcasing the "rock-n-roll Golpe", a trick of thumping relentlessly on the bass strings with the side of the thumb on the back-beat ( 1 - foomp - 3 - foomp etc.) It's very effective for creating the illusion of a rhythm section and solves that "empty sounding" problem that solo-guitar pop tune arrangements sometimes have. Also, it's a very comforting sound if you happen to miss sitting in traffic next to someone with sub-woofers in the trunk of the car. Later he changed the patch on the AG-Stomp and it mellowed out a little bit, or else yours truly just forgot about it because of the truly awesome guitar playing which was going on over the top of it.
About the fourth song in, we were treated to the surf classic "Wipe Out!" (groan) but this is where the audience surrendered and said, "OK, we admit it, you're great!". It was the classic shtick of "Watch how many things I can do at once!" - the bass, the drums, the complete famous drum solo. We wondered if this might have been what he won the Winfield contest with, but forgot to inquire. After this there was one more truly cheesy number, the theme from "Secret Agent Man" - but it was perfect. Michael had completely recreated being a 13-year-old with an electric guitar in the 60's and thereby attracted the envy of every geezer in the room.
At this point our guitarist shifted gears (changing the patch in the AG-Stomp, although the difference was too subtle for me) and explained that he had arrived at a point in life (but what he meant was a point in the set) when he realized that he would rather play music to impress beautiful women than to wow teenage boys, and proceeded to play some gorgeous arrangements of love songs. The highlight of these was George Harrison's "Something in the way she moves". (On the light gauge steel strings Michael could do all of Harrison's guitar work note for note, with string bends and all, in a way that is impossible on nylon strings.) We, the audience, surrendered to pure musical beauty for the rest of the set. Sorry the rest of you didn't make it! ..............John Pearse

Remember those old Venn diagrams from math classes? Two circles sharing a small common area. The teacher would ask what elements were in each circle & whether there were any "common elments" shared by both circles. Suppose there was a diagram of champion guitarists. Circle "A" contains all Guitar Foundation of America classical guitar champions. Circle "B" contains all National Fingerstyle Champions. The intersection or common area of Circles A&B would contain all guitarists who have won both GFA Championship& National Fingerstyle Championship. Question: How many guitarists are in the intersection or common area of Circles A&B?Answer:
As the Venn diagram above shows, a grand total of1 guitarist has won both GFA & National Fingerstyle Championships: Michael Chapdelaine. Currently a Professor of Guitar at the University of New Mexico, Michael's newest release "Grapevine" is what happens when the only combined GFA & National Fingerstyle Champion turns his considerable skills & talents to "Pop" music. The result is a very, very cool CD! Appropriately, "Grapevine" begins with a Motown classic "I Heard It Through the Grapevine". Trust me, Motown music was never like this; 1 man & 1 guitar & an interpretation that really draws the listener in. Motown music lovers will be thrilled to find "Spanish Rose of Harlem" played like no one else could play it.
The Eagle's track, "Best of My Love", captures the true spirit, intimacy & pain of the original. Somehow, Michael's version is even more soulful than the Eagles' original. "Drift Away", an old tune that most will associate with Rod Stewart's re-recording in his post-Ron Wood/Faces incarnations another soft tune that becomes poetry in Michael's hands. MC, as he is sometimes know, plays Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" with a little Tom Petty "Breakdown" seamlessly incorporated. Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight" will make you realize EC's genius in writing it & MC's genius in playing it.
No genre goes "uncovered" (pun intended) on "Grapevine" .J.S. Bach's "Jesu Joy of Man's Desire", the traditional Irish tune "Danny Boy" and the Roland Dyens' tribute in "Saudade" highlight MC's diverse musical tastes &his uncanny ability to play songs of any style. The other two songs on the CD are the old McCoy's (remember them) "Hang on Sloopy" and "Mr. Bojangles" written by Jerry Jeff Walker in 1966 and recorded by the likes of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, John Denver, Neil Diamond and Sammy Davis, Jr.
"Hang On Sloopy" is pure, unadulterated 1960'sFUN; and that is FUN in capital letters. "Mr. Bojangles" is an emotional end for a CD that ends all too quickly. This is an excellent "feel-good" CD; you will find yourself singing along and humming the songs long after taking "Grapevine" out of the player. After listening to this CD a lot, I would sure like to get my hands on the person who originally said "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach". They OBVIOUSLY never heard Michael Chapdelaine!
..........Rating: Excellent GuitarNation.com

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  • author: Minor 7th Webzine

    Dude, this classical guy rocks out. On his 12th disc, "re-reply," Michael Chapdelaine again abandons his tux to embrace -- and re-record -- 15 songs that profoundly influenced his youth. He transforms tunes that have been hammered into our pop consciousness into impressive odes of guitar virtuosity: "Pipeline," "Classical Gas," "Secret Agent Man," "Come Together", "Walk Don't Run". Funny thing, Chapdelaine covered all 15 of these tunes on his 2001 CD "replay;" still, he chose to revisit them here using a different guitar, different mixing and recording techniques, and five years of performances under his belt. No questioning the result -- it's aurally perfect, his technique is impeccable and his arrangements are nicely done. What distinguishes Chapdelaine -- in addition to his jaw-dropping ability -- is the passion with which he treats these familiar, though somewhat hackneyed, pop/rock standards. He clearly loves these songs, and it shows. He infuses "After the Gold Rush" with a wonderfully soulful ache, "California Dreaming" haunts, "Pipeline" rollercoasters with echos of Segovia-inspired Spanish guitar as well as a few other '60s melodies woven in, the Stones' "As Tears Go By" never sounded this good, and his Lennon-McCartney interpretations hold their own. One would think he might have added a few bonus tracks to further distinguish this disc from its predecessor; actually, he did the opposite, deleting one track, Hendrix's "Third Stone from the Sun." One clue may be found on his website, where Chapdelaine describes his typical touring two-set repertoire: "lots of oh-my-god-how-can-he-do-all-that-on-one-guitar covers like "Come Together", "Heard it through the Grapevine", "Wipeout" (complete with drum solo), some lovely ballads like "Wonderful Tonight", "Sonny Came Home", "Something" ... then lots of originals for solo guitar, and finally, some really amazing pieces from the classical/Spanish rep." At any rate, Chapdelaine knows he's good, and he certainly has the chops; and think about this -- he's the only guitarist to win First Prize in the world's top competitions in both the Classical and Fingerstyle genres: the Guitar Foundation of America International Classical Guitar Competition and the National Fingerstyle Championships at the Walnut Valley Bluegrass Festival in Winfield, KS. He has studied under Andres Segovia and has been professor of music and head of guitar studies at the University of New Mexico for a decade and a half. Previous releases include "Bach is Cool" (2004), "Guitar for Christmas" (2003), "Spanish Roses" (1999), "Gravevine" (2005) and "Mexico" (1992). It boils down to this: On "re-replay," Chapdelaine sounds as if he's having a blast -- and it's darned infectious.

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