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Johannes Linstead
Biography
Instrumentalist Johannes Linstead is not an easy artist to categorize. Some listeners have described the acoustic guitarist's ambitious, far-reaching albums as new age (although he is much more energetic than new age artists are typically known for being), and others have labeled him nuevo flamenco (that is, modern flamenco-pop rather than traditional straight-ahead flamenco). But while some of his acoustic guitar playing is, in fact, relevant to Spain's nuevo flamenco scene, the truth is that contemporary flamenco is only a part of what the unpredictable, highly eclectic Linstead does. If any one term best summarizes Linstead's diverse albums, it would be "world fusion." Linstead has been influenced not only by the music of Spain, but also by the music of Greece, Italy, Portugal, Cuba, Trinidad, Brazil, Peru, India, Morocco, and the Middle East. If anything ties Linstead's rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic influences together -- most of them, anyway -- it is the fact they tend to come from the world's warmer, sunnier climates. Linstead's work does not owe a lot to styles of music that originated in places known for their cold, harsh, snowy, dark winters; the parts of the world that have influenced him the most -- the Mediterranean, southwestern Europe, the Caribbean, South America, the Middle East, North Africa -- get plenty of sunlight.
Selected Discography
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