Daniel Hecht - Guitar

There are few instruments more uniquely suited to capturing the beauty and ennui of the rural American midwest than the acoustic steel-string guitar. In the hands of a master, the range of evocable emotion and experience is truly limitless. Daniel Hecht is one such master. His 1973 self-released debut album, simply titled Guitar, is an rolling, blissful trip through rural America, and a gorgeous document of acoustic exploration. 
 
Guitar was written and recorded while Hecht was living and working on a commune in Madison, Wisconsin. In between harvesting his own food and studying the music of Andrés Segovia and Mississippi John Hurt, Hecht found himself playing host to legendary itinerant street performer, Moondog. On Moondog’s insistent urging, Daniel decided to record some of his recent guitar compositions. 
 
Released on his own Dragon’s Egg imprint, Guitar fused Hecht’s complex classical preoccupations with his country folk influences. The album eventually found a fan with pioneer of American Primitive Guitar, John Fahey, who eventually helped land Hecht on the eminent new age/ instrumental label, Windham Hill. As Hecht’s playing and composition grew in complexity, he found peership with labelmates like Michael Hedges, William Ackerman, and Alex DeGrassi. But it is his debut album that remains the greatest document of Hecht’s talent and ambition in first bloom. 
 
This reissue is the first time Guitar has been available on vinyl since it's initial release. 

TRACKLIST: 

1. Baba Dream Songs 

2. Demolition Derby 

3. Black Cat Lament 

4. Sweet Mantra 

5. Chicago 

6. Seymour Volunteer Fire Dept 

7. Suite In E 

8. Peace Shaped Piece 

• US import 

also available on Morning Trip Records: 
Michael Masley - Cymbalom Solos   LP 
James Newton - Flute Music   LP 

browse collections: 
American Primitive Guitar collection 
Americana collection