Guitar Idol 2009: My faves (so far)

Laurie was asking me recently if I was going to post about my favourites from this year’s Guitar Idol competition so I thought it was about time I got my finger out and blogged about it.

This year I’ve not been keeping up with progress of the competition ( seem to have no time atm ), in fact only frequent source of info is thanks to Laurie over on truthinshredding.

There have just been *so* many entries this year, great to see of course, but hard to keep track of. It does prove though that the Guitar is King and modern methods of promo, mainly Youtube, is revealing some awesome talent out there.

The competition has just entered the final round where the public and judges have to somehow pick just 12 from 120. I wish them luck .

So without further ado here are some of my faves from this year’s competition, in no particular order:

Daniele Gottardo

A finalist form last year’s competition Gotty has upped his game considerably with an epic entry this year. I love the production and progish feel on this track. It goes without saying, great tone and technique but the phrasing and vibe are what nail it for me. The track is from his upcoming CD “Frenzy of Ecstasy”, an album to definitely check out.

Could it be his year?

Vote for him there ————————————————————————->

Masahiro Aoki

Apart from having great taste in guitars I really love the phrasing and space in this track. It’s a great song rather than a ‘here’s my chops’ fest. Can’t help but nod along and rock out. Great song development, melody etc. Top stuff.

Vote for him there ————————————————————————->

Muris Varajic

Hopefully this year when Muris reaches the final, because he will I’m sure of it, the backing band will have no problems playing his track. Muris’s entry this year should hopefully allow him to shine. Awesome slippery melody, once again a great song. I’ve been aware of Muris since the Lick Library competition and I’m always blown away by the apparent ease and phrasing of his playing.

A hot tip for the winner imo.

Vote for him there ————————————————————————->

Tom Quayle

Another finalist from 2008, I’m sensing a theme here .

I love Tom Quayle’s note choices and this year’s entry is another step up from last year. Breaking out of the ‘exercise’ feel of last year’s entry this year we have a great groove, cool changes and more a piece of music. It is very Howesque, but it makes a nice change from the more ‘rock’ flavoured entries and is actually more fusion that some of the so called ‘fusion’ entries I’ve seen.

Up against the likes of Gotty and Muris be interesting how the judges vote. It kinda highlights the problems of competitions like this. Once you are judging players of a certain level it boils down to personal musical taste. Do not envy those judges at all.

Hopefully Mr Quayle will be there again in the final.

Vote for him there ————————————————————————->

Hedras Ramos

An upcoming Bluesjamtracks.com featured player, Hedras really does pull out the chops on this one. Yeah it’s very Petrucci, but hey I love Petrucci. Great tone and smooth feel, awesome riff. Plus he’s only 17 .

Dunno if he will make the final, but one to keep an eye out for.

Vote for him there ————————————————————————->

Jack Thammarat

Great thing about competitions like Guitar Idol is the exposure to players you may otherwise have never heard of or get a chance to. Jack Thammarat is one such player. I had faved his original entry which was a ‘sit in the chair’ performance of this song. Adding a live version in the final round is a masterstroke. Awesome somg, awesome composure and overall accomplished vibe. It could be Andy Timmons or similar up there performing. Simply fab.

It’d be a travesty of he didn’t make the final.

Another potential winner?

Vote for him there ————————————————————————->

Silvio Gazquez

Not quite a finalist from last year! Silvio was chosen but couldn’t make it sadly. Hopefully this year he can. As usual great playing, melodic feel and riffs from Mr Gazquez. Shame there is no HQ version on youtube as the mix just a little too in your face my liking. Overall though another top class entry.

Vote for him there ————————————————————————->

Maneli Jamal

Dear lord his guitar is unplugged!

Once again this year’s competition is lacking in any significant numbers of acoustic players, actual jazz guitarists etc. Luckily a fave of mine from last year, Maneli Jamal, has entered again with another fabulous piece.

It would be great to see him at the final as a breath of fresh air amongst the cranked amps.

You never know.

Vote for him there ————————————————————————->

So that’s the entries that have caught my eye so far. To be fair I haven’t seen *all* the entries so may add some more to my playlist as time wears on.

Here’s my youtube playlist for up-to-date faves :

Also be sure to check out all the finalists in the final heat and find your faves!