Shoreline Music • Pierre Bensusan

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Pierre Bensusan was born in 1957 in French Algeria and released his debut album "Prús de Paris" in 1975. This record won Le Grand Prix du Disque at the Montreux Festival in Switzerland in 1976. After hearing this CD, it's clear why guitarists of any age would hope to be as talented as Pierre was when he recorded it at 17.

Leo Kottke writes: "Pierre's music gives me the shakes. No other guitarist shares his strange gifts of sophistication, accessibility and downright joy. Even at its most complex, Pierre's music only needs ears to be enjoyed." George Winston said "Pierre is one of the truly gifted musicians of our time - he plays the guitar as if it was the very soul of himself. The emotionalism, the chords that go right to the bottom of me, his sounds are beautiful. Pierre is a musician who takes chances, and as such he is delving into many unique and previously unexplored techniques and sounds. I hope that you will take the time to discover his magic for yourself and then pass it on to someone else".

I can certainly concur with those reviews. I saw Pierre in 1989 at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. It was already a great show--Michael Manring and Michael Hedges opened--but Pierre's artistry in a live setting was simply phenomenal.

Pierre regularly offers workshops for a limited number of students at his country home near Paris in the Champagne region. This is of course the perfect idyllic setting to study guitar, drink some wine, and hang out with other guitarists, but you can get that at any old music festival--the real treat is individual attention from one the world's best guitarists. The next seminars are in March, August and September of this year.

As with many of the artists we highlight here, you may buy music directly from Pierre, or you can preview and download the music from the iTunes Music Store. If you do not have iTunes installed, you can click here to download it.

Click here to purchase Pierre's CDs directly from him.

Click here to purchase them at the iTunes Music Store.

Title		Details
Près de Paris		Près de Paris - This is Pierre's award-winning first CD, and it contains several of his classic tracks, including "Merrily Kissed the Quaker" (one of my favorite songs to play) and "Le Lac des Abbesses". The rest of the tracks are: De Trilport à Fublaines, Dame Lombarde, J'ai Fait une Maîtresse, The Town That I Loved So Well, Sunday's Hornpipe, Lady de Nantes, Près de Paris/Reels (The Ashplant/The Morning Dew) and One Morning In May.
2		2 - A great sophomore CD, with a little more far-ranging music. Tracks are: Belle Je m'en Vais en Allemagne, Le Conseil de Guerre (or) le Condamné à Mort, March: The Return From Fingal, Le Roi Renaud, Reels: The Pure Drop / The Flax In Bloom, La Danse du Capricorne, La Danse du Capricorne 2 (or) A Day At The George Pompidou Center, Le Joli Bransle, Jardin d'Amour and Le Lendemain de la Fête.
Musiques		Musiques - One of my son's favorite Bensusan pieces (and mine, too) is on this CD--his arrangement of the Bourrée and Hornpipe from Handel's Water Music. The rest of the tracks are: Heman Dubh, Le Voyage pour l'Irlande, Si Bhig, Si Mhor / The Rakish Paddy, Climats Doux et Temperés, La Marche du Sonneur Egaré, Perles de Cristal, Adios Muchachos, Clementine, Mandarine et Reine Claude, Le Moulin à Parfums d'Emmanuelle, Palomita Blanca, Hekimoglu and Impression.
Solilaï		Solilaï - While I was studying for an exam in 1985, "Santa Monica" came on the radio. I was so entranced, I dropped what I was doing just to listen to the song more closely. I spent several years trying to hunt down the song--and the amazing guitarist who played it--only to find it later on this CD. The rest of the tracks are: Nice Feeling, Bamboulé, Au Jardin d'Amour, Milton, Suite Flamande aux Pommes, Solilaï and Doatea.
Intuite		Intuite - Ever since I saw Pierre play "Agadiramadan" live, I've always wished I could hear just his solo version of it again. And that wish has come true--Pierre's newest release is an all-solo album that features that track, along with Kodaurimdou, The Welsh Arrow, So Long Michael, Intuite, Bourrée Voltage, Le Jardin D'Adonis, La Hora Española, L'Alchemiste, En Route from Scarborough (yes, that's an arrangement of Simon and Garfunkel), and Silent Passenger. I find this CD much more reflective than Pierre's earlier work--a definite must-have for Pierre fans.
The Guitar Book		The Guitar Book - This is one of my favorite tab books. It includes instructional sections--finger exercises and such--as well as a recipe, poetry, and of course, much of Pierre's early music. This work mingles expression, eclecticism, and pedagogy with a rare sensitivity. It is meant to be read, listened to, flipped through, examined, and tasted for all the pleasures it has to offer.

Spices and Wu Wei are no longer available on CD, although Favored Nations is looking to release a compilation CD soon with the music from these 2 recordings.