Phil Manzanera – Guitarissimo (1986)

When I was at school, Roxy Music passed me by, despite being taken with their early singles, Virginia Plain and Pyjamarama. So, there's a world of 1970s Roxy waiting for me to visit and see what I missed. My reticence is due to my finding Brian Ferry (schoolboy football contemporary of Everton hero, Howard Kendall) a singularly unappealing character, with his love of fox hunting and support for the Conservative Party.

But, from the world of Roxy, I've embraced (metaphorically) Eno, and now it's Phil Manzanera's turn. He's an artist I've long intended to investigate, knowing of his Canterbury Sound connections, and a late night visit to Music Magpie online found this compilation at a bargain price.

It draws from Manzanera's five albums from 1975 to 1982, but unusually for a compilation, the 17 tracks aren't chronological, but are arranged in groups of three or four from different albums, segued together.

First part La Escena (The Scene), brings together K-Scope, a lively exciting guitar led instrumental, Frontera, a great song sung by Robert Wyatt, which Wyatt later reworked on his own album as Team Spirit, followed by a live cover of The Beatles' Tomorrow Never Knows, with Brian Eno handling vocals, superbly.

El Viajero (The Traveller) combines four instrumental pieces, with a Latin theme, both acoustic and electric, while Corrida Y Carnaval (Bullfight and Carnival) has a funkier feel, with the enjoyable song Listen Now, and the Latin instrumental, Caracas, with a strong guitar solo. La Tristeza (Sadness) slows things right down, with an acoustic piece (Lagrima), a bit of synth prog (Europe 70-1), and a very Dave Gilmour guitar feel in Island.

Finally, La Barraca (The Shack) wraps the compilation up, with a a catchy song, City Of Lights, followed by the fantastically jazzy Initial Speed (superb sax from Mel Collins), bookended by the electronic discobeat of the two parts of Big Dome.

This album has grown with listening, and it feels right to consider it as five pieces, even if the individual components didn't originate together. With an all star cast of friends, it's certainly made me curious to hear more of Manzanera's solo work.

Link to album tracks

4* - an ingeniously put together compilation of late 1970s/early 1980s prog adjacent tunes