Daniel Morris
From:
Westlake, Ohio, USA
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Posted 18 Nov 2016 4:22 pm |
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On facebook, I ran across a French pedal steel guitarist. I was curious about his music, which was being promoted as going outside the box.
He also posted some very cool videos of himself and a female steel player - rather complex music!
I thought I'd provide a cursory review of STEEL WORLD.
Lionel is one fine player. Period.
The production on the CD is quite professional, as are the backing musicians.
The music - wow, quite the range!
He reinterprets pieces like ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL (well, completely re-configures is more like it) and LIGHT MY FIRE.
He's got a short piece that has his steel sounding like its Japanese cousin, the koto.
There are a few cuts with vocals, which are rather unobtrusive since they're kept to a minimum. Still, it breaks up the instrumentals nicely.
Lionel has definitely got the chops. There's some typical E9 sounding stuff, but very little that's purely country.
The overall sound quality is high, with a somewhat glossy "sheen", which also means the picking comes through clean and clear.
I'd recommend this to folks who would like something a bit different, without getting too far out.
Pieces are all generally rhythmic, they're accessible without sacrificing originality, and the album makes for an enjoyable listen.
It won't appeal to everyone, and everyone may not like every cut, but this is definitely an effort worth obtaining.
Lionel has a website; I ordered from him direct (apparently the easiest way at the moment), and the discs were received in very short order.
https://lionelwendlingfr.wordpress.com/
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1979 MSA U12 Pedal Steel
1982 Kline U12 Pedal steel
2019 Sierra U12 Pedal Steel
2011 Bear Creek MK Weissenborn
Milkman 40W Mini amp w/Telonics 15" speaker.
Dr. Z Surgical Steel w/TT 15" speaker.
Frenzel MB-50 head.
Spaceman, Empress, Eventide, Pigtronix. |
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Lionel Wendling
From:
France
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Posted 25 Nov 2016 7:21 am
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thanks for the compliments.
Muriel Calmel is playing the steel with me on some of my youtube clips. She has only been playing for a couple of years. She already masters most of the technic that I am still working on for...let say a few years now.
Hard worker, perfect ear,the style of music doesn't matter, the student we all dream about.
We will be posting some new stuff very shortly.
Yo
Lionel Wendling |
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