Derek Gripper - Libraries on Fire - [CD]

Libraries on Fire is the follow up to 2012's critically acclaimed album One Night On Earth: Music From the Strings Of Mali. Master guitarist Derek Gripper furthers his exploration of works from Mali s great kora maestros; Toumani Diabat?, Ballak? Sissoko and Sekou Batourou Kouyate, creating a new form of classical guitar music out of Africa s richest musical traditions. Libraries On Fire is the 10th album from this incredible musician whose passion has won him recognition the world over. REVIEW Gripper has cracked it...his playing has a depthless beauty, which does full justice to the complexity of Toumani s compositions. To do so without any hint of the music being dumbed down is a staggering achievement on solo guitar...Gripper s record genuinely complements Toumani s music, and the more resonant sonorities of the guitar give the record its own baroque attraction...Gripper s extensive liner notes are a tour de force, too it s one of the most perceptive and insightful pieces ever written about the kora and the compositional qualities of Toumani s unique music. --Songlines Magazine"The result is astounding, not just for its technical brilliance, but its musicality. Gripper executes these pieces with the precision and attention to detail one might expect from a great classical musician...It s hard to imagine a more impressive and passionate rendering of Malian music on classical guitar, particularly from a person who has done it all his own way. --Afropop worldwidean extraordinary set of instrumentals...with a unique and quite astonishing guitar technique...at the same time tributes and also very intense, personal takes on the originals...there is a feeling of freedom that is liberating to listen to...he succeeds magnificently...A true synthesis and a great album. --FRoots