"A Man About A Horse" is great stuff, free-form yet melodic acoustic and electric guitar and percussion, set against lovely atmospheric synth backdrops and very subtle effects and deep bass underpinning. A lot of 'mood swings', going from very peaceful to ominous, thunderous and angry. Very similar to his previous "The Fall Of Us All". Every time I listen to Tibbetts music I feel as though I am flying over forests of evergreens, soaring up and down. That is how open and adventurous this music sounds. Highly recommended
Steve Tibbets is an excellent guitarist. A few years ago, a former co-worker who works as a DJ at the local NPR station turned me on to him (as well as The Stones, Tom Waits, James Brown, and The Dead). I already had good musical taste; he just fine-tuned it a bit.
He recorded a few albums for ECM. A great label - lots of interesting artists, and consistently good recording quality.
I love Steve Tibbetts. I have several ECM CDs including Northern Song, Safe Journey, Big Map Idea, and The Fall Of Us All. A good friend of mine back in Wpg. introduced me to Steve's music in around 1987-88. Been a fan ever since. Beagle, thanks for the tip on A Man About A Horse. Think I'll pick it up soon.
I've been a fan of Tibbett's ECM stuff for a long time. My favourite is probably "Safe Journey" - magical stuff. Years ago I picked up his first two vinyl LPs on the Frammis label - one of these, "Yr", was later released on CD by ECM and is well worth a listen. I was less taken with the stuff he did some years back that featured female vocals (I think "Exploded View" was the album, and maybe another one). But everything I've heard of his has been very interesting.
