Adeus Paraiso

A renowned composer and producer from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this is acoustic lap steel player Christiaan Oyens's first solo album. Influenced by players like Ry Cooder, David Lindley, Ben Harper, Egberto Gismonti, Leo Kottke and Michael Hedges, Adeus Paraíso (Goodbye Paradise) is a soulful and inspired album with richly textured compositions. Born in Montevideo, Uruguay to Dutch parents and raised in Brazil, Christiaan started his musical career as a drummer. When he turned 19, Christiaan moved to Los Angeles, California where he pursued his drumming studies. One day while strolling through Santa Monica he walked into McCabe's Guitar Shop and heard a show by multi-instrumentalist David Lindley. Christiaan instantly fell in love with the acoustic (Weissenborn) Hawaiian lap steel guitar Lindley was playing. Many years later, back in Brazil where he was producing albums and touring as a drummer he decided to invest in these guitars. After playing and recording his lap steel guitars with artists like Milton Nascimento, Zelia Duncan and Lulu Santos, Christiaan decided to release his first solo album. Adeus Paraiso was conceived as guitar duets with Christiaan playing both the regular and the Weissenborn guitars. Many altered tunings were used with these instruments. The result is an innovative album with some brilliant and truly original slide guitar playing. From the Hawaiian flavored quot;Adeus Paraisoquot;, the elegant bluesy textures of quot;Negrumequot;, the exotic Brazilian rhythms of quot;Novas Possibilidades Linda'squot; to the quasi-classical quot;Ninutchkaquot;; the diverse atmospheres of these compositions defy categorization. There is also a heart-felt rendition of the traditional quot;Make Me a Pallet on Your Floorquot;, as well as Christiaan singing his original quot;Trem do Horizonte' with special guest Milton Nascimento. The CD includes a multi-media track where Christiaan explains his passion for the Weissenborn Hawaiian guitar as well as it's history, plus a video clip of the song quot;Ninutchkaquot;. This record has something for fans of acoustic guitar, lovers of good music and people who appreciate intense performances. For more information, check out Christiaan's website.