Canto - Mike Baggetta
Mike Baggetta, Solo Prepared Guitar
2010
MabnotesMusic (MMCD001)
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“I enjoyed it!” - Derek Bailey, Guitarist
“He bends and twists notes, mutes certain strings with different objects, moving beyond the influences of Derek Bailey & Eugene Chadbourne and into his own unique world... Like Fred Frith, who has obviously invented his own approach and vocabulary of sounds while solo guitar, Mike Baggetta has also come up with his own distinctive universe of guitar language and communication.”
- Bruce Lee Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery
“Extending an instrument beyond its assumed timbral associations can be a surefire way to avoid potential idiomatic clichés associated with specific musical instruments. What makes Baggetta's approach herein particularly stand out is his desire to use these new sonorities specifically to create new kinds of melodies and, ultimately, structural shapes that are recognizable to listeners... Canto, which is Latin for "I sing" also conjures up Ezra Pound, whose polyglotal verse did to language what Baggetta is doing with a guitar.”
- Frank J. Oteri, New Music Box
“Baggetta takes great care to make each performance both unique and individualistic... a dirty, off-kilter Blues sensitivity that is hard to resist. For guitar improv geeks, Baggetta is surely a find.” - Cadence Magazine
Canto is Mike Baggetta’s seminal album of prepared guitar etudes. Originally released in 2002 on the now defunct Optical Sounds label, this new reissue features an impressive remastering of the audio by engineer Jon Rosenberg as well as a completely redesigned package, including Baggetta’s new liner notes about the project. The reissue of this important work is also the first release on the new label, MabnotesMusic. The music on this album captures the nuance and subtlety of tone that has become part of Baggetta's musical trademark, establishing him as one of his generation's most thoughtful and adventurous improvisors. The 9 etudes included on Canto explore the inherent flexibility of the prepared guitar, its productive sounds and their application as melodic material. Testing the boundaries of form and aesthetics, Baggetta delivers a powerful musical statement that is sure to delight and challenge his listeners.
