Sharon Isbin & Friends: Guitar Passions in Bloomington, MN

Sharon Isbin
's friends, a combination of old and new associates, are an eclectic lot on this album, and it may seem curious that a disc featuring jazz guitarist
Stanley Jordan
as well as rock guitarists
Steve Morse
,
Steve Vai
, and
Nancy Wilson
of Heart, not to mention new age saxophonist
Paul Winter
, would be slated for
Billboard
's Traditional Classical Albums chart instead of the Classical Crossover Albums chart. The reason is that
Isbin
has brought her guests into her world, for the most part, rather than venturing into theirs. One exception is a reading of
Heart
's "Dreamboat Annie," on which
Wilson
not only plays but also sings a few of the lyrics usually handled by her sister
Ann
.
Morse
and
Vai
bring their electric guitars along and wield them in characteristic ways on
Joaquin Rodrigo
's Adagio from Concierto de Aranjuez and
Agustin Barrios-Mangore
's Allegro, respectively, but their playing really just adds color, especially
, who only comes in around the nine-minute mark after an extensive interplay between
Romero Lubambo
Jordan
also adapts himself to
Quique Sinesi
's Sonidos de Aquel Dia, even if the arrangement is his. Actually, a substantial part of the album belongs to
alone, and it is dominated, as may already be apparent, by Spanish material, a point hinted at in the word "Passions" in the title. For example,
takes on an arrangement of
Isaac Albeniz
's Asturias arranged by her old teacher,
Andres Segovia
, and concludes with two parts of
Mangore
's La Catedral. Her major partner is
Lubambo
, who also joins in on a version of
Antonio Carlos Jobim
's "Chovendo na Roseira." Still, the various guests add interesting flavors to this sampler, and an entire album with one of them might make for an interesting listen. ~ William Ruhlmann