Nice Feeling

There are a handful of guitar players who have taken the sound of Leo Kottke and Bert Jansch to another level. The late Michael Hedges was one. Pierre Bensusan is another. But despite praise from the likes of George Winston, Bensusan has remained an underground sensation. This anthology, compiled from his first six albums, is a chance to hear what aficionados have been raving about since his 1975 debut. Bensusan synthesizes techniques ranging from classical finger picking to blues-edged thumping, from Celtic ornaments to that distinctly French sense of romantic lyricism. Each of his compositions is like a story without words, a journey through the Taoist calm of "Wu Wei," the jazzy phrasing of "Suite Flammande aux Pommes," and the Celtic aura of "Le Voyage pour L'Irelande." Bensusan manages to be hauntingly melodic while taking some unusual twists and turns--you can almost hear him formulating the music as he goes. --John Diliberto