''Fantasias for Guitar and Banjo'' is the debut album of the folk guitarist Sandy Bull, released in 1963 through Vanguard Records.

Recording

Bull recorded the album accompanied by Billy Higgins, a session jazz drummer who had previously appeared on early

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Colle ...

records.Fellezs, Kevin
''Birds of Fire: Jazz, Rock, Funk, and the Creation of Fusion''
Duke University Press. 2011. pg. 50. Retrieved August 11, 2012. Together they recorded three original pieces as well as interpretations of Carmina Burana Fantasy and

Non nobis Domine ''Non nobis'' is the incipit and conventional title of a short Latin Christian hymn used as a prayer of thanksgiving and expression of humility. The Latin text is from the Vulgate translation of the Book of Psalms, Psalm 113:9 in Vulgate / Gre ...

Music

The highlight of ''Fantasias for Guitar and Banjo'' is usually considered to be its opener "Blend", a lengthy improvisational piece.Larkin, Colin. ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz''. Virgin Books. 1999. pg. 135. Retrieved August 11, 2012. According to Bull, the ideas behind the piece originated from his admiration of

Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...

, which documented ethnic music from across the world. He also claimed to being particularly inspired from hearing Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan in New York City.Leech, Jeanette
''Seasons They Change: The Story of Acid and Psychedelic Folk''
Jawbone Press. 2010. pg. 43. Retrieved August 11, 2012. "Blend" has been viewed as a "virtual travelogue of styles done in a then revolutionary modal tuning". The tuning is in the key of B.Williams, Paul

Hal Leonard Corporation. 2002. pg. 102. Retrieved August 11, 2012.

Release and reception

Matthew Greenwald of AllMusic describes ''Fantasias for Guitar and Banjo'' as an "incredible debut" and lauds it for being well ahead of its time. Writing in '' Crawdaddy'' in December 1966, Sandy Pearlman recognized the album as a work that presaged pop music's move toward raga rock. Pearlman said that, with ''Fantasias'', Bull "became a leading innovator in the assimilation of Indian influences into a Western musical context". Available a
pastemagazine.com
(June 9, 2015). Retrieved July 3, 2017. Author Kevin Fellezs views the album as a prime example of an "underacknowledged early fusion-world recording that remains musically compelling today".

Track listing

Personnel

* Sandy Bull –

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

, guitar * Billy Higgins –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

External links

References

{{Authority control 1963 debut albums Vanguard Records albums Sandy Bull albums