CD “SIX STRING DIARY” PORIN AWARD 2012 FOR BEST INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM

CD “SIX STRING DIARY” (Dallas Records) has won PORIN 2012 AWARD as BEST INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM. PORIN AWARD is most significant musical award in Croatia, often called ” Croatian Grammy” and it’s been held for 19 years. It’s Nebo’s 2’nd PORIN AWARD . Special guest on CD is Greg “Gristelman” Koch ( USA), with another guest from USA featured on entire album – drummer Mike Gage. CD is all instrumental, blend of pop, rock, bluesy and movie soundtrack songs, including cover version of E. Claptons song “Behind the sun”.
http://www.porin.info/

Nebo Buhin (left) with producer Niksa Bratos

Reviews

MWE3.COM MUSIC NEWS & NOTES

MAY 2011 RECORD LABEL SPOTLIGHT

DALLAS RECORDS – Okay here’s a much welcomed 2011 CD release by Croatian guitar ace Nebo Buhin on a company that interestingly goes by the name Dallas Records. Back in 1985, as the owner of Breakthru’ Records I released a fantastic album here in the U.S. called Traffic by Swedish guitar legend Janne Schaffer. Filled with driving melodic rock instrumentals, Traffic reminds me a little of the new Nebo Six String Diary album. Nebo’s 2007 CD Guitar Language was a hit for guitar fans yet Six String Diary is even better. What better way than to prove that guitar instrumental music is truly the world’s best and most powerful communication device, then by listening to this album. Nebo gets solid support throughout the ten track CD from his band. Another interesting thing here is that drums are recorded by Mike Gage in, you guessed it…Dallas, Texas! So that’s where the Dallas connection comes in. Mike’s drumming is fantastic and well recorded and serves as a fine counterweight to Nebo’s guitar work. Also on hand here is American guitar hero Greg Koch who also guests on a track. Even with a CD closing cover of Eric Clapton’s “Behind The Sun,” there’s a fine Euro-centric kind of vibe in play here—more Janne Schaffer (and Jan Akkerman for that matter) than Hank Marvin, although Hank’s timeless influence and guitar DNA is never far behind. With Six String Theory Nebo Buhin’s refined jazz-rock sensibilities spring to life on an album that imparts some impressive sonic innovations to the world of 21st century guitar instrumental music. www.NeboBuhin.com

Buddy Whittington – Six String Svengali I am going to cut right to the chase on this one. I have purchased thousands of blues and rock recordings in my now LONG lifetime, works of love from artists ranging from the Who’s Who of the Rock Generation to gifted independent performers with truly outstanding recordings heard by nearly no one. My personal collection has been reduced over the years to a mere thousand or so of my “favorites”.With that in mind, I have no problem today stating that “Six String Svengali”, the latest release from the Texas based blues/rock guitarist Buddy Whittington, is my favorite recording in my collection. And, when I consider all the criteria by which I judge recordings (musicians, vocals, song writing, studio sound, energy, etc), this may also be the best recording of this genre that I have ever heard. Entirely produced, engineered and mixed by his drummer Mike Gage, and released via Eric Bibb‘s Manhaton Records, the sound of the disc is basically perfect for gritty Texas blues. Known primarily as the long time guitarist for John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers , Whittington has finally emerged with his own musical identity on this tremendous recording. Guitarists in this genre just do not come any better than Whittington, nor do blues/rock vocalists. His song writing which has always been formidable, took a quantum leap forward in this latest set. I could write an entire review about the remarkable opening track “Back When the Beano Was Boss”, which may be the finest blues/rock single I have ever heard. The song is partly biographical, partly historical, and paints a somewhat dual picture to me. It is primarily a statement in regards to the famous “Beano” album, John Mayall’s second album featuring a young Eric Clapton on guitar (a Les Paul that would also become known as the Beano guitar) . Whittington’s song recalls the days “back when the Beano was boss”, referencing a time in my own musical history when I began to hear the great blues/rock music of the British invasion of the early 60s. The dual meaning of the song to me comes from the fact that not only did the Beano album of John Mayall introduce a lot of US teens to the blues, but for me personally no single guitarist brought this music more to my own ears than Eric Clapton via his assorted bands. While Clapton in his later life has been somewhat forgotten and overshadowed by others, it was his guitar that first brought the music of Freddie King and many other blues greats to our ears here in the States. Great lyrics, Billy Gibbons like licks, and Buddy’s wonderful vocals begat a tune that has been played more times in my player than most could imagine.Not to slight the rest of the recording, as the entire set is as good as it gets. Buddy as always covers a lot of styles on the CD, all without any loss of quality which speaks volumes of his versatility. Some songs are funny, some are more serious, all are honest, enjoyable, and supported by a band that I just cannot imagine being any better, a band consisting of Whittington on guitar and vocals, Wayne Six on bass, and Mike Gage on drums. If you love power trios like I do, you will absolutely love this recording.This is the one CD you HAVE to buy this year and it is available from numerous suppliers including Amazon.com. Please visit the official Buddy Whittington website at www.buddywhittington.com, buy some tunes and drop Buddy a note, he is both a tremendous musician as well being a world class person.Tom Branson –