{"id":144424,"date":"2024-04-19T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-19T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=144424"},"modified":"2024-04-18T10:39:42","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T17:39:42","slug":"review-andy-mckees-tripliciti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/review-andy-mckees-tripliciti\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: \u2018Tripliciti\u2019 Is a Brilliant Debut from a Fingerstyle Super-Trio"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019ll be the first to admit that I went into this acoustic fingerstyle supergroup\u2019s debut album a wee bit skeptical. Sure, all three guitarists\u2014Andy McKee, Trevor Gordon Hall, and Calum Graham\u2014are superb virtuosos with large followings. McKee in particular is an unparalleled streaming and YouTube sensation\u201460 million views of \u201cDrifting\u201d and counting! But great guitarists don\u2019t always play well together<\/em>. Would they be deferential to one another? Would it devolve into a too-many-notes, look-at-me cutting contest? A gimmicky tapping fest? I\u2019m very happy to report that the answer to those questions is yes, no, and no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s an interesting concept: Nine of the 11 tunes on Tripliciti<\/a> <\/em>were derived from solo guitar pieces that appeared on albums by each of the three, artfully rearranged by the group to become sophisticated trio pieces. Another was a solo piece written by Hall for this album and arranged by the trio. And the final track, \u201cUrsa Major,\u201d was penned by the late Michael Hedges<\/a>, who was one the most influential acoustic guitarists of the 1980s and \u201990s.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Album<\/a>
Andy McKee, Calum Graham, Trevor Gordon Hall, Tripliciti<\/em> (Self-released; tripliciti.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

McKee has four songs (three of them from his excellent 2010 album, Joyland<\/a><\/em>) and Hall and Graham have three each. I made a point of listening to the solo originals of all of them, and I must say, the way the trio has transformed them is quite astonishing and masterfully done. The basic character of the tunes has not changed, but the embellishments\u2014most fairly subtle and all<\/em> quite tasteful\u2014add a remarkable depth and richness. Little melodic lines and figures dance together and intertwine like garden vines in the bright, clean, spacious mix by Corin Nelsen, never colliding or overpowering each other. These players checked their egos at the door!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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