A former professor of classical guitar at the New England Conservatory, Frank Wallace is a New Hampshire-based guitarist and vocalist who leads the medieval and renaissance performing group LiveOak and Company. His own guitar music is crafted with idiomatic skill and sensitivity, abetted by his keen ear for textural variety. The modern Spanish guitar school informs the aggressive flamenco-like strumming in the “Rhapsody” movement of Quadrangle and the three-movement Stubborn Oak. By contrast, spacious chant and glimpses of blues imbue From the Windy Place, while the five-movement Sweet Ladyslipper ventures out into more elaborate rhythmic terrain. Listen for instance to the concluding Zar movement, which almost sounds like a snippet from early Yes, or perhaps an E-minor Grateful Dead jam. Jazz-oriented modality influences Quadrangle’s four movements–the first one suggests Larry Coryell and John Dowland in jubilant dialogue. The music may not stick with you after you put the disc away, but the composer’s elegant virtuosity and Gyre’s gorgeous sonics help ensure a pleasant and comfortable 64-minute listening experience.
