
Album Notes
This 2014 Grammy submitted album for 3 categories including "Best Contemporary Instrumental Album", came to be as a result of a bi-coastal collaboration between composer/guitarist Jack Warner in Los Angeles, and composer/arranger Glenn Finnan, in Wilmington, Delaware.
Each of the eight guitar tracks have been performed first as a guitar solo (or a layered mix of guitar-only music), with no instrumental accompaniment. Then Glenn “re-imagined” the music and conceived of a whole new album for a whole new audience. Glenn decided to focus on arranging music to add to the original guitar tracks that would appeal to an audience who appreciates guitar music mostly in a concert hall or acoustic setting. In each case, Glenn took inspiration from Jack's original melodies, rhythms, and harmonies to decide what kind of feel the “new” piece should have. The result is an album that takes the original guitar tracks, makes no changes in them themselves, but wraps them in a new, varied mix of instrumental accompaniments. Ranging from large spectacular orchestras to intimate small ensembles, the new album has something for everybody. Some pieces are bold and brilliant, some are private and personal. All contain Jack’s original flair for appealing melodic fragments and brilliant playing technique, combined with Glenn’s vision of colorful and dynamic instrumental textures, and all are thoroughly enjoyable. The guitar is the common element throughout, and thus serves as our travel guide. We go along for the adventure.

Track 1. Santa Ana Fiesta: The guitar starts our journey with a flourish, showcasing its technical and melodic flair. From there, we enter a full-orchestra world where sunny skies and tropical breezes are easily imagined. Catchy guitar hooks and bright Latin accents suggest a celebration. Syncopated and insistent at the same time, the music carries us through peaks and valleys, marching to the deliberate beat to a brilliant finish.

Track 2. Pueblo Desperados: The orchestra charges in with driving strings, surrounding the guitar with an emotional urgency that easily imagines the drama of ruthless and desperate outlaws in the old west. Guitar soliloquies give occasional pause to the relentless pace, and the piece ends with neither the guitar nor the orchestra seeming to know how the story ends.

Track 3. Key West Breezes: Life is beautiful in Key West. The guitar takes us there, imagining a night spent on a secluded section of beach in the dark night, feeling the warm tropical breezes and hearing the cool rush of the rolling waves, represented by a small ensemble of pitched percussion and accent instruments. Occasionally, the noise of the city intrudes, but the night slips away quietly, as the sounds of the beach fade out.

Track 4. Santa Fe Moon: Beginning with the strict rhythms of city life, the guitar leaves town to wander throughout the dark-yet-moonlit deserts and plains of the southwest. Under endless skies, one can come across any number of villages and native wonders, all pictured by the orchestra as being bathed in that one-of-a-kind moonlight, casting long shadows even in the dead of night.

Track 5. Miami Beach Street Party: On a hot weekend afternoon, the guitar and a group of percussionists gather on a street corner to play for the passers-by. Catchy and insistent guitar music is punctuated by Latin percussion, cymbals and drums. With the intoxicating guitar melodies and free-styling drums, no one can resist joining the party.

Track 6. Hollywood Hustle: In the city of stars, nothing ever stands still. Everyone is on the move and looking for, or looking to be, the next big thing. With only an occasional moment to reflect here and there, the guitar and orchestra imagine a city where something is happening around every corner, traffic is constant, the temperature is hot, and style is premium.

Track 7. Monterey Rendezvous: The guitar reflects softly. Set among a small ensemble of winds, harp, and accent percussion, the music imagines a private, languid afternoon of shared intimacy. Here, there are only two lovers, and in their tropical villa, they are free and unhurried, to explore their most sensual desires.

Track 8. Venice Beach Heat: Concluding our musical journey, the guitar takes us outside to the hot sun, and we are propelled forward by both the hot rhythms and cool jazz of a local band. The guitar is surrounded by brass, saxes, vibes, bass and percussion, holding its own until even it can’t help but be swept into the overall mix, as our journey flies headlong to a free-for-all finish.


JackWarner&GlennFinnan