Hugh Burns - Mindwash

Hugh Burns - Mindwash - 1998

Hugh Burns is a guitarist and a composer with an international reputation for excellence. He has played on many pop and rock recordings including George Michael's Faith and Careless Whisper, Paul McCartney's and Michael Jackson's Pipes of Peace and Scott Walker's Drift. As a studio guitarist, he has also played on many film soundtracks including The Full Monty, Die Another Day, Don Quixote, Tristen and Isolda and An Unfinished Life. He has written music for television documentaries and films and published two guitar instruction books.

Hugh Burns is an artist noted for his exceptional ability as both a composer and guitarist. He has gained an international reputation for excellence, having played in over thirty countries working with artists including: Astrid Gilberto, Oliver Nelson, Elvin Jones, Henry Mancini and on George Michael's Songs from the Last Century. Soundtrack credits include: Twelve Monkeys, Moulin Rouge, Stealing Beauty and the Grammy award-winning Full Monty amongst many others.

Mindwash (review by Andrew Brel)

After completing the first album with Hugh, 'Dedication' in 1996, I remained totally impressed by Hugh's extraordinary skill with the nylon strung guitar. (As widely heard on the George Michael 'careless whisper' song)

The idea for this album was to produce a recording based on ideas improvised on the acoustic guitar. A Mindwash between the courses of other musical styles, and what I consider a valuable alternative to the manufactured dross that forms the chart best sellers.

Over a one year period Hugh and I would meet over a cappuccino at the Cafe Rouge in Esher, where we would brainstorm an idea before driving down to the studio in Ripley. Once there - with a variety of Hugh's excellent guitars, and with a selection of top quality microphones, we would record hours of improvised parts.

Out of the nine or so hours of material recorded, I edited the best hour in a working context, and this became the album.

The engineer for most of the sessions was Robin Black. The designer was Stuart Catterson.

Highlights of this period for me are hard to specify as working with Hugh is always a pleasure, and being around the sound of such beautiful instruments is never a bad thing. There was a special thrill in hearing Hugh interpret a guitar piece I had written, which appears on the album as 'Hearts'.

01. Into the Light
02. Dedication
03. Wedding Song
04. Another Country Road
05. Our Secrets
06. Highlands
07. Cafe Montmartre
08. Renaissance
09. Blue Espanole
10. Palms
11. Hearts

12. Questions of the Night
13. Winter
14. Reverie
15. Andante
16. Sound of the Sea
17. When Night Turns Into Day
18. Reflections
19. Masks and Shadows
20. Closing Time

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