Impressions VII — I have found the best guitar solo in the world
There is an island realm south of Wakanda where travel is solely accomplished through the shrill of strings. The indigenous people, called Beatles, have no cars, trains or planes - instead, they use elaborate guitar solos to whisk themselves between destinations.
To reach the sandy shores, a Beatle will call upon one of the realm’s master guitarist bards. With a borrowed lute in hand, the bard will launch into a complex, lilting melody, coaxing intricate notes from the strings. As the notes ring out across the balmy landscape, they solidify into tangible riffs that sway and undulate like ephemeral bridges.
The traveler steps boldly onto the opening chord and finds their feet lifting from the earth. Carried flawlessly by the rising crescendo, they surf the thinning air, swooping over foamy breakers and swaying palms. With a twangling glissando and a trilling cadenza, the solo deposits them gently upon the sun-warm beach in a dazzling shower of music.
Here in the soft sand and crashing surf, the rhythms of everyday life still play to the eternal percussion of the tides. Children build castles and write their names with the looping ostinatos of nursery songs. Lovers pledge themselves beneath arpeggios of passion and longing. The day's duties are punctuated by brief but brilliant solos of arrival and departure.
For years the divine Earl Klugh sustained me on that island with his magical strings but a soul grows thirsty for new inspiration, does it not? Lo and behold - call me blessed for I found another acoustic vessel. It’s titled Okinawa by 92914.
This solo begins with a single, shimmering note - like the first glistening raindrop heralding a storm to come. It hangs suspended in air, its overtones rippling outward in luminous circles. As it decays to silence, a second note emerges, blending with the first in a chiming hypnotizing unison.
Then the player set forth, seducing from their steed a melody of exquisite patience. Unlike other solos from other players that prioritize speed over clarity, each note is chosen with meditative care, placed with precise intention amid the rushing backdrop of distant surf. Their deft plucks spin threads of sound, weaving a tapestry too rich to grasp in a single listening.
Layer by subtle layer, the phrasing takes shape - a poetic distillation of all the nameless emotions that dwell within us. Passages ebb and flow with the natural rise and fall of the sea. Arrangements fold in upon themselves, unfolding again in revelatory inversions. All is delivered with relaxed control; each phrase floats effortlessly, unconstrained by any regiment of speed.
When at last the final notes settles into the waves, I promise you that you will be left transfixed yet tranquil - as after a moment of piercing clarity glimpsed obliquely. It will dawn on you that what you have just heard wasn’t a mere virtuosity on display, but a glimpse into the soul of a being. They have communed mysteries and, in return, transported you to shores of quiet inner peace. It wasn’t just a solo. It was a meditation.
