Guitar & Music of West Africa features traditional music arranged and performed on guitar. Guitarist and music researcher Fernando Perez brings again the results of his life in a different culture. He traveled to West Africa where experienced the life and music of the Mandinka people and most specially the Jalis (Griots). Living among them, playing with them and sharing a life experience with the ancient culture of Mali, Senegal, Gambia or Guinea. This recording includes ancient West African compositions arranged for guitar as well as original ones always preserving the music tradition of the Jalis. In some tracks you will find guests artists singing and playing Kora, Djembe or Balafon. Fernando Pérez is a guitar composer, performer and researcher. Considered one of the most versatile guitarists of our times, his style covers classical, modern and traditional music from the main world cultures. Since very young his life has been an odyssey living years in different cultures. Be it music from Hawaii, Africa, Greece, Spain, China, Egypt, India or America, his knowledge in music and culture makes this artist an excellent choice for those who want to give a new flavour to their musical taste. With a charming and humble personality, great respect for the arts, this artist touches the listener´s heart doing what he knows best… music. Born in the town of Ejea de los Caballeros, Spain, started learning guitar and music at the age of seven. His first contact with classical music was throughout the conservatory of Spain. After these came numerous private instructors and music centers such as ’L’Aula de Musica’ in Barcelona, ‘Escuela de Musica Creativa’ in Madrid, ‘Musicians Institute’ in Hollywood, California, Maharaja Sawai Mansingh Sangeet Mahavidyalaya in Jaipur, India, Arabic Conservatoire de Musique d’Alexandrie, Egypt, Shanghai Music Conservatory in China, or Ross Daly's Labyrinth Music Center in Greece. In these centers he studied traditional, classical and contemporary music styles, as well as harmony, composition and arrangements. But his interest took him to learn more directly from artists and their cultures, traveling to different places to not only learn but to experience the spirit of the different musical styles. Nowadays you can realise this experience throughout the talent of this artist who has performed with artists from such exotic places as Hawai’i, Cuba, Jamaica, West Africa, Japan, South, Central and North America, Spain, France, Ireland, India, Egypt, etc. The guitar has always been his passion, an instrument which he explores in its many forms, starting by the spanish classical guitar, acoustic, electric, Dobros or resophonic guitars and continuing with other interesting ones such as african, hawaiian ki Ho'alu (Slack Key) and Kika Kila (Steel Guitar), the ‘slide’ style from Mississippi, Flamenco, the curious way of playing guitar in hindustani music found in India or even the freetless arabic guitar. He also explores new horizons reflected throughout his arrangements and compositions based on instruments of different cultures; examples are the japanese Koto, chinese Pipa, or african Ngoni and Kora. How many guitar- ists can masterfully play flamenco and then bottleneck Delta blues just as convincingly? There are eclectic, versatile guitarists, and then there is Fernando Perez. Usually if someone can play bebop with a plectrum and bossa nova fingerstyle, that’s considered versatile – or in Chet Atkins’ case, bouncing from country music to classical technique and repertoire. What Perez accomplishes is as though Michael Jordan had succeeded at baseball – and then tennis and ice hockey. To do this, he didn’t just travel the world, he lived for years in Greece, Hawaii, Egypt, India, Turkey, China, Sudan, America, and his native Spain. Wherever he went, he absorbed the indigenous music and the culture behind it. – DF VINTAGE GUITAR MAGAZINE 2014.