SquawkRadio

No, this isn’t some bizarre early April Fool’s joke we’re playing here at Squawk Radio. The Sunday music blog is just moving to Saturday, that’s all.  We’ve decided to do some spring cleaning, and that means shaking up the weekends a little bit.  The Saturday book blog is now the Saturday music blog, and the Sunday music blog is now going to be our weekly announcement blog. We’ll still be doing book blogs occasionally, but we’ll be dropping them in during our regular week.

Change is good.  Trust me.

Also good is Eliot Fisk.  (I know--I have a real gift for segue.) In fact, Eliot Fisk is so good, he was recently awarded the Cruz of Isabel la Catolica by King Juan Carlos of Spain in honor of his service to the cause of Spanish music.  Specifically, Spanish guitar.  A prodigy of Adres Segovia, he also founded the guitar department of the Yale School of Music in the ‘70s (and that was before he even MET Segovia). 

So did I mention Eliot Fisk is a guitarist? 

I honestly haven’t listened to any of his Spanish guitar CDs, but after reading his web site for this blog, I intend to go right out and find one.  I’ve only heard his classical guitar, and it’s EXcellent.  The CD we have by him is actually out of print at the moment, so I poked around until I found one that’s closest to ours and discovered this, “Baroque Guitar.” It is exactly what it says, some lovely Baroque pieces originally arranged mostly for piano and harpsichord, rearranged by Fisk for guitar.  And wow, is it beautiful.  This collection features mostly works by Scarlatti where the one we have is a little more varied, but the effect is still the same--tranquil, exquisite music that makes you want to book the next flight to Italy.

Did anyone see the movie “A Little Romance” (which happens to be a fave of mine)? Remember all those scenes when Lauren and Daniel and Julius are running away from the police in Verona and Venice? The frolicsome music playing during the bike race and the heartbreaking strings playing behind the canals at sunset?  It was the music that really set the mood for those scenes.  And every time I listen to Eliot Fisk, I’m transported back to that movie, those scenes, and the feelings I experienced when I first saw them.  (And if you haven’t seen it, hie thee to Blockbuster or Netflix forthwith.) It’s gorgeous stuff.

Anyway, Eliot has gotten some mixed reviews at Amazon, but I love him.  I love playing my Fisk CD during a candlelit dinner, or when I’m driving through the country (especially during the fall), or when I just want to relax with a glass of wine (preferably Italian) and a good book (preferably one that takes place in Italy).  Hey, until I can book that flight to Tuscany, this is the next best thing.