An album to check out is Jim Stubblefield’s brand new “Guitare Mystique”. Fresh, different and a bit mystical, “Guitare Mystique” adds magic to any summer playlist.
Here’s the first single from the album:
The album has just been made available on Spotify:
It is on iTunes too.
Stubblefield’s solo recordings are November, Cities of Gold, Rhythm of the Heart, Guitarra Exotica, Inspiracion and Encantado. His albums with Incendio (www.incendioband.com) are Misterioso, Illumination, Intimo, Incendio, Dia Y Noche (also available as a DVD), Seduction, Vihuela and The Shape of Dreams. More information on Stubblefield is available at his website (www.guitarraexotica.com). His music — CDs or digital download tracks from those recordings — are available at online sales sites such as CDbaby, Amazon, iTunes, eMusic, Rhapsody and many others.
About the artist
Stubblefield was born and raised in Pasadena, California (and now lives about 30 miles north of Los Angeles). He started taking acoustic guitar lessons when he was eight-years-old and especially enjoyed playing songs by The Beatles. In high school he became enamored with British progressive rock bands such as Yes and Genesis, and heavy metal groups (Iron Maiden, Judas Priest), and at 17 started playing electric guitar. But Stubblefield also enjoyed the jazz-fusion stylings of guitarists such as Al Di Meola (“His blending of world-fusion and Latin-rock with improvisation was a huge influence”), John McLaughlin and Pat Metheny.
While attending the University of Redlands in Southern California, where he earned BA Degrees in both English and History, he played in a rock band that performed the hits of that era (INXS, U2, Duran Duran, The Cure). In addition, Stubblefield took music classes and jazz guitar lessons. After college he worked at the popular television show Entertainment Tonight for a year in the research department, but was pulled back to music. He took an intensive one-year program at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood where Al Di Meola gave a Masters Class. “That’s when I knew I wanted to pursue a career in music.”
Stubblefield met Waleed Hamad from Kuwait, who played oud (a fretless Mid-Eastern lute) and who had performed with Ben Harper. Stubblefield and Hamad formed a duo, wrote their own material, and began gigging around Southern California. Stubblefield, now back on acoustic steel-string guitar, began absorbing the world music sounds of acts such as Shakti, Strunz & Farah, Paco de Lucia and artists from India and Greece. “Audiences loved our sound and I realized there is a market for world-fusion music.” In 1994 Stubblefield recorded and released his first album. In 1995 he switched to nylon-string Spanish-style guitar as his primary instrument. “I loved the sound and I knew I needed to put my energy into it.” His third album, Rhythm of the Heart, was nominated as “Acoustic Album of the Year” by New Age Voice. His music also appeared on Neurodisc/Priority Record’s compilation CD Pure Flamenco: Nuevo Flamenco Passion.
In late 1999 Stubblefield co-founded the Latin guitar oriented world music group Incendio with bassist Liza Carbe and guitarist Jean-Pierre Durand. They soon became a best-selling recording act, a popular concert attraction, and a group whose albums hit the Billboard, NAV and CMJ charts.
Bio taken from Guitarraexotixa.com