On his latest album on Tompkins Square Records, solo guitar legend Harry Taussig shows that age is not a deterring factor when it comes to exquisite fingerpicking.

Available today, 80 finds the octogenarian guitarist blending aspects of European classical music with the traditions of American folk. Across the album’s eleven tracks, you can certainly detect modes, phrasings other elements of folk and blues music, but you’ll find that they’ve been opened up and allowed to flow freely into a multitude of unexpected and sometimes even daring directions.

Occasionally, there are moments where Taussig’s modernist classical inspirations become deeply apparent, such as the abstract mood piece that is “Etude for G Minor #3.” With its reliance upon tone rather than melody, and its constant use of dissonance, sustaining harmonics and unusual tempos, the track even starts to lean towards the minimalist avant-garde jazz guitar workouts by the likes of Wendy Eisenberg. If you thought music that was this experimental, adventurous and tightly executed could only be made by the young, then Taussig will prove you dead wrong.

Any fan of his storied past works and the likes of Lena Hughes, David Grubbs and Bill Orcutt will find this an essential record of 2023. Click here to get your copy today.

-KH