Stefan Grossman's life story unfolds like the plot of a fantastically farfetched novel studded with mythical and mystical characters and music at every turn. You can look at it like this: At age 15 Stefan began his tri-weekly pilgrimages from Brooklyn to a shack on Park Avenue in the heart of New York City's Bronx to take lessons from a legendary bluesman, the late Rev. Gary Davis. He then became a dedicated member of the "Blues Mafia" - a group of researchers intent on rediscovering the great bluesmen who had performed on the race records of the '20s and '30s - where he became close friends with Skip James, Mississippi John Hurt, Son House, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and other great black American bluesmen and songsters. Never one to rest on the oars, Stefan has authored many music books that present these styles to pickers worldwide.

Before moving to Europe in 1967 Stefan gigged with the Even Dozen Jug Band, an early counterculture rock band known as the Fugs, and Mike Bloomfield in the band Chicago Loop. While living in Italy several years later, Stefan decided that there was a shortage of good guitar records, so he co-founded Kicking Mule Records in 1973. With a lineup of artists that included guitarists Dave Evans, Ton Van Bergeyk, Happy Traum, Duck Baker, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn and Davey Graham. Stefan was instrumental in promoting and preserving the best in blues, ragtime and contemporary picking. And in addition to his record producing, personal recordings, instructional writings and other projects, Stefan has kept up his live appearances.

Shining Shadows is an album of original solo guitar instrumentals. Recorded in 1984 at the BBC Studios in London.

Tab/music of all the tunes is included on this CD as PDF files.

Song Samples:

1. Blues For The Mann

2. Requiem For Patrick Kilroy

3. Logan’s Water

4. Lemon’s Jump

5. Ms. Josephine Ayres

6. Beyond The Pleasure Principle

7. Sparkling On The Wind

8. Shining Shadows

9. Capricorn Five

10. Just a Closer Walk With Thee

11. Lament For A Goodman

Review: It makes sense that Stefan Grossman and Eric Clapton hung out together in the sixties, because they both have similar approaches to the guitar: Clapton isn't the flashiest of players, but can craft lines out of a few notes that are filled with feeling and taste; Grossman is a like-minded player—not one to create finger-busting arrangements like other guitarists that he's featured on his Kicking Mule label, but nevertheless crafting tasteful songs that rely on a myriad of influences, from American folk to old Irish tunes and rural blues, sometimes all within one song.

Originally released in 1984, Shining Shadows is one of Grossman's best Grossman albums to date. It kicks off with the fairly conventional yet pleasant blues, "Blues for the Mann," followed by "Requiem For Patrick Kilroy," one of Grossman's best songs—an open-tuned melodic original that goes through several different moods and colors in a few short minutes. It sets the tone for the rest of the album, a collection of originals impossible to pigeonhole into any particular style. There's the melancholic "Logan's Water," the tart briskness of "Lemon's Jump," and the exceptionally beautiful closer, "Lament for a Goodman." The tour de force, however, is the suite-like "Sparkling on the Wind," a delightfully expressionistic exploration of a variety of modes and tempos that never gets boring in all its seven-plus minutes.

Ever the dedicated educator, Grossman has included tablature for all of the songs on this CD, in PDF form. These songs will be challenging, yet within the reach of most burgeoning finger-pickers—although, having not tried them, they could be deceptively tricky. Grossman recorded some of the most vital finger-pickers out there; with Shining Shadows, he proves he could hold his own with the best of them. – Dave Rickert, All About Jazz