Watch for Nelson's
new solo CD effort
"It's In My Blood"
due in early 2003

Download MP3 of
"Safe Within My Arms"

Nelson Soucek & Craig James Green
Jazz / Worldbeat

I have dabbled in music for many years, but it wasn't until I met Craig that I was coerced into really taking it seriously. Craig James Green was a recent transplant from New Orleans when we stumbled across one another in a small town in Idaho near Jackson Hole Wyoming. We quickly developed an easy friendship and discovered an electric musical sympatico.

Our intuitive approach to music bears witness to our likeminded views regarding life, art, and music. Anyone who has seen us perform will attest to the fact that it is obvious we love playing together, it is hard to miss.

Craig and I rarely practice together so whenever we get together there is always a spark. While each composition has somewhat of a structure we love to keep each other on our toes and one of us will veer off into new areas each time we play, we can certainly turn on a dime. This makes it interesting for us and makes each performance unique.

We have had the very good fortune to have toured across the US and into Europe and through performances and thanks to the web have developed a rather rabid following in parts of the US, Canada, France, Greece, Netherlands, Spain, Slovenia, and Japan. We have shared the bill with many of our favorite musicians including; Ray Charles, The Violent Femmes, Pierre Bensusan,
Tony Orlando, and Larry Pattis, to name a few.

Our latest studio effort entitled, "Channeling Picasso" was recorded in Woodenville Washington just outside Seattle.

We wanted an intimate live setting condusive to inspiring us to freely explore some recent compositions and capture the spontaneity and freshness only found in live performance. We enlisted our friend noted viola
and violinist Eyvind Kang (who often performs with Beck and noted jazz musician Bill Frizell among others) to join us and the session was just magical. Many a smile was to be found.

We recorded the entire project in one short afternoon and nearly every piece is first take. We mixed the next morning and dropped if off at the mastering house as we headed to the airport to return home.

Sound clips from "Strange Dreams"
Download MP3 of "Cool Moroccan Winds"

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. . . . . .

"If you like exotic and interesting
guitar music similar to Narada
and Windham Hill artists you'll
love these guys. Beautiful intricate arrangements and incredible
playing. They will steal your heart."

Georgette Dashiell
Borders Books

. . . . . .

Download MP3 of "Sangre de Cristo"

Click here to see studio shots taken during
the recording of Channeling Picasso

Visit the Artist Berge Missakian's website
The man with the truly "Liberal Palette."

. . . . .

"Soucek and Green
have serious chops,
quite good taste,
and a sense of abandon
that inspires them
to flights of fury.
Several tracks bring to mind
such jazz guitar ventures
as "Friday Night"
with John Maclaughlin,
Paco DeLucia and
Al Di Miola".

Richard Anderson
Jackson Hole Guide

. . . . . .

Our first studio effort entitled
"Strange Dreams," was recorded in a series of small studio sessions with bassist Matt Larson (who performs with the Salt Lake City Symphony), and tabla virtuoso George Grant. Special guest saxophonist Kevin Young sat in on two of my compositions as well as our arrangement of the Led Zeppelin classic "Kashmir", and our friend legendary French guitarist Pierre Bensusan made a very rare special guest appearance reciting the poem "L'Offrande" by Rabindranath Tagore.

"Strange Dreams" is very special to me, the compositions were written
over a long period of time and their inspiration was drawn from the rich musical influences and traditions of Spain, the mideast, northern africa, south america and the deep blues and jazz heritage in this country.
"Love Never Dies." is for me Mum.

Nelson Soucek uses Elixir strings and is proud to be an Elixir sponsored artist.
Visit the Elixir web site.

Liberal Palette Records
229 E. 4th
Idaho Falls, ID 83401