Allgigs (UK)
Planet Solitaire – Sometimes you stumble across a musician who defies definition. This can be a good thing, or a very bad thing. Walter Strauss possesses a paradigm of monikers – Walter certainly isn’t ‘rock and roll’ and ‘Strauss’ evokes the image of large ballrooms and sweeping orchestral movements. Thankfully there isn’t much evidence of either, but what you do have with “Planet Solitaire” is a rare breed of world-fusion that actually works. Strauss is a master of the picking-style of guitar-playing favoured by African...
read moreTaplas (Wales)
Planet Solitaire – How has this innovative guitarist stayed off the radar for so long? Technically, stylistically and most important of all, passionately he is up there with the greats. Think Martin Simpson, Stephen Fearing, Leo Kottke, the late Isaac Guillory, he genuinely has what they have and in similar quantity. What, very interestingly, sets him slightly apart is an even greater breadth of stylistic influences. Sure Messrs Fearing and Simpson have their share of experimentalism, but Walter Strauss here incorporates the sound of the...
read moreGuitarist Magazine – 4 Stars
Planet Solitaire – World music with one foot on home turf. For listeners with eclectic tastes, Planet Solitaire offers a glimpse into the ear-bending possibilities of bringing the harp-like phrasing and polyrhythms of West African kora music to the steel-string acoustic guitar. Strauss is a spirited player and a strong vocalist – and this new album meanders pleasantly between guitar interpretations of world-music styles and nuanced songwriting with shades of Al Stewart in tracks such as Weather Rule. Bridging the gap between pop and...
read moreFolk and Roots (UK)
Planet Solitaire – A native of Wyoming and acknowledged wizard of the intricacies of the fingerstyle guitar, Walter’s also a songwriter who drags rootsy Americana from the open spaces of the Midwest out into the far reaches of the globe. In the past, he’s worked with musicians from West Africa to Australia to Finland, weaving together seemingly disparate musical strands and disciplines into a surprisingly seamless whole. Like his debut CD Pulling Shadows, which very much impressed me on its appearance back in the spring of 2009,...
read morefRoots Magazine (UK) – Thumbs Up
Planet Solitaire – fRoots Magazine (UK) – Thumbs up If you haven’t encountered Strauss’s guitar take on kora music, this is a great place to start. He brings his incendiary technique to George Harrison and even Woody Guthrie songs as well, and his own stuff is left-field and good, too.
read moreMaverick Magazine (UK)
Planet Solitaire - A specialist market this, highly skilled guitar and harp playing of American and African roots music, in its original meaning with one or two good vocal tracks also included. Even a proficient guitarist would have to sit and listen to this, an intimate, light sound, highly melodic, and the overall sound washes over you in a very pleasant way. A Californian, Walter Strauss is a hard working, time served musician with a long list of sideman credtis now highlighting his own considerable individual talents and he has recently...
read moreMaverick Magazine (UK) – Feature Article
Feature Article – Walter Strauss: Multi-Genre Guitarist, Producer and Songwriter It happens all the time. After hearing American string wizard Walter Strauss play guitar and sing, first-timers to his shows invariably turn to each other slack-jawed and wide-eyed, whispering: ‘Why the hell have I never heard of this guy before?’ Good question. But there are good reasons, too. For years now, Walter has been in the copilot seat, as it were, as sideman for various acoustic American and African artists, and as album producer for other...
read moreNorthern Sky EMagazine (UK)
Planet Solitaire - Virtuoso guitarist Walter Strauss brings something extraordinary to his guitar playing as he continues to explore World influences such as the West African music of Guinean band Ba Sissoko, Malian kamal’ngoni player Mamadou Sidibe and fellow Malian, the kora player Mamadou Diabate. Transferring these complex pieces onto just six strings is no mean feat; the results are astonishing. Having spent many years honing his craft as a sideman and session player, working alongside such artists as Vassar Clements, Martin...
read moreFolk and Roots (UK)
Pulling Shadows – A native of Wyoming and almost incidental wizard of the fingerstyle guitar, Walter’s also a singer-songwriter who drags rootsy Americana from the open spaces of the Midwest out into the far reaches of the globe. In the past, he’s worked with musicians from West Africa to Australia to Finland, weaving together seemingly disparate musical strands and disciplines into a surprisingly seamless whole. The ten tracks on this, his debut CD, comprise eight songs and just two instrumental cuts. Taking the latter first, one...
read moreFAME
Pulling Shadows – California-based guitarist/vocalist/composer/producer Walter Strauss has spent the past fifteen years as a sideman, waiting for the time to present his own compositions both as artist and producer. He has performed as an ensemble musician throughout the United States, Canada and Ireland, touring extensively with Rounder Records’ The Burns Sisters Band, in a duo with Grammy nominated Malian kora master Mamadou Diabate (appearing on this CD), and sharing the stage with other— and better known top-notch musicians...
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