My Destiny: Mi Destino

Part of the new Latin guitar generation, Chilean expatriate Oscar Lopez here provides his sixth album, full of much of the same finger work that's made him a mainstay of the scene. The sound here is largely within the framework of nuevo flamenco, dropping the vocals and much of the dramatic rhythm from flamenco in favor of flaming guitar work. Lopez does an outstanding job of contributing this guitar work on this acoustic set and is able to make runs over the scales and through improvisatory passages at extreme speed without missing a note. On the other side of the coin, however, he's able to take the fire down to a simple instrumental ballad. The music is consistently performed with incredible ability, but does become somewhat predictable by the midpoint. There are strong aspects of jazz and pop hidden within the music, and able accompaniment from the rhythm section helps keep Lopez grounded when he gets ready to travel too far for the structure of a song. This perhaps could be the reason for the somewhat predictable nature of the album: a tendency not to stretch the boundaries much. Lopez performs with exquisite ability and passion and should definitely be heard for that alone, but the albums are to a degree interchangeable. Give it a listen as a fan of contemporary guitar, but don't expect to hear anything overly new.