Now here's an interesting project: Guitar whiz
Gary Lucas teams up with ten-string Renaissance lutist
Jozef Van Wissem for an album of duets done in a sort of Renaissance stylee (a few actually date to the 1600s), and the results are fantastic.
Lucas sticks to his acoustic and National Steel guitars, and
Van Wissem plays just a bit of percussion and very minor electronic treatments in addition to the lute.
Van Wissem wrote all the tunes, but Lucas is very keyed in to the music. Sometimes playing circular lines around the lute ("For Whom the Bell Tolls," "If It Doesn't Fit, Thou Must Acquit") and lending more of a Delta slide feel at other times ("Diplopia," "Will o' the Wisp"),
Lucas demonstrates what a sympathetic player he can be. Sounding vaguely Eastern at times,
Diplopia is a stunning fusion of ancient and contemporary that ends up sounding timeless. Unique and excellent.