Iconic guitarist Steve Hackett, releases his new acoustic album Under A Mediterranean Sky on 22nd January 2021
Album formats: Limited CD Digipak, Gatefold 2LP + CD + LP-booklet and Digital Album via InsideOut Music.
‘Under A Mediterranean Sky’ is the first new acoustic solo album from legendary guitarist Steve
Hackett, since 2008’s ‘Tribute’ – a record that saw him tackling some of the beautiful classical pieces
that his guitar idols had also put their hand to.
This new album however takes inspiration from: Steve’s extensive travels around the Mediterranean.
“A lot of acoustic ideas had been forming over the years, and it felt like the perfect time to create this album,”
notes Hackett, “a time to contemplate the places we’ve visited around the Mediterranean with the kind of music
which evolved from the world of imagination.”
The current state of the world, and the pandemic currently unfolding are unavoidable, and it seems
almost obvious that in a situation where touring with a full band is impossible, Steve would take his
hand to something more contemplative.
Track Listing:
Mdina – The Walled City (Steve Hackett / Roger King)
Adriatic Blue (Steve Hackett)
Sirocco (Steve Hackett / Jo Hackett / Roger King)
Joie de Vivre (Steve Hackett / Jo Hackett)
The Memory of Myth (Steve Hackett / Jo Hackett / Roger King)
Scarlatti Sonata (Domenico Scarlatti)
Casa del Fauno (Steve Hackett / Roger King)
The Dervish and the Djin (Steve Hackett / Jo Hackett / Roger King)
Lorato (Steve Hackett)
Andalusian Heart (Steve Hackett / Jo Hackett / Roger King)
The Call of the Sea (Steve Hackett)
To purchase a copy from Steve’s Official Online store CLICK HERE
Steve continues:
That’s not to say the album doesn’t feature its fair share of
collaborators, with Hackett working alongside long-time musical partner Roger King who took on the
recording and mixing duties as well as keyboards, programming and orchestrating (“Roger and I
recorded together, at a social distance in a well ventilated room!”).
Steve elaborates: “This album involves Rob Townsend on sax, Christine Townsend (no relation!) on violin and viola,
Malik Mansurov on tar, Arsen Petrosyan on duduk and John Hackett on flute along with myself on nylon, steel string
and twelve string guitars, charango and Iraqi oud.”
It is this more ethnic instrumentation that sets this album apart from his other classical projects:
“This all expanded the acoustic palate and it was exciting to weave everything in together. They’re all fantastic musicians.”
‘Under The Mediterranean Sky’ lacks nothing of the grandiosity of Steve Hackett’s recent solo electric
records, however it does give room to the stunning breadth of approach that he has to playing his
acoustic guitar, reminding us once again why Steve is such a revered and respected musician.