Sleepers Awake

Peter Blanchette, 11-string alto archguitar,
Eliott Gibbons, 12-string archguitar

Sleepers, Awake! documents the marvelous musical chemistry of Eliott Gibbons and Peter Blanchette. This strikingly lively recording, only briefly available on cassette in the early 1990′s, has finally been digitally re-mastered for release on CD. The CD features the Scarlatti Harpsichord Sonatas, some of the most well-fitted guitar compositions ever written, and Bach transcriptions, transcendent with a deep spiritual sense.

Gibbons and Blanchette share similarly technically-virtuosic and creative approaches to the archguitar. Blanchette has said that Gibbons is “the best archguitarist in the world. I learned more from Eliott than any other musician I’ve played with.” Sleepers, Awake! is the result of both shared arranging duties and the synthesis of Gibbons’ and Blanchette’s electrifying speed and emotional intensity. More than a few listeners have said that together Gibbons and Blanchette sound like “[Bach piano savant] Glenn Gould playing a guitar.”

 

Click on the song titles to hear excerpts from Sleepers, Awake!