Scottish Guitar Quartet Near The Circle

Popular performers at the globally prestigious Edinburgh Festival, the Scottish Guitar Quartet (SGQ: Ged Brockie, Nigel Clark, Malcolm MacFarlane and Kevin MacKenzie) readily showcase their versatility through combination of their powers of four give them free range to excel at everything from "Le Jazz Hot" to rollicking stadium numbers that would get a thousand butts jiggling on their seats. To whit MacFarlane is the dominant composer, his title track amongst the more lyrical pieces along with Clark's "Ice" which has to be the album "hit", but sweet ballads, chamber jazz and flamenco-form extravaganzas in the style of John McLaughlin's Guitar Trio are all superbly crafted and expertly executed.

A few gripes include quoting uncredited artists, probably in tribute rather than plagiarism, and some very squeaky fretting in places.

Far less anaemic than the Californian Guitar Trio and with as much charisma as Antonio Forcioni or The Guitar Trio (but not quite as complicated), the SGQ's Near The Circle is a stunning album of eclectic acoustic guitar jazz.