Joseph Spence - Bahaman Folk Guitar: Music from the Bahamas, Vol. 1

Recorded in 1958 and released on the Folkways label in 1959, this album introduced American listeners to Joseph Spence�s unique guitar and vocal styles. These field recordings by musicologist Sam Charters capture Spence in a relaxed, expansive mood�only one of the six selections in the set is under five minutes in length. Spence�s guitar style was due in part to the D tuning of his bass string, which produced a lower bass sound. Whereas many critics have called Spence�s vocal style unorthodox, they have found his guitar playing spontaneous and iconic. Some music critics have gone so far as to refer to him as the �Thelonious Monk of folk guitar.�