Gustavo Di Padua - The Stairs

Guitar Idol 2008 brought a collection of hugely gifted guitarists to our attention - and one of those is Gustavo Di Padua. However, Gustavo has offered us much more than just extraordinary fret board ability: he has delivered, in my opinion, the most enjoyable and listenable instrumental rock guitar album since the early 90’s!

For sheer enjoyment (which is, after all, what it’s all about!),   Joe Stariani’s 'The Extremist' and Darren Householder’s eponymous debut are the last two guitar albums that really captured my imagination - and both are from way back in 1992. The latter, in particular, seemed very fresh and cool at the time...

Fast forward 16 years, and enter a man from Rio de Janeiro called Gustavo Di Padua: to many of us at AOG, his playing sounds like a mixture of Jake E. Lee's attack, the tasteful touch of Andy Timmons, combined witrh the sheer effortless style and panache of Richie Kotzen - but always on his own terms. He plays in 4 different Brazilian metal /rock bands, and already has a following in Japan.

‘The Stairs’ is the story of his life so far and was written, recorded, produced and performed entirely by Gustavo in his home studio between July 2007 and March 2008. The production quality is excellent, as is the material which is conveyed through sublime musicianship.

'The Stairs' combines hard rock, funk, soul, metal and balladry with great ease: nothing feels out of place or indeed contrived at any point. There is a lot of music in Gustavo but unlike so many others, he seems to have no trouble communicating his vision with the rest of us. His guitar tone and technique is up there with the greats, but it all feels much fresher - mainly because he has something new to say musically... unlike many of his heroes recent work...

Overview!

The whole album is worthy of great praise but certain tracks need to be celebrated. ‘That’s All’ mixes up rock, metal, jazz and funk to great effect and always keeps the ear eager for more. ‘Rach’ is a powerful ballad that Satriani would be proud of – it is so catchy and epic I can’t quite decide if it just totally cheesy or sheer brilliance! ‘Second Floor’ is an all out stomping rocker. ‘2008’ is thrashy and exciting – the guitar playing here is a good place to start to get a feel for Gustavo’s talents - attack, touch and tone - but also this is one of a number of tracks that has Gustavo vocally trading off with his guitar - and it sounds sweet. ‘The Harvest’ has an immediate Kotzen feel , whilst ‘Next Stage’ continues this with more vocal harmonising and some Paul Gilbert style licks... no, hang on - Vinnie Moore... or is that Greg Howe…?

Conclusion

Gustavo Di Padua is a real talent and I would urge any label (with real intent) to sign him up as soon as possible and get his music into the public conscience. I know that this particular genre is a hard nut to crack, but Guitar Idol 2008 had nearly half a million visitors in 7 weeks - and we hadn't really even started the marketing that the next competitons will have. So think about it... half a million fans of instrumental based rock guitar playing that we found in barely two months entirely through the Internet. That, in anyones books is a market to be reckoned with!

www.gustavodipadua.com

www.myspace.com/gustavodipadua