sultry tango.. Sensual 

sophisticated samba.. Wine of Tuscany

flamenco funk.. Come with me, down to the sea

poignant celtic melodies.. Journey’ end, Now and for always & Freefall

sensitive contemporary songs.. Little boxes, Comes the morning, & Sands of time

Unifying this bewildering melange of worldness is the sound of Tony’s classical guitar and his particular writing style, the result of a long musical journey, and giving it form are some particularly fine Melbourne musicians, many of who have featured on his earlier work. These include remarkable vocal performances by Brazilian specialist Diana Clark, including a duet on the title track Dance with a flower in your hair with actor/session singer Rob Price.

George Butrumlis adds the passion of his accordion, Jen Anderson the haunting emotion of her violin and viola. Adam Simmons features not only on layered woodwinds (Gossamer wings) but also Shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) on the mystic-east epic Sands of time, a track which takes the novel step of combining violin with slide guitar.  Also combining with Tony’s multiple guitars are Bruce Haymes (keyboards), Steve Hadley (double & electric bass), Bruce Sandell (flute),  Craig Pilkington (trumpet), Tony Floyd and the late much missed Peter Jones (drums).. an truly gifted ensemble producing a sound ranging from epic to intimate.

“…truly magnificent. Faehse’s exquisite musicianship allows him to conjure up various images while exploring a wide range of influences he first began to absorb as a thirteen-year-old when his mum took him to a Segovia concert. Faehse’s mother was the inspiration for the album’s opening piece, ‘Shorebreak’, a solo classical guitar performance reprised on the last track…”  Billy Pinnell, Sounds Magazine 2001

Tony Faehse’s first solo album began life as a recording project with compadre and fellow band member from Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons Jeff Burstin. The pair had been performing at the Ian Potter Centre as an instumental duo whose repertoire included Faehse originals. This gave Tony the opportunity to go on and make a whole album of  his own original material, with no other agenda than to explore varied musical directions and attempt to create something that sounded beautiful.

To do this he enlisted the talents of Jeff and other musician friends, players who were to set the talent trend for his subsequent releases, Jen Anderson (violin) and Bruce Haymes (keyboards) appearing frequently. Vicka & Linda Bull make a cameo with a sung chorus on the title track Learn to Fly, and Linda adds vocal colour to Forever Samba.

But mostly this first album is instrumental, setting the pattern with the Classical (nylon string) guitar as Tony’s main “voice”, and a diverse range of musical styles examined.. Latin (Havana Nirvana, Forever Samba) gospel (Gospel Truth) flamenco (Isabella, Pasha) and celtic (Shorebreak) influences interpreted with a indie/soul/jazz/reggae groove.

This first album, a promise of things to come, opens and closes with Shorebreak, firstly as solo guitar, secondly in a band setting.  To quote Tony’s album notes;

“When I was a little boy, my mother would walk with me along the beach on perfect summer mornings. Sometimes it would be very calm, with just a delicate shorebreak wave crisply rippling, as sharp a sound as bubbles bursting in the open air. On the edge of land and life she opened my eyes to beauty.”