BAM guitar cases

Ivan and I were recently talking about getting new homes for our guitars. (No, we're not selling our lovely "mistresses"! )

Rather, we were looking for premium guitar cases to house them.

A quick search on the internet yielded a couple of choices, and eventually we agreed that the BAM cases afforded a good balance of protection/durability/looks/price(!! Accords and Karuras are simply too expensive! )

Furthermore, I actually saw the actual BAM classical guitar case sometime back, being sold here in Singapore - it was in the Frank Brothers Violins shop located in the Esplanade.

Unfortunately, when we decided to contact the shop, we were told the case had sold out, and new orders were "arriving soon", but no specific time frame could be given. Apparently, BAM (a French company) had decided to only manufacture limited numbers of these cases, and on demand only.

We also tried our luck at SynWin (which listed the BAM case amongst its product category), but met with the same response.

Looks like our lovely "mistresses" have to wait slightly longer, before we can find new homes for them. :)

CD update - Black Opal (San Francisco Guitar Quartet)

Probably not many people in this part of the world (read: I am in Singapore) have heard about this group - San Francisco Guitar Quartet. To be honest, before I came across this recording, I have also not heard of them.

Some may say that it's because there are simply too many wannabes guitar quartet around, and many of them are only "so-so" in performing standards. That is true. But after listening to this recording, I have to say that the SFGQ are NOT one of those so-so groups. They are very impressive! I am only an amateur guitarist residing in small Singapore, so what do I know right?
Well, see what Scott Tennant has to say (of SFGQ):

"The SFGQ play with a fresh enthusiasm and life force which one rarely experiences in even the most seasoned performers. Their performance of Dusan Bogdanovic's 'Introduction and Dance' is like a gypsy caravan springing to life." -Scott Tennant

I think many a times, we only get to listen to those groups whom are marketing to this part of the world. Afterall, we are a small market, and many distributors hesitate to bring in these recordings, in the fear that there would not be demand for them. In the end, most of us here only know LAGQ, the Romeros, and a couple of others famous names. Which is a shame, really. Since many of these new, up-n-coming groups as actually really good and worth a listen.

Ok, back to this recording...

I have not really had time to listen through this recording more than once (thus able to comment in more detail), but from what I've heard, it doesnt disappoint at all. I liked their rendition of Boccherini's "Introduction and Fandango", as they injected their own ideas into the piece. But in particular, the "Introduction and Dance" piece by Bogdanovic was masterful! It really sounded like what Scott Tennant mentioned above ~ a gypsy caravan. In fact, i thought it sounded distinctly Arabic in flavour, invoking images of mysterious veiled women dancing to the tune, and snakes and daggers around the corner, in a dangerous (and exciting!) adventure in an ancient world.
( haha... now I sound like I'm describing an RPG in Playstation3!)

Incidentally, I also picked up SFGQ's 2nd CD, titled "Compadres", along with 2 other guitar quartet's recordings. Shall see if these are gems as well...