Spanish Steel

[Donny Hinson]

I just got Mike Perlowin’s “Spanish Steel” CD, and to say the least, it is a very impressive work. Far from what most of us think of as typical pedal steel playing, it features Mike’s interpretation of classical works by Manuel de Falla and Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov, distilled down to the essentials, and it features pedal steel along with various other electric and acoustic instruments. His approach to these selections shows both his love of classical music, as well as his desire to introduce the pedal steel to an entirely new audience.

[Damir Besic]

Mike is one of my favorite players on the forum, we have some great players, and he is one of the best IMHO

[Mike Perlowin RIP]

Thanks guys. I'm glad you like my work.

Spanish Steel is my best CD. It benefits from everything I learned making the other two. It is also my last, as I feel it's as good as I can get, and if I were to make another, it would be a disappointment. I'm quitting while I'm ahead.

The 16 minute piece "Capriccio Espagnol" is my crowning achievement. The final section required 109 tracks scattered over a dozen reels of tape to record. Playing all the parts was relatively easy. The hard part was editing it all together and programming the computer mix.

This piece is on my Soundcloud page. I encourage those of you who have not heard it or any of my other recordings to go to the 2 sites in my signature and check out what I did.

[David Mason]

I have to say it's second-rate. As it's my SECOND most favorite Perlowin CD, it's great MUSIC and he plays the stuff straight, which is the best approach for classical music (IMO). An awful lot of "star" players in that genre get trapped into the weepy, hyper-fake-emotive vibrato swoops, Itzak Perlman=ICK. Look at me look at me look at Me!
Mike plays it straight-on with the power inherent in it, just fine music. But it's #2 because his "West Side Story" is so joyful and bouncy it cracks me up. He's not PLAYING it jokey, but he's extracting some odd note choices and weird em-PHAS-ises... I didn't have anything like the original cast music around here, so I bought an instrumental version by the somewhat-attractive (ahem) LaBeque sisters:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4j_1cjYYPI
Fortunately they crack me up too - it's Bernstein who went nuts, NOT MEEEEE I'm O.K... REALLY!
There's so much WORK put into these it's kinda terrifying... he doesn't skip the hard parts, he FIGURES THEM OUT.
So for Power, you go Spanish, for Joy you go West.

http://steelguitarmusic.com/music/mikeperlowin.html#cd2

http://steelguitarmusic.com/music/mikeperlowin.html#cd3

Maybe next time he'll do one for the money...
"Steel BeLieber Bieber"...

[Mike Perlowin RIP]

Dave, we will have to let others determine which CD they prefer.

You said that I figured out the hard parts of the music. I was able to do that because, I can read music.

I say it again. Learning to read music is not going to make you forget how to play by ear. I believe the 2 skills, reading and playing by ear, compliment each other. Knowing how to read helps me play by ear better, and being able to play by ear makes me a better reader.