Reviewed by Gabriel Porras

Miguelángel is the contrived name of Miguel Ángel Villagrán, aka Málin, a Guatemalan classical guitarist who survived the UBER-disciplinarian school of Manuel López Ramos (who, believe me, used to make you hold matches between your fingers as you practiced arpeggios-and fail you as soon as one of the matches moved). I say this at the start to pay credit to him-because Miguel Ángel Villagrán has more spirit and musicality than Professor López Ramos could drain off him (and López Ramos certainly destroyed many young musicians). Miguel Ángel not only survived, but became an accomplished classical guitarist and producer/arranger for very successful projects (notably Ricardo Arjona's 'Si el Norte fuera el Sur', Billboard magazine's Best Latin Rock Album Of The Year in 1996). He is now a full time producer for Integrity Music, and Don Moen raves about his work. 'Bajo la Luz (Under the Light)' is the first record he ever released under his own name, back in 1997. It is a rather patchy effort, not through lack of musicality or skill, but rather through lack of direction (this is a case of the producer needing a producer to keep him in check when he ventures out as an artist). Track one has an unmistakable feel of 1980's California jazz-you might think you were listening to Earl Klugh. Fine, feel good, sleek acoustic guitar. Tracks two and three roll on and now you have 1980's worship songs by Graham and Degarmo & Key, and you feel in instrumental worship territory, the kind of arrangement in which a recorder or harmonica carries the melody (you know what I mean). But then track four immediately transports you to much loftier heights-it is a WONDERFUL rendition of the old classic hymn "Precious Jesus", with all the skill, technique and contained passion of a great classical guitarist, someone obviously familiar with the music of Dowland and Bach. What a joy, I told myself- this album is getting better and better, and this track alone is worth the price of the CD... But alas, track five came as a rude awakening! Having just dazzled us with his technique and musicality, Miguelángel decides that what we've heard so far has been merely a preamble for his singing voice, and everything comes crashing down. Great classical guitarist that he is, he is a barely competent singer trying to push an anodyne, mindless little pop song (which, incidentally, would have suited a female voice much better-but he produced his record himself and therefore didn't have anyone else to tell him this). Track six is the most "Latin" of the lot, reminiscent of José Feliciano, but without the guts of Feliciano. Track seven is the title track, but for reasons known only to Miguelángel, because it gets lost in the context of the other tracks, or to say it less gracefully, because there's nothing memorable about it. As I said, Miguelángel has been very successful producing and arranging for others. He has also released two more records under his own names ('Miguelángel, Miguel Ángel Villagrán' and 'Málin'). Regrettably, rather than concentrate on his guitar playing, he decided to make the last one (released in 2004) an all-singing album. I will not be rushing out to buy it.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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