Guitarist/educator/composer Carl Baldassarre has just released a new lyric video for the Zeppelin-inspired track, “Sands of Tarifa”. Check it out here. The song is taken from his solo inaugural album, GRAND BOULEVARD, due out on April 28th. Motivated by his lifelong passion and musicological study of the mighty Led Zeppelin, “Sands of Tarifa,” echoes the exotic Middle Eastern sound captured in “Kashmir”. Recorded at London’s famed Abbey Road Studios, the song also features the London Symphony Orchestra. Of “Sands of Tarifa,” Baldassarre explains it is, “Inspired by a vision I had while spending time on the beaches in of Tarifa, Spain (the southernmost point of Europe). From that vantage point, you can see Northern Africa and Morocco”.
Due out on April 28tht, GRAND BOULEVARD, features Baldassarre as lead guitarist and composer. The album is receiving early raves from the press with the UK”s Fireworks Magazine declaring the album to be “flawlessly crafted, genre-spanning and offering something for everyone. Highly impressive!” Progsheet enthused that the album is “bursting with strong, catchy compositions and memorable guitar acrobatics…” The UK’s Powerplay avowed, “This Grand Boulevard has roses along the way”.
Composed primarily during the isolation of covid, GRAND BOULEVARD is produced by Phil Naish, who has produced Grammy Award-winning albums for Steven Curtis Chapman and has played on albums with such luminaries as Elton John, Kenny Rogers and Kenny Chesney, along with Mark Hornsby (Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Foreigner) and Baldassarre himself. Hornsby also engineered the album. GRAND BOULEVARD was recorded at world famous Abbey Road Studios in London as well as Soultrain Sound Studios in Nashville and Sweetwater Studios in Fort Wayne, IN.
Also during the covid lockdown, Baldassarre decided to don a new hat, “Professor Of Classic Rock,” creating a popular YouTube channel that has now amassed millions of views. Guided by decades of experience as a musician and as a serious student of composition and technique, Baldassarre‘s channel focuses on the inspiration behind some of classic rock’s best-known hits from Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Rush and many more, with an added focus on guitar legend Jimmy Page. Baldassarre deftly breaks down and demonstrates the world’s most famous classic rock guitar riffs with a warm pedagogy. Click here to visit the channel.
Born and raised in Cleveland in trying circumstances, Carl Baldassarre experienced early success as guitarist for rock bands Abraxas and Syzygy, respectively. Although music was still very much part of his soul, he opted for stability and eventually became a highly sought-after private equity manager in the United States. Fast forward several decades and Baldassarre has returned to his roots with fervor, composing, playing, studying and teaching music. He has already amassed a significant and diverse recording catalogue with product to be released over the next several years.
