Album Review

Jason Anderson [allmusic.com]

Breakfast in the Field introduced virtuoso guitarist Michael Hedges to the new age and instrumental music community in stunning fashion. After Windham Hill founder Will Ackerman discovered the passionate yet ethereal musician, he immediately inked Hedges to a recording contract and joined him as producer for this 1981 debut. Music critics of all varieties were immediately impressed by the incredible technique and expressive musicality Hedges almost effortlessly displayed on this disc, recorded live direct to two-track. Hedges' compositional abilities alone would have been enough to mesmerize musicians and audiophiles, but his added improvisational skills put this recording way over the top both technically and artistically. From the sweet sounds of ''The Unexpected Visitor'' to the frenetic ''Peg Leg Speed King,'' Hedges practically defines what would be described shortly thereafter as the new acoustic revolution with his dexterity and imagination. While Hedges' follow-up, Aerial Boundaries, is often described as the guitarist's masterpiece, Breakfast in the Field has an early career spark and meditative yet passionate conviction that can't be surpassed.