From The Netherlands....Eltjo Haselhoff is being hailed as the next Tommy Emmanuel by guitar lovers in Europe!  With a bright ringing tone and an exceptionally good sense of timing and tasteful melodies this collection of originals is perfect for those who love their guitar tunes....full of just that...TUNE!  

 

1)  Tap Your Other Foot!

2)  Myosotis

3)  Tumbo

4)  Snow In London

5)  Mugle

6)  Phoelix & Grimm

7)  Cornerstone

8)  The Lowlands of Holland

9)  Roundback Rag

10) Morgan Magan

11) PIngu

12) Jantine 

 

 

You can hear Eltjo on Acoustic Guitar Highlights Vol. 5...his is the 1st track! 

 

 

"A RARE TREAT....FILLED WITH GROOVE, MELODY AND TECHNIQUE!"

20th Century Guitar Magazine 

 

"the recording technique used is superb. The music on this album contains wonderful and stunning compositions which sound like engaged poetry in soulful sound palettes. Eltjo Haselhoff's impressive skills put him certainly among the best players in the finger-style circuit."

 

Henk te Veldhuis

Bridge Guitar Reviews 

 

Eltjo Haselhoff "Fingerstyle Guitar Solos"
 He's a PhD in physics! No, he's a black belt in karate! No, he's a painter and cartoonist! No, he's a fingerstyle guitar player with some killer chops, great feel, and wonderful sense of melody! Well, he's all of that - he's Eltjo Haselhoff from the Netherlands, and if this debut CD is any indication, he can add one more element to an already impressive resume. From the opening cut "Tap Your Other Foot" where he channels Tommy Emmanuel, we find a fluid style and developed sense of time and space in his playing. "Roundback Rag" gets your foot tapping with great melody over a walking bass and subtle chordal changes, and never lets go. "Phoelix & Grimm" starts and stops like a bareback horse ride. There are two hauntingly beautiful ballads - "Myosotis" and "Snow in London," probably the most moving solo guitar ballad I have heard in a long time. This piece perhaps more than any other on the CD reveals a mature musical sense, allowing each note its place, laying feeling in just the right density, ornamenting with triplets without being flashy. For me, this song is worth the price of the disk alone. © Kirk Albrecht Minor7th.com

 

 

 It's no wonder that Acoustic Music Resource picked up this self-produced CD from Eltjo Haselhoff, a Netherlands-based physicist and erstwhile musical genius. Every tune on "Fingerstyle Guitar Solos" is a joy to the listener. "Tap Your Other Foot" begins with chicken-picking before Haselhoff launches into the minor-keyed theme. The melody of "Myosotis" sounds like an English ballad, but a sensitive interpretation and a pop-sounding middle section gives the impression of a love song from 1960s pop radio. The beautiful "Snow in London" features similar compositional development as "Myosotis," although utilizing a darker mood. Similarly, "Tumbo" recalls Elizabethan dance music. Carolan's "Morgan Megan" fits in well with his own compositions. Haselhoff employs exacting microtonal bends very effectively in several tunes, including "Jantine," which closes the disc. Although critics have compared him favorably to Tommy Emmanuel, Haselhoff's tunes and playing also recall John Renbourn, Ralph McTell, Laurence Juber (especially on "Roundback Rag") and even Stefan Grossman. But Haselhoff is no imitator. His attack is varied, but always clean, and his tunes hold up under close listening. Let's hope that wider exposure will lead Haselhoff to release more music in the near future.
© Patrick Ragain

 

ELTJO HASELHOFF: Fingerstyle Guitar Solos...

The Dutch fingerstylist is also a  physicist, but sure doesn't play like one.  The bouncy "Tap your other foot", inspired by Tommy Emmanuel, starts things off, with the mood shiftingto the beautiful waltz "Myosotis" and then the fanciful "Tumbo" (inspired by a trip to Disney World), with the traditional fiddle tune  "jaybird" tacked onto the end.

 

It was recorded in the Netherlands but the intimate sound - a perfect combination of  warmth and presence - lives up to Solid Air's standard.

 

....Dan Forte / VINTAGE GUITAR MAGAZINE 

 

Take a gander at the website of Dutch fingerstylist Eltjo Haselhoff, with his detailed, 3,000-word essays on “Recording Acoustic Guitar”, “Setting Up Your Guitar”, etc., and you might well ask, “Is this guy a guitarist or a physicist?” The answer is: both.

The good news, though, is that he sure doesn’t play guitar like a physicist, at least not the preconceived notion of what “fingerpicking physicist” conjures up. On his sophomore release, Haselhoff’s formidable technique is abundantly on display, but he doesn’t sound “analytical” or “academic” in the least. He does, however, sound extremely musical.

The rousing, bouncy “Tap Your Other Foot”, inspired by Tommy Emmanuel, employs some percussive effects and stereo panning (which sound especially nice through headphones). To vary textures, Eltjo plays the body of the song on his Taylor 712ce (with he employs on seven of the CD’s dozen tracks, in every other case by itself), but switches to the Australian-made Maton (associated with Aussie Emmanuel) for the interludes.

All but two of the instrumentals herein were written by Haselhoff, from the beautiful waltz “Myosotis” to the fanciful “Tumbo”, inspired by a trip to Disneyworld, with the traditional fiddle tune, “Jaybird”, tacked onto the end. “The Lowlands of Holland” is a traditional ballad from the Netherlands, but it shows the universality and cross-pollination of music in its Celtic character (one can imagine Eltjo’s hammered-on trills being played on a penny whistle). It seems no coincidence that the only other non-original (“Morgan Magan”) is by the great Irish composer, Turlough O’Carolan (1670-1738).

“Mugle” begins with a descending A-minor melody, played almost rubato, which sounds like a variation on “Chim Chim Cher-ee”, before jumping into a “Windy and Warm” groove. Similarly, the multi-movement “Phoelix & Grimm” is a jaunty, alternating-bass fingerpicker that reveals a strong classical element in Eltjo’s intro and outro — with his Taylor steel-string proving perfectly appropriate for either style.

True to Solid Air’s standard, the sound is a perfect combination of presence and warmth, with an intimacy that makes you feel like you’re in the same room with (in fact, sitting right next to) Haselhoff. Quite an experience.

Taylor Guitar / WOOD  & STEEL