Steffen Basho-Junghans, “Changes,” IS (Architects of Harmonic Rooms & Records, 2009; now available as a download at Diogenes Music, see link below)
After finally being defeated by my somewhat disorderly and messy state of anti-social behavior last night, I turned ineluctably to this song. “Changes” has become the ultimate comfort food for me of late. Basho-Junghans, Germany’s masterful steel-string acoustic guitar wizard (and a very fine painter), has always traversed a mountain made from both the more conventional fare of the John Fahey/Takoma School and a more mystical approach that tends towards Eastern methods and practices.
Dual influences coincidentally merged into the single name he adopted as the first of his double-barrel last: Basho. I.e. the 17th century poet and diarist Matsuo Basho and 1960s guitarist Robbie Basho. “Changes” is a track of uncompromising mysticism: a rhythmic insistence continuing for 10:44, with guitarist and listener engaged in a meditational test. It is to hear the subtle change to the chord, sometimes one note at a time, sometimes not at all. This is the kind of music that can bring peace if you let it. And last night it did, for me. If only it could have left my headphones and brought some peace to the poor souls who had to suffer my mood…
Find it at Diogenes Music 
Watch “In Conversation with Steffan Basho-Junghans” courtesy of Architects Of Harmonic Rooms and YouTube, to learn more about his approach to the opening of mind through the guitar he practices and the paintings he produces:
