Juan Luis Guerra’s Fantasy Island Tracks

If you were stranded on a desert island, which tracks would you absolutely need, to get you through those times of despair? Man cannot live on sun and fish alone right? Our castaway, Juan Luis Guerra, one of Latin America’s greatest singer-songwriters, puts in his requests for musical salvation...and in the process gives us an insight into the greatest influences on his own music (can you hear them in his own tracks)

1. 'Here comes the Sun' by The Beatles…

JLG: "...this song gave me the music patterns on which I based my way of playing guitar and harmonizing vocals”

2. 'Free Man in Paris by Joni Mitchell'(live version with Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, Michael Brecker and Lyle Mays) …

JLG: "...this track never ceases to amaze me every time I listen to it”

3. 'Stolen Moments' by Oliver Nelson….

JLG: "...I heard this for the first time in and arrangement class in Berklee as an example of what is good orchestration, and it never left me.”

4. 'Diamonds in the Sole of her Shoes' by Paul Simon…

JLG: "...this is a masterclass in how to mix different genres of music”

5. 'Phase Dance' by Pat Metheny….

JLG: "...this record changed my concept of how to play the guitar”

6. 'Ya Gotta Try' by Count Basie…

JLG: "...this arrangement is by Sammy Nestico for big band. The concept that I heard on this piece greatly influenced my horn arrangements for merengue”