Roger Wang's "Journey Home" alternates between solo fingerstyle guitar arrangements and tracks with minimal to full band accompaniment. Musical selections range from jazzy renderings of Korean, Indonesian, and Chinese traditional folk tunes to compositions by twentieth century Asian composers and originals. Included in the notes are brief explanations for Wang¹s choice of material. He informs us that the first track, "Arirang", is a Korean folk song with over 6,000 different lyrics and 50 different versions, then humbly offers us his own. Except for a slight problem with intonation, Wang's rendition, accompanied by bass and percussion, is sweet, precise, flawless. Wang tears it up on tracks like "Bangawan Solo", a song from Indonesia on which he displays his formidable blues chops, and "Give You My All", a tune by Harlem Yu, one of the first to bring rock and blues to Taiwan. Wang seems most at ease, however, on solo guitar. The finest examples of his playing can be found on "Wild Orchids", a reworking of a traditional Chinese melody, "In My Thoughts", and "Student Boy", where Wang is joined by harmonica, evoking images of Doc Watson, perhaps, sitting on a riverbank in Southeast Asia somewhere playing his heart out.

This is a wonderful CD. I'm looking forward to hearing more from Roger.

Roger Wang plays fingerstyle acoustic guitar with an amazing range. Traditional Asian folksongs seem to be the basis for much of Roger's style, and he skillfully combines these with contemporary pop influences to make music with some serious groove to it. There's some Chet Atkins style picking that is flawless, and a version of "Washington Square" that swings as hard as the Village Stompers. Beautiful ballads show up as well. "Wild Orchids" and "While She Sleeps" - the latter a Roger Wang composition, the last song on the album - lend a serene beauty to the production. Other musicians play, like Peter and Simon Lau on drums and bass, and add a deft finishing touch to Roger's playing. In a few words, my new favorite guitar album.