You may well have seen Florian Opahle before without realising it. I sat in a state of stunned silence watching this fantastically gifted guitarist when he played alongside Greg Lake a couple of years back. I immediately got on the internet and looked him up only to find I should have heard of him earlier.

Florian Opahle was born in Rosenheim, Germany in 1983 and is a highly regarded classically trained guitarist. He even took Master Class lessons from Al DiMeola. In 2004 he worked with Ian Anderson’s Orchestral Jethro Tull. His musical interests are far reaching and he can put his extraordinary talent towards playing blues, jazz, classical, rock, and classic rock.

The Ian Anderson tour took him across Europe and his reputation began to spread rapidly radiating out from his native Germany. His work as a session guitarist also took off as he played on albums by Italian artist Alessia D’Andrea and of course Greg Lake, with whom he toured throughout 2005.

Florian has also released a solo album fittingly entitled (for this column at least) Europhonics. For the album he is joined by keyboard player Stephan Zeh, and percussionist Timucin Dincel. Florian adds his own programming skills.

Europhonics contains seven beautifully played instrumental guitar pieces, six of which are original compositions written by Florian. “A Nice Day” is as fresh as it sounds. Anyone who has ever tried to get their fingers around a guitar’s fret board will appreciated the astonishingly clean playing here.

There is a nice balance of styles from the Mexican sounding opener through to the classically influenced. “Spanish Nights” is a wonderfully atmospheric, exquisitely performed piece. “Pick A Lick” is a superbly constructed demonstration of his, by now, undeniable mastery of the instrument.

“Pavana” is the only non original track on Europhonics. Written by F.Tarrega it has been lovingly adapted by Florian to produce a deeply moving highlight. “Synth” is not what I would have expected from the title. A wonderfully effective stripped down opening section, it builds to radiate huge splashes of atmospheric colour.

“Lucca” gently eases up the tempo with some near impossible displays of dexterity. “Dropped D” ends the collection with exactly what it says.

Florian Opahle is a name that you might not recognise just yet. Having said that keep your eyes and ears open and there is no doubt he will be appearing with more artists of similar standing to Ian Anderson and Greg Lake. Europhonics is a beautifully balanced showcasing of his natural talent. This is a CD that I will personally treasure.

Understated and yet undeniably brilliant. Florian Opahle is a name to watch out for. Please visit his official website to discover him for yourself.