|
|
Reviews of "Guitar Voyages" by Harvey
Reid
Bluegrass Now Magazine
(Oct 2000) by Julie Koehler, Associate Editor
"My apologies for not having a better way to say this,
but I LOVE YOUR NEW CD! (I'm a writer, after all; I'm supposed
to have clever ways to say things, right?) I have been to Norway,
and "The Norway Suite" brought all of those incredible
views back to mind--the waterfalls, the fjords, the steep hillsides
and the tiny little villages. You are indeed plugged into something
amazing.
Here is the review...
For my money, Harvey Reid produces some of the best, most exquisite
and listenable guitar music on the planet. Since it's impossible
to categorize this master musician, suffice to say that his music
encompasses a wide spectrum of styles including bluegrass, folk,
old-time, blues, Celtic and classical. While not a bluegrass album
by any stretch, Guitar Voyages is his fourteenth solo album, picking
up where 1989's Solo Guitar Sketchbook left off. It's all guitar
(slide, 6- and 12-string), all instrumental, all fabulous. Reid
has recorded this album with 24-bit high-resolution digital equipment,
giving the entire album a clarity and pristine cleanness that
are simply extraordinary. Notes sparkle and shimmer, hang momentarily
in the air, then fade, making way for the next shimmering measure
or phrase.
While the four traditional cuts ("Life is Like a Mountain
Railroad," "Uncloudy Day," "Skye Boat Song"
and the absolutely mesmerizing "Miss the Mississippi")
will be familiar to bluegrass listeners, their arrangements will
be new. The remaining eleven Reid originals will introduce them
to pieces that are much broader and deeper in mood and emotion.
There are two 3-part suites ("Norway Suite," "Scotland
Suite"), 11 and 16 minutes, respectively, that conjure images
of these unbelievably beautiful countries. There's "Racing
the Storm" as it conveys a sense of hurry-up urgency. And
then there's the lively and bluesy "Flüf's Vacation"
(Flüf being a cat) ... cats do what they want, when they
want, creating their own fun and happiness. Don't look for hard-driving
banjos on this album. Instead, expect to be musically caressed,
transported to another wavelength, or simply awed by the clarity
of the recording. Above all, expect to enjoy. (JK)"
Guitar Player Magazine (Oct
2000 )
"For years, Harvey Reid has been releasing self-produced
gemsaudiophile recordings of 6- and 12-string guitar, autoharp,
Dobro, and banjoand thrilling folk-music fans around the
world with his stunning musicianship and vast repertoire. Guitar
Voyages provides an excellent introduction to Reid's soulful,
yet carefully rendered work. He cut this CD live, using only stereo
mics and minimal signal processing. It's inspiring: Reid's animated,
present timbres remind us of our instrument's stark sonic beauty
and why we started playing in the first place. Using a variety
of guitars, including Taylor and Larrivée grand concerts,
jumbo Taylor 12-strings, and round-neck Dobros, Reid draws us
into his world of vibrating strings and resonating wood. We're
treated to a parade of Scottish jigs, bouncy fiddle tunes, tinkling
baroque dance themes, pensive ballads, and melancholy slide work
over an hour's worth of original and traditional instrumentals
performed with passion and grace. Reid brings more than refined
chops to the table; he has spent his life studying and performing
traditional music, and if you listen carefully, you'll hear stories
of his travels in every tune he plays. "
Various E-Mail Reviews from
Fans, Friends, and Media
"This has quickly become my favorite Harvey Reid recording...I
love guitar recordings you know. This work is emotive, tasteful,
and technically wizard like...& I like it...enough said? With
all the fluff new releases coming in these days I cherish the
good stuff even more. I dare say it is getting good airplay on
my shows ." (Scott MacKinnnon -WSMU Radio North Dartmouth,
MA )
"Your new CD is utterly magnificent. Just
stunningly beautiful. You just keep getting better and better,
if that is possible. The Suites are both superb, don't make me
choose a favourite! Racing the Storm is a love-at-first-hearing
masterpiece. Uncloudy Day is ungodly gorgeous. Pegasus is magnificent.
All the songs have your extraordinary touch of incomprehensible
talent. Even though I see you perform, I still cannot fathom how
anyone can conceive of and make such complicated, exquisite sounds.
I never will understand how you can play like you do. I thank
the Muses and the Fates for letting us cross paths and enabling
me to enjoy your music." (Catherine Fahlgren, Fan)
"You
have hit the ball out of the park with this one. The skill of
the playing is what most people will notice at first, I suspect,
and the playing is indeed wonderful, but I think in the long run
it will become clear to knowledgeble folk that it's the sophistication
of the composition that is truly staggering. You have asssimulated
the work of your teachers well,and by your teachers I refer to
Bach, Merle, Turlan, Blind Arthur, Doc, Stephen Foster.... I think
the CD succeeds in being exactly what you intended it to be: a
distillation and a synthesis of all those influences - one that
is true to them, but not a slavish imitation of them. It echoes
your earlier work, surely. I hear bits and pieces of things I've
heard you play before. But I think it draws a line under a whole
body of work. It's a worthy summation. I'm sure it will be another
decade at least before you will do another instrumental guitar
project. It will take at least that long to find new things to
say and new ways to say them. You have set the bar very high for
yourself, and for your fellows. I suspect many of them will go
on leaping into the pit, and will emerge with arms raised in triumph,
not even noticing that the reason the bar remains on the standards
is that they went under it, not over it." (Jeff Hickey, Musician)
"Your
music is absolutely beautiful. I makes me feel so good and lets
my mind flow. I'm all the way to track 10 and it just keeps getting
better and better. It's like all of your songs feed each other
and grow and grow together until they're like a giant beanstalk
leading ever upward to some special place far away in the sky.
Guitar Voyages is a great name for what you've created. On the
way to work I was "Riding with the King" with Eric Clapton
and BB King. Now I'm floating away with Harvey Reid. It really
is quite inspiring. I think I'm going to write some very good
things listening to your music. You get an A-plus for soul and
sincerity. Not to mention musicality, sensitivity, composition,
creativity, sound quality, and spiritual upliftability. Music
is such a wonderful thing when done right. You did it right."
(Kevin Kinnear, Magazine Editor)
"Wonderful!
Awesome! The new album by Harvey Reid is the best solo acoustic
CD you will ever hear! The clarity and brilliance of sound is
unsurpassed. Technique and creativity to feed the greatest of
imaginations. It reaches heart and soul and guides you on a voyage
through shiftless ages of time and distant lands. Sheer pleasure
to the most critical ears!" (Kathy Harris, Fan)
"Next
time we meet, your first four beers are on me. This CD is a beautiful
piece of work. The sound quality is astounding! Your guitars sound
so present, so rich, crisp, fat, resonant, alive. Amazing. You
keep crankin' these things out, I'm so impressed. There are so
many good things here. Miss The Missippi and the Skye Boat Song are great trad choices and treatments, and your compositions are
hypnotic, playful, elegant by turns. I'm sure this will win you
new fans and further cement your great reputation." (Geoff
Bartley, musician)
|
H
