{"id":143,"date":"2010-11-29T17:31:41","date_gmt":"2010-11-29T21:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aaronlc.com\/blog\/?p=143"},"modified":"2011-02-04T14:14:05","modified_gmt":"2011-02-04T18:14:05","slug":"upon-listening-new-lullaby-cd-review-by-sherry-kloss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/upon-listening-new-lullaby-cd-review-by-sherry-kloss\/","title":{"rendered":"Upon Listening, New Lullaby CD Review by Sherry Kloss"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

New Lullaby CD Review by Sherry Kloss<\/p><\/div>\n

This is a wonderful introduction to my New Lullaby CD, with a brief description of the project and \u00a0pieces. \u00a0What I find amazing is how each person hears the pieces so uniquely! <\/em><\/p>\n

Click on the piece title to hear them via CDBaby.com <\/em><\/p>\n

Upon Listening<\/em><\/strong><\/h1>\n

Sherry Kloss<\/a>, Epsilon Upsilon, Muncie Alumni
\n3510 West University Avenue, Muncie, IN 47303
\nPhone: 765-287-8469\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 email:\u00a0 sherkl@excite.com<\/p>\n

New Lullaby: Fourteen Enchanting Ways to Fall Asleep <\/em><\/strong>is an outgrowth of the New Lullaby Project<\/a>, brainchild of guitarist and educator Aaron Larget-Caplan <\/strong>(Beta, Boston Alumni)<\/em>.\u00a0 All of the CD\u2019s short solo pieces are newly commissioned by the artist and performed by Larget-Caplan with music insight and fluent technical aplomb<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 The appealing theme and some delightful surprises will attract a listening public that\u2019s often unwilling to give new music a hearing<\/em>.\u00a0 Short character pieces, a popular inclusion in concert programs a hundred years ago, challenge both composer and artist to convey their essence in a few brief moments.\u00a0 This not mere background music; rather, the soothing and provocative sounds are mood enhancing and beckon personal involvement.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Composer Lynn Job creates a wide variety of stylistic techniques in \u201cThe Sixth Night<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 Chordal strumming, influence of classic flamenco style, jazz flourishes, and harmonic patterns from major to minor tonalities complement this very satisfying work.\u00a0 Jonathan Feist\u2019s \u201cLeaky Roof<\/a>\u201d contains wide rhythmic movement and harmonic interest in rock-ballad style.\u00a0 The ostinato bass contrasts energetically with the melody, and his use of harmonics for the concluding theme leaves us with a sense of peace.\u00a0 In \u201cNo Time,<\/a>\u201d Feist weaves a poignantly memorable ballad, reminiscent of the Beatles\u2019 style of melding seemingly uncomplicated harmonies.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the introduction of Francine Trester\u2019s \u201cMy Darling\u2019s Slumber<\/a>\u201d expands into a Beatlesque melody, develops with a bluesy line, and leads into interesting harmonies and phrasings.\u00a0 In \u201cNachtlied<\/a>,\u201d Scott Wheeler spins an enchanting melody with cross rhythms, punctuations of harmony, and use of rhythmic space to create silences, transporting the listener to restful peacefulness.<\/p>\n

\u201cCradle Song<\/a>\u201d by Kevin Siegfried is a true lullaby.\u00a0 A pleasing melody creates a lulling, restful effect, and surprise modulations evoke emotional memories of different worlds.\u00a0 In the melodically and harmonically rich \u201cDescent to a Dream<\/a>,\u201d Mark Small employs broken chords, arpeggiated style, and chromatic interest to create a descriptive work.\u00a0 Nolan Stolz\u2019s \u201cLullaby for Sam<\/a>\u201d begins with a single motive and then embellishes it for interest, using portamenti to color the line.\u00a0 Improvisational style and ostinato bass are the first sounds we hear in Carson Cooman\u2019s \u201c[Unfolding the Gates of Dawn, a]\u00a0morning l<\/a>ullaby<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 Attractive use of characteristic guitar touches (strumming repeated notes, broken chords, silences, an dynamics) contribute to the effectiveness of the composition.<\/p>\n

The sotto voce <\/em>harmonics of John McDonald\u2019s \u201cYou Are Alone to Sleep<\/a>\u201d set the melody with dissonant chordal punctuation, while in \u201cberceuse<\/a>\u201d David Vayo produces an instant mood through human voice and whistling juxtaposed with guitar, an extremely clever listening adventure.\u00a0 David Leisner\u2019s \u201cDisturbed, A Lullaby<\/a>\u201d begins on a Low A and then follows a single 12 tone-like pattern in playful movement, creating an intricate and thought-provoking experience that finds its final resting place on High A.\u00a0 Eric Schwartz travels yet another area in his interesting compositional conception.\u00a0 \u201cSong Softly Sung, in Trying Times<\/a>\u201d opens with the sound of the ocean, builds a beautiful theme through the harmonic circle, silence, and the ocean once more.\u00a0 Finally, Ryan Vigil focuses on the \u201cother-worldly\u201d timbre of the harmonic in \u201cShhhh<\/a>\u201d an innovative composition calling for scordatura tuning. — Sherry Kloss<\/p>\n

About the Artist<\/strong>
\nAaron <\/a>Larget<\/a>–<\/a>Caplan<\/a> is a graduate of the New England Conservatory and has been a pupil of Dmitry Goryachev, David Leisner<\/a>, Eliot Fisk<\/a> and flamenco guitarist Juanito Pascual<\/a>.\u00a0 His artistic achievements have been recognized by the D\u2019Addario Foundation, American Composers Forum, Massachusetts Cultural Council, New England Conservatory and Mu Phi Epsilon.\u00a0 His previous CD Tracing a wheel on water<\/em> was released in 2006.\u00a0 Currently on the faculty at the New School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he also maintains an active performing schedule and private studio.\u00a0 His guitar was crafted of rosewood and German spruce by Stephan Connor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

This review appeared originally in the Triangle of Mu Phi Epsilon, Volume 104, Issue 3, page 9, Fall 2010<\/em><\/p>\n

www.MuPhiEpsilon.org<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a wonderful introduction to my New Lullaby CD, with a brief description of the project and \u00a0pieces. \u00a0What I find amazing is how each person hears the pieces so uniquely! Click on the piece title to hear them via CDBaby.com Upon Listening Sherry Kloss, Epsilon Upsilon, Muncie Alumni 3510 West University Avenue, Muncie, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,4,6,53],"tags":[18,41,28,39,45,42,37,43,8,46,36,40,33,21,7,35,20,44,38,34],"class_list":["post-143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-new-lullaby","category-recordings","category-reviews-2","tag-aaron-larget-caplan","tag-carson-cooman","tag-cd-review","tag-david-leisner","tag-david-vayo","tag-eric-schwartz","tag-francine-trester","tag-john-mcdonald","tag-jonathan-feist","tag-kevin-siegfried","tag-lynn-job","tag-mark-small","tag-mu-phi-epsilon","tag-new-lullaby-cd","tag-new-lullaby-project","tag-nolan-stolz","tag-review","tag-ryan-vigil","tag-scott-wheeler","tag-sherry-kloss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":185,"href":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions\/185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alcguitar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}