"Some Sort of Angel"
...is the first release of this pancultural acoustic quintet conceived and composed by yours truly, guitarist David Kraus. When played straight through, the eight pieces above though each stylistically different, create the sense of a musical suite telling a story as the tunes segue from one to another. Drawing on experience and the study of many diverse musical languages, the instrumental songs reveal a sea of tonal color reflected back to our ears as impressions more than a contrived pasting together of specific cultural snippets. Drawing on Indian classical and Turkish musics, European classical and Irish folk, to the music of Brazil and North America, the music becomes an internal experience into completeness. The sonic fingerprints of jazz are felt and heard threaded throughout the recording since I am first and foremost still rooted deeply into the land of my initial music education, the neighborhoods of Philadelphia. And though I moved on quite a while ago and have traveled to many other lands, no matter how far one may travel, we can never really escape how we came to be who we are. The composition presented here is a part of who I've become. If it is successful in an artistic sense, just maybe you will recognize a part of yourself somewhere as you listen. Concerning the music, the unique and rare instrumental grouping in and of itself says much about what may be heard even before the first notes are savored: classical & steel string guitars - David Kraus, soprano & alto saxes with flute - Gary Gordon, vibraphone & percussion - Mark vanGulden, mandolin & tenor banjo - Jamie Masefield, and a strong yet melodic acoustic bass - Clyde Stats, with the sonic beauty of producer Manfred Eicher at his ECM Studios in Germany influencing the overall sound. Some Sort of Angel is an ensemble recording that creates an orchestrated sound much bigger than the individual parts with strong melodies that sing in your ear long after their hearing. I hope you'll enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed making this music.
David Kraus - March, 2008
www.davidkrausguitarist.com
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The Music Notes
The guitar pieces beginning below the eight "SSoA" CD tracks, from Francesco Tarrega's "Lagrima" through to the last tune are from a section on my website called "Chronicles" comprising standards from the classical and jazz repetoires played on nylon string and electric jazz guitars. I placed them on my main website primarily for work purposes, and with the hope of networking or connecting with other composers and players whose skills and musical ears are atuned to many musical worlds.
"Qasaid ul Qitara"
Poems for Guitar
I am presently in production on a new CD of original pieces for classical guitar called "Qasaid ul Qitara". It is set for a February 2009 release date. There are sample clips on my website. There's more info on this in my blog here. Two other projects are also in the working stages. Stay tuned:)
www.davidkrausguitarist.com
David Kraus
