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The Angels' Portion
Celtic, Appalaachian and Swedish tunes plus originals that are so catchy you assume they're traditional as well.
“Combining his unique techniques with his inherent
feel, sensitivity and use of dynamics, Baughman is once more left
standing in the dock as one of the usual suspects charged with
committing excellent music to record. With so much heavenly musichere,
it is difficult to guess which tracks the angels will claim as their
rightful portion.
~ ~ Minor 7th
In the making of fine Scotch whisky, there is no
ingredient more precious than time. The process begins with barley and
the purest water. The barley is soaked, dried over a peat fire, crushed
into grist, moved to the grist hopper and mixed with hot water. The
mixture eventually finds its way into an oak cask that will be its home
for the next 12, 15 or 21 years. There it sleeps, alone and
undisturbed, except by angels sent from heaven to perform a sacred but
daunting task, to turn this simple mixture into a glorious Uisgebeatha,
the Water of Life.
As the world turns, as stars dim, as empires
wane, the angels labor in the darkness. Then, their miracle complete,
they depart. The stillman returns to the cask and savors the first
vapor of new creation. There he observes that what was once a full
barrel is now only a partly full barrel. And he smiles. Evaporation,
some say. But the stillman knows. For even the angels love a drop of
the pure.
It is my hope that over the next 12, 15 and 21 years, the process of
musical fermentation will endow my playing with a richness worthy of
this album title. Until then, I am honored to share with you The
Angels’ Portion.
~ ~ ~ Steve Baughman
Recent review of "The Angels Portion"
From
the standpoint of technique, what sets Steve Baughman apart from other
guitarists working the Celtic vein is the use of his favored "Orkney
Tuning" and a middle-finger "thwack"---a sort of banjo frailing
technique applied to the guitar. Combining these unique approaches with
his inherent feel, sensitivity and use of dynamics, Baughman is once
more left standing in the dock as one of the usual suspects charged
with committing excellent music to record. This time out, though,
Baughman expands beyond the heavily-worked Celtic realm, as reflected
in the collection's subtitle "Celtic, Appalachian and Swedish Guitar
Instrumentals". Indeed, he goes still further and includes an original
composition ("Bonnie Wahine") in what he calls the "burgeoning genre
called Celto-Hawaiian music". The ethereal Scottish tune "Roslyn
Castle" opens the album on a Celtic note with images of misty
mountains. Baughman reinvigorates the oft-recorded "Carolan's Draft" as
"One Draft Too Many", which he performs on a seven-string guitar.
Appalachia is represented by the fiddle tune "Hickory Jack", dating
from a 1937 field recording of a Kentucky fiddler. A nod to Sweden is
given on "Skalarna" and "Polska Efter Pelle Fors". Baughman embellishes
three selections with a second guitar, most beautifully on "Jer the
Rigger", a fiddle tune from Clare which he drastically slowed down from
it usually frantic pace to allow the melody to be fully realized. With
so much heavenly music here, it is difficult to guess which tracks the
angels will claim as their rightful portion.
©Patrick Grant
| Artist: |
Steve Baughman |
| Product Type: |
AMR CDs |
| Item #: |
SACD2021 |
| Price: |
$15.00 $10.05 |
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