new guitarists : Clarelynn Rose

Heartwood Music Clarelynn Rose : The Redwood Sidthe -solo acoustic guitar- (US,2003)****

Fingerestylist Clarelyn Rose in her acoustic guitar style, was greatly influenced by John Renbourne, with similar clear melodic picking and at least some folk inspirations, and by Alex de Grassi -like jazzy fluent warmth. Just here and there slightly folk/Celtic inspirations occur or with accidental similarities. Clarelynn’s style is in fact always graceful and elegant, with emotionally strong melodic evolutions, mused with a structural recognisable character also with certain open structural evolutions. She found some of her more intuitive and emotionally conceived ideas confirmed in a book called "Zen Guitar", like an organically playing into the structure of practice and the importance of inspiration during the disciplined learning and developing process, giving an importance to the “feels right” fundament. Most titles are inspired by nature and natural environment. –Let us not forget how the guitar has partly the sound of ‘wood’-. In respect for the forest resources 10% of the profit from this CD is donated to environmental education programs. Recommended, and a perfect listen.

Audio : "The Redwood Sidthe" (or here), "Across the Pond" (or here), "Miles", "Bai Ma (White Horse)",

"Rain Forest Rain", "Green Heron", "Lake Oswego Moon" (or here),

"Diamond Creek", "Redwood Dawn", "Catwalk", "Amithaba (Buddha)", "Offering"

Other Audiopage : http://www.emusic.com/album/10845/10845610.html

Webpage : http://artists.iuma.com/IUMA/Bands/Clarelynn_Rose/

Other reviews : http://www.windandwire.com/clarelynn_rose.htm#redwood

& http://www.guitar9.com/theredwoodsidthe.html

http://cdbaby.com/cd/clarelynnr & http://www.heartwoodmusic.com/reviews.htm

Article : http://www.13thfret.com/aotm/aotm_clarelynn.shtml

About 'Zen guitar' : http://www.heartwoodmusic.com/zenguitar.htm

Heartwood Music Clarelynn Rose : Meadow Run -solo guitar & Baroque lute (US,2004)****'

One could say that with John Renbourne’s developments on guitar he surely showed a new possibility in English folk and old music traditions, for acoustic guitar. It is mostly this approach which inspired Clarelynn Rose to compose this consistent album.

If I hear well in this way there's one layer of a light folk melody and an accompanying more bass melody ("GuiGui", "West Wind", "Headlands",...). The beautiful "White Roots" composition is played on 13 stringed Baroque lute with a similar technique, a track with I think a late Baroque/early Renaissance influence. (-Carelynn had studied briefly lute at the Lute Society of American seminar in 2004-). Various compositions after this (like "Phoenix", "Night Tide" and "Dust Dance") have slightly more complex, -ever fluent-, melodies or slightly different fingerpicking techniques, all with a similar melodic charm and delicacy. Last track is a "A Jig For John", showing the technique I mentioned earlier in its full complexity with the light melodic pleasantness still intact. Recommended !

-Besides being a guitarist Clarelynn also is a professional forester with cooperative projects to protect forests in China and US. (just imagine how in China all ancient trees were destroyed ; so it was rather late to work on a certain consciouness)-

Audio : "GuiGui" (or here), "West Wind", "Headlands" (or here), "Meadow Run", "The Honey Song",

"South Wind", "White Roots" (or here), "Phoenix", "Night Tide", "Dust Dance", "The Road to Roberton",

"A Jig For John"

Homepage : http://www.heartwoodmusic.com/

Bio : http://www.songpeddler.com/ClarelynnRose/index.asp

Interview : http://www.windandwire.com/april/clarelynn.htm

Small article : http://www.guitar9.com/undiscov42b.html