Search - Ronn McFarlane :: Indigo Road

Spectacular

J. Shahwan | Maplewood, NJ USA | 01/14/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard a sampling of this music while driving home from work. It so caught my attention that I pulled over and wrote the name of the album and immediately ordered it when I arrived home. The music is surprising and haunting -- not what you'd expect at all. For those who enjoy renaissance music, this will both delight and astound! A true find. Jay."

Beautiful -- the lute is a living instrument...

S. McCrea | Henderson, NV United States | 01/22/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"...in McFarlane's hands. He's an excellent lutenist, his attack clean and crisp. The music is smooth and relaxing, reminding, in an odd way, of Ottmar Leibert's more reflective moments. Let's hope we can expect more original lute compositions from him.



From the ethereal, meditative "Catheral Cave" to the virtuoso show-piece "Blue Norther", he demonstrates a deep knowledge, and mastery, of the instruments potentialities. But the best part is: he's shown the instrument is very much alive as a vehicle of contemporary expression; that lutenists need not rely on the huge backlog of brilliant music from the 14th-18th centuries.



While the album isn't entirely lute music, there is some light keyboards (somewhat reminiscent of Windham Hill, as another reviewer noted, as well, in my opinion, as that of Narada) some largely decorative percussion (e.g. castanets on "Rosa"), the lute dominates to point to there everything else is basically a grace note.



Hopefully, on future albums, Mr. McFarlane will dispense with the superfluities and let the lute speak for itself.



Don't get me wrong, I love lute music from all periods, but after 1750 the lute went into rapid decline. (like Baroque music, the lute went into decline after its greatest composer/performer, Sylvius Leopold Weiss, died in that year, the same as the Great Bach--whose own lute compositions were influenced heavily by the former). Whereas after the mid-18th century the ability to play the the pianoforte (and then piano) was an absolute requirement for anyone claiming to be a gentleman, or gentlelady, the same was true for the five centuries before with the lute. Even kings and queens frequently played; one story, perhaps apocryphal, holds that Henry VIII wrote the holiday perennial "Greensleeves"; tho' one does wonder between all the marriages, mistresses, beheadings and misgovernment he could have had anytime for musical composition. Be that as it may, tablature, a simplified system using lines and numbers to teach the musically "illiterate" how to quickly play any piece--it can be found in present-day guitar magazines to teach wannabe Jimmy Page's to play without spending a year or so mastering the complexities of traditional notation.



I hope this album stimulates other composers to write new pieces for the Grandfather of the Guitar (and the son of the 'ud). HIGHLY recommended."

Excellent Lute Music

Bruce E. Roberts | California | 10/09/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a very nice, pleasant listen to a master Lute player. I enjoy listening to it very much. He is a genius on the Lute and the music is very relaxing."