{"id":7641,"date":"2017-08-22T16:54:04","date_gmt":"2017-08-22T23:54:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=7641"},"modified":"2017-08-23T14:22:29","modified_gmt":"2017-08-23T21:22:29","slug":"recent-releases-tuesday-new-albums-by-kenneth-meyer-flamenco-pacifico-and-jonathan-richards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/recent-releases-tuesday-new-albums-by-kenneth-meyer-flamenco-pacifico-and-jonathan-richards\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent Releases Tuesday: Intriguing Albums by Kenneth Meyer, Flamenco Pacifico, and Jonathan Richards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most Tuesdays we take a peak at recent albums or sheet music releases. Here are three of the CDs that have come into the\u00a0Classical Guitar<\/em>\u00a0office recently.<\/p>\n

If you have a CD you\u2019d like to submit to us, here\u2019s our address:<\/p>\n

Classical Guitar
\n501 Canal Blvd. suite J
\nRichmond, CA 94804-3505<\/p>\n

Some of the albums we talk about online will be reviewed in the magazine, some not. But we want to at least mention them here. You can listen to some of these on various of streaming services, but we always encourage you to support the artists by actually\u00a0buying<\/em>\u00a0anything you like! Obviously we cannot research and report every outlet or online business where these albums are sold, so check your favorite places that sell CDs and downloads!<\/p>\n

To see our previous listings, scroll to the bottom of the page.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u2014Blair Jackson<\/em><\/p>\n

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Draw the Strings Tight<\/strong><\/em>
\nKenneth Meyer<\/strong>
\nInnova Recordings<\/p>\n

I’ll be the first to admit that a lot of so-called “modern” guitar music leaves me cold. What can I say? I find some of the more anti-melodic and rhythmically chaotic pieces I hear ugly and off-putting, and no intellectual exegesis on their merits can convince me otherwise. I like music that draws me in and engages my emotions in some way. I’ve found, though, that there is large middle ground for me of modern pieces that don’t conform to traditional approaches to melody, harmony, rhythm, and structure, but which still compel and beguile me in that inexplicable way that great art of any kind does. This album by Kenneth Meyer<\/a>\u00a0is in that category of decidedly modern but seductive works; five were commissioned specifically for this recording.<\/p>\n

My gateway to being absorbed into Meyers’ world was a nearly 16-minute piece on the album called Roses Don’t Need Perfume<\/em>, written by Kevin Ernste. It’s a brilliantly evocative blend of harmonics, electronically manipulated tones from the guitar strings and body worthy of Meddle<\/em>-era Pink Floyd, rhythmic pulses, even some spoken word from Uruguayan writer and philosopher Eduardo Galeano. It’s quite a trip! Hans Werner Henze is the one composer on here I recognized: His Drei Tentos<\/em> offers three fragmentary miniatures I found quite stimulating and, ultimately, moving. The title piece, by Edie Hill, took me a little longer to get into because it so all over the map: It opens with jerky rhythms and slap-pulling of strings before settling into a steadier, almost sinister vibe, but it also includes some atmospheric brushing, a hypnotic section called “Waves are Coming In” that sounds surprisingly like that title, and a concluding movement, “Sound of the Big Sea Shells! Sound of Bells,” that is overtaken at points by some darkly Spanish intimations. Jesse Jones’ Ricordanza<\/em>, traverses several moods and intriguing musical textures over its ten-and-a-half minutes, and the concluding five-part suite by Nicholas Scherzinger, Offering of the Five Senses<\/em>, is another kaleidoscopic journey, each movement a distinct entity, with moments of consonance and dissonance, concluding in a spiritually nourishing four-minute harmonic meditation. Highly recommended for folks looking for something out of the ordinary!<\/p>\n

\u00a0A Still More Excellent Way <\/em>(Piorkowski); Draw the Strings Tight<\/em> (Hill); Roses Don\u2019t Need Perfume<\/em> (Ernste); Drei Tentos<\/em> (Henze); Ricordanza<\/em> (Jones); Offering of the Five Senses<\/em> (Scherzinger)<\/p>\n

Meyer’s album can be purchased through Innova<\/a>, Amazon<\/a>, and iTunes<\/a>, and heard on Spotify<\/a>, Apple Music, and YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Below, Meyer plays part of <\/em>Ricordanza:<\/em><\/p>\n