|
Acclaimed
Canadian fingerstylist Art Turner didn't take up
the guitar until age 31, but the award-winning
photographer and former motocross racer evidently
made up for lost time. On his fourth release,
Sonora, Turner spirits the listener into a world of
shapeshifting instrumental mood pieces; some solo
acoustic, others as collaborations with several of
North America's elite instrumentalists.
Turner favors the
rich, resonant palette of open tunings and seems to
relish exploring the acoustic guitar's sonic
versatility. Perhaps owing to his other avocations,
Turner's compositions embody picturesque, kinetic,
and adventurous qualities. His technique is
formidable, but he's the flip side of a technician,
more interested in evocative emotional impact than
virtuosity. As a conjurer of sonic scenes, Turner
experiments with melodies, textures, and tempos,
blending bold, percussive strokes with supple
filigree.
Turner
occasionally introduces a piece with a slow, rich
figure that hangs in the air in anticipation of the
melody. His plucked notes at the end of a run are
often given the space to sustain sweetly in the air
until they dissipate, followed by a bubbly froth of
notes as a fresh musical idea blooms.
Much of Sonora
unfolds like the score to a waking dream, as Turner
skews formal song structures to create a more
impressionistic, cinematic effect. Each track
conjures a sophisticated mood, at times reflective,
and other times boldly extroverted. "Drive" is an
acoustic joy ride in which guitar and fretless bass
swirl around a recurring staccato riff. Feverish
fiddle work animates "Chicken Man" with frenetic
grace. "Matrika" is a gorgeous duet between guitar
and viola that evokes a sense of winsome
melancholy.
Sonora often
calls to mind the innovative spirit of Michael
Hedges, a sensation that's underscored on half the
album's tracks by the legato lines of fretless
bassist and longtime Hedges foil Michael Manring.
Several other collaborators contribute to the
beautiful melodic conversations on the record,
including violinists Hugh Marsh (Loreena McKennitt,
Bruce Cockburn) and Jeremy Penner, violist Richard
Moody, and cellist Ann Bourne (Jane Siberry,
Loreena McKennitt). The collective impact of the
resulting interplay transcends genre, and feels
light with improvisational spirit and
lyricism.
The openness of
the record invites the listener to respond to the
music in a personal way. One could easily savor the
music in-between headphones or enjoy it
peripherally as background music. Either way,
Turner's "sonorous" effort is a treat. Let's hope
he doesn't find a new hobby anytime soon.
Jim Kirlin,
Taylor Guitars (Wood
and Steel Magazine, Fall 2006)
"Definitely at
the top of my list for acoustic guitar
wizards."
Kerry Clarke,
Artistic Director, Calgary
Folk Music Festival
"Here is the high
art of the solo guitar: big, bold, atmospheric;
percussive, lyrical, full-frontal, tranquil;
meditative, incendiary... In the heart and hands of
Art Turner, we hear the hegemony of Hedges, the
fleet fingerwork of Fahey, the blaze of Basho, and
lyricism of Lang... And underneath it all, never
very far from the surface, the sure-handed skills
of one hell of a steel-string picker."
Jurgen Gothe,
DiscDrive, CBC Radio 2
"The fingerstyle
art of guitar playing by Turner is feverishly
bright and achingly beautiful."
Dirty Linen
"Art
is a great guitar player."
Kelly Joe
Phelps
"Winnipeg's
acoustic guitar god Art Turner seemingly has only
himself to compete with as his notoriety expands
outside the boundaries of this province, and indeed
the country. His fourth album is front-to-back
virtuosity and his easy-rolling songs paint
pictures with their errant flow and fluid delivery.
It makes sense, as Turner is a steady-handed
photographer as well -- the album sleeve is
littered with tiny examples of his captures. Like
his music, the images are by turn playful, stark,
questioning and evocative, which is what sets him
apart from a whole raft of his less-than-thrilling
contemporaries."
Winnipeg Free
Press, June 24, 2006
"From delicate
self-penned Celtic airs to emboldened and darkly
grooving tunes, Art Turner's latest offering
delivers music for those wishing to sit back and
relax or delve into his rich world of instrumental
guitar compositions... like a weary traveller the
listener can let Art's landscapes drift past the
window or stop the bus and ramble within the
music's forested riches."
David Ross
MacDonald (the Waifs)
"Strange and
dreamy..."
Acoustic
Guitar
"Art Turner's
release Jade is full of music as dense and
alluring as the fabled green stone. The notes flow
out of him with the freshness, kineticism, and
exploratory urgency of winter runoff surging down a
mountain stream.
With a rich and
resonant sound he plays a string of original,
melodically strong and restlessly inventive
explorations that follow many paths but always end
up somewhere. Nimble and adventurous, his complex
fingerpicking produces waves of notes and his tone
is marvellous.
His playing is
incandescent, his tunes seething with life's moods
and drives. They don't always follow a strict
melody line, but seem to search around for
interesting moments, stopping here and there to
nail the moods in a passionate embrace with his
superb technical command, and then move on again
and again. This disc is a great listen."
-- David Ingram,
Penguin
Eggs
(Summer 2004)
"Art's music
makes me think of highways, open spaces and long,
star-filled nights. I hear in it a sense of place.
Music like this is a joy to play -- open and
evocative. In this world I have the feeling that
anything can happen."
Michael Manring
"Red Havens
Rising is
an awesome record."
Dean
Magraw
"Both the music
on Art Turner's Story Water and the inspiration and
courage that brought it to life are remarkable. Art
has gathered some of the finest players in the
scene to collaborate on this, his debut
recording."
Will
Ackerman
Founder, Windham
Hill Records
"An amazing
artist... Utterly unique, with a wonderful musical
sensibility."
Mitch
Podolak
Founder,
Vancouver Folk Festival
"One of the
finest fingerstyle guitarists working in Canada
today."
Dawson City Music Festival
"Art Turner
didn't pick up a guitar until he was 31 years old,
because he was too busy racing professional
motocross and taking artistically renowned
photographs. But lest you think that you can't
teach an old dog new tricks, consider this: over
the last ten years, Turner has blossomed into one
of Canada's finest guitarists, a fixture on CBC
Radio and the folk festival circuit, and a
critically acclaimed composer."
Winnipeg Folk
Festival 2004
"I
booked Art Turner into my music festival a couple
of years ago even before I was able to make it
through the first track of his solo CD,
Red Havens
Rising.
Art thrilled us all with his stellar performances,
a keen wit and a unique, fluid style. Art's
compositions are totally original, aural landscapes
that transform listeners into a bucolic altered
state. Sophisticated riffs, cool arpeggios and
dazzling techniques, his music is pure joy with
which to sit back and become uplifted."
Jamie Kelley
Artistic
Director, Rootsfest, Victoria, B.C.
"There's no
question that Art paints an aural landscape that
lets the listener go far beyond their living room
loudspeakers and on to other places. He is a
formidable artist with a wide palette."
Bill
Garrett
Borealis
Records
"More classy
fingerstyle guitar music from Art Turner, this time
without the safety net of his usual all-star backup
band. This is the perfect soundtrack for a
beautiful/bleak, sunny but frigid winter
day."
Bartley Kives,
Winnipeg Free Press (re: Jade)
Art Turner's is
one of my favourite Manitoba music stories. He's a
motocross racer/photographer turned guitarist who
picked up the guitar seriously at age 31 and has
achieved international acclaim for his energetic,
rousing finger-picking guitar style. On his first
two discs, Turner employed other musicians but
Jade finds the performer simply out
there -- all alone with his guitar and his talent.
He doesn't disappoint at all and will fill the room
with beautiful sounds, using the entire neck of his
guitar and playing percussively with almost
palpable energy and aggression (just check out
Good
Hands for
an idea of what an acoustic guitar can do).
Jade will only help to cement Turner's
burgeoning reputation.
RATING:
"A"
John Kendle,
Uptown
Art Turner's
passionate approach to the guitar has been
described as "aboriginoceltic fingerstyle
worldfolk." Jade, his first solo guitar album, is a
very satisfying effort. The opening track,
"Dragondance," typifies his approach, which is full
of percussive effects... and themes that evoke
western landscapes. Turner chooses his influences
well: "Berkeley Springs" recalls Ed Gerhard, while
two other pieces, "Good Hands" and "The Lone Ranger
and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven," show similarities
to Peter Finger. Art Turner's reputation is growing
rapidly in Canada, and he's likely to gain a wider
audience with this disc.
© Pat
Ragains, Minor 7th, January 2004
"Turner's original music is what
you'd imagine your soul to sing out on a long train
trip, or while staring out your bedroom window at
midnight. His guitar compositions remind me that
there is more to my spirit than a passing
reflection in a storefront window. Turner's music
is poetry without words, carrying a shade of spirit
that unifies us all."
Sienna
Wildfield
WPKN Radio,
Bridgeport, CT
Red Havens
Rising is
the kind of CD a friend is likely to pull out of
his backpack after a satisfying campfire meal,
introducing it by saying, "You've GOT to hear this
- it's the perfect music for conversation and
star-watching..." Turner exhibits some of what's
come to be known as the Windham Hill sound, but is
more than few cuts above, at best evoking memories
of work by guitar whizzes like Steve Hackett and
Alex De Grassi. Without wanting to lapse into
cliche, it could be said that Turner's music
simulates or evokes something some of us see too
rarely these days: the natural world. Or you could
say it combines a vivid landscape (Turner lives on
a Canadian prairie) with man at his most sensitive.
And how can that be bad? Turner's not that well
known south of the Canadian border. It would be a
shame if it stayed that way, and only people with
musically savvy camping buddies got to bask in
these lovely and stimulating sounds.
Mary Leary,
Folkwax
Electricity has
done wonders in service of music. But, as
demonstrated by the second volume of
Six
Strings North of the Border,an all-acoustic,
all-Canadian, most-all instrumental compilation,
amplification is not only overrated, it is not even
preferred. There are jigs, ragtime and swinging
numbers here, but the album's strongest moments are
its atmospheric ballads. From the bustling train of
Terry Tufts's Dorval's Descent to the Orient Express of
Art Turner's Invitation to Circumstance,
from the
feel-good fiddle of Zubot & Dawson to Alex
Houghton's brooding Dear Peace, emotions are pulled,
plucked and brushed just as the strings are. The
juice, then, is no life-blood, and when an album
like this comes along, we are reminded that the
music-body electric is often better left
unplugged.
Brad Wheeler,
The Globe
and Mail,
Feb. 6, 2003
"Turner's debut is a powerful
collection of original guitar compositions... an
extremely listenable album of musical soundscapes
from an artist whose vision and talents have yet to
fully awaken."
Canadian Musician
"...definitely
not some wimpy new age soundscape...
Story
Water
shows the beginning of an interesting musical
imagination at work."
Dirty
Linen
"An amazing album
of virtuosic guitar and violin. ...easily one of
the finest acoustic ensembles of the past
decade."
Alternate Music Press
"...lilting,
poignant... a must-hear for those interested in
intelligent, sensitive instrumentals full of soul
and passion."
Innerviews
"Remarkable... a
glorious set of instrumental tunes."
The
Winnipeg Sun
"Majestic
instrumentals that explore the connection between
space and place."
Winnipeg Free Press
"Highly
percussive, mysterious and meditative... All pieces
represent an outstanding ambiance and depth. With
seven original pieces and four covers Art Turner
manages to keep the listener involved in his
inspiring pieces full of remarkable techniques.
Jade is a satisfying journey with nice
sound palettes full of echoing depths of a skilled
solo steel-string acoustic player."
Henk te
Veldhuis
Bridge Guitar
Reviews, Netherlands
"Wonderful! One
of my most pleasant surprises this year."
Pierre Guerin,
Winnipeg Folk Festival 2000
|
