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More about this CD |
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| Anne Hamersky |
CURRENT PROJECTS THE WEBSTERS AND SCOTT NYGAARD A few years ago, the wondrous Webster sisters, Chris and Cassie, two of the San Francisco Bay Area’s best singers in any style, joined forces with eclectic flatpicking guitar virtuoso Scott Nygaard to reinvent traditional songs from the Appalachian mountains, as well as a few choice gems from the great American songbook. In addition to the traditional repertoire Chris, Cassie, and Scott have been exploring, original material from Webster and Nygaard round out the set, and the whole thing is held together by the remarkably versatile Cindy Browne on bass. If that weren’t enough they are often joined by fiddling phenom Brittany Haas, who is also featured on the group’s CD. 10,000 Miles. Since Cassie moved to Montreal, and Brittany is now a freshman at Princeton, the Websters and Scott Nygaard don't get around as much as they used to. But Cassie, Chris, and Scott have been doing some gigs as a trio and intend to explore this approach further. |
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 More about this CD |
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| Anne Hamersky |
DAROL ANGER’S REPUBLIC OF STRINGS For 25 years, Darol Anger has been reinventing the American string ensemble to incorporate his explorations into American traditional, bluegrass, jazz and world musics. With the Republic of Strings, in collaboration with guitar master Scott Nygaard, the limits of the string quartet are once again exploded. As with the seminal Turtle Island String Quartet, where Anger's inventiveness helped to radically alter string quartet repertoire and technique, Darol Anger's Republic of Strings looks to the future of the string quartet and the string band, bringing the two forms together to invent something entirely new. A repertoire drawn from Anger's award-winning original compositions and Nygaard's own intriguing tunes, along with a selection of traditional music from as far away as Appalachia, Sweden, Brazil and Mali, showcases the Republic of String's virtuosity, open-heartedness and irresistible sense of fun. For more information Click here ". . . a genre-defying repertoire requiring bluegrass' rhythmic tenacity, jazz's improvisational wit, chamber music's dynamic control, and the emotional commitment of the blues." The Republic of Strings second CD, Generation Nation, features tunes by Scott, Darol, Vasen, Ian Carr, Ornette Coleman, the Yellowjackets, Rushad Eggleston, Stephen Stills, Aretha Franklin, Trad, and special guest vocalists Aoife O'Donovan, Marsha Genensky, and Chris Webster. DAROS gigs these days may feature any of a number of fiddlers (Brittany Haas, Tashina Clarridge, Jeremy Kittel, Gabe Witcher, Sara Watkins), cellists (Tristan Clarridge, Rushad Eggleston), and/or vocalists (Sara, Chris Webster, Terry Pinkham). And when we're lucky bassist Bryn Davies shows up to rock our socks off. |