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- The Sea & The Sky review, Fish Records What on paper looks like an odd pairing of Jonathan Byrd and Dromedary (winner of the 2003 Kerville New Folk competition and celebrated multi-instrumental duo respectively) has resulted in one of the most striking and distinct albums to come our way over the past few years. While obviously a contemporary folk album in its lyrical approach with strong characters, stories and imagery, the backing is different to almost everything that’s come before. The use of charango, flamenco guitar and cumbus that feature amongst the more standard guitars, fiddle, mandolin and dulcimer gives the disc an individual sound and it creates some sublime moments of instrumental and vocal interplay. more >> - The Sea & The Sky review, The Harvard Independent The Sea and the Sky, realized in two days of live group performances in the studio, reads more like a theatrical performance. Singer-songwriter/director Jonathan Byrd conceived the album as an interrelated whole, brought it to the "cast," world music duo Dromedary, and toured it before audiences up and down the coast before fixing it to disc. The theatrical context suits Byrd's writing, distinctive not only for the imagery of its lyrics but the imagery of its instrumental parts. Even in his straight-up Americana recordings, Byrd's focus has always tended more toward the overall color of the sound than either horizontal or vertical composition. The variety of instrumental textures and musical traditions employed by Dromedary facilitate a full, rich interpretation of Byrd's writing, in which the songs often function like jazz charts, leaving plenty of room for individual improvisation. If George Russell and his contemporaries had applied their bebop theory to folk music, it might have sounded something like The Sea and the Sky. more >> - 'Wildflowers' review by David Potorti, Independent Weekly - 'Wildflowers' review by The Columbia Gypsy - The Chapel Hill Herald Sun (free membership required) |
