Regular Columnists

Artist: Scott Morris
Website: http://www.scottmorris.net/
Genre: Classical Guitar
CD Review:
For those who aren’t aware of the simple beauty of the solo classical guitar, after 50 minutes with Scott, you will be. The fingers are busy and crafty. Joaquin Rodrigo’s ‘Invocation y Danza’ proves this point in elegant fashion; a spry 8 minutes as only the Spanish guitar can claim.

From the age of 9 Morris has been playing; studying from So. California to Austria, soaking up all disciplines and godly forms to keep his performances progressing. Indeed, the man is a master of education, always seeking more, from his summers at the Aspen Music Festival to classes with the famed Eliot Fisk, Anthony Newman and beyond. The dedication politely oozes forth from the strings with every compositional achievement.

One of the most courtly sets on this release must be the re-acquaintance with Paganini’s Sonatas that take up the bulk of the track list, though they are the short and sweet airs that leave room for other delights, though not greater ones. A bouncy touch is given to these quaint exercises in romantic notions without becoming freestyle or obsessed with ornamentation. Morris knows enough to let the music speak, being himself a first class translator.

Andrew York’s collection of ‘Reflections’ is like the sunset of the album. After the main busyment of the day, there is a time to purge moods and sit and tinker with thoughts. Thinking is wonderfully underscored with this trilogy of softies, an almost new age skimming off of the harsher elements. What we are left with is one man and his guitar, and the deserted country fields that stretch.

Scott’s next cd will be full of new and known classical works from the 20th and 21st centuries. And I for one will only be too pleased to lay ears on it.