Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Heavy Mellow, Horizons CD review by Ceci Redmann Whitehurst


Review of “Horizons” CD by “Heavy Mellow” by Ceci Redmann Whitehurst

I recently bought two Heavy Mellow CDs and am seriously enjoying listening to them!
“Who the hell is Heavy Mellow?” you might ask.


Well, “ Heavy Mellow is Barry Sulkin and Paul Hadley Davis. Sulkin plays finger-style guitars - six and twelve-string steel, classical, and dobro - in a variety of tunings, along with mandolin and harmonica. Davis plays lead guitar, mandolin, bass, and keys. … they started Heavy Mellow as a side project to pursue original instrumental music and fill requests for live performances in smaller settings. They continue to play and record, working out of Nashville and western North Carolina.” www.magnatune.com

“Acoustic based Heavy Mellow is a relaxing blend of folk, jazz, grass and classical. Combining finger-style, rhythm and lead, this instrumental string music creates a sound that the name implies, not fitting neatly into any one genre.” www.magnatune.com

I couldn’t agree more, and yet I am going to try to fit them not-so-neatly into several categories.

Listening to the more recent CD, “Horizons”(2007), I did some free-association and jotted down what went through my mind, including the following descriptors: lilting, relaxing, peppy, rhythmic, melancholic, bittersweet, pensive, fun, lovely, instrumental - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band meets Segovia meets Donovan meets George Harrison meets George Winston meets the Romero Brothers meets the Doobie Brothers-type genre.

If you close your eyes while listening to one of the songs, “Sangria”, you’ll envision John Singer Sargent’s “El Jaleo” painting. If you aren’t familiar with it, here it is.



The two guitarists complement each other and blend playfully, creatively, wonderfully--

“…just simple lines intertwining, you know, very much like … influenced by Mozart and Bach, and it's sort of in between those, really. It's like a Mach piece, really.” (ok, that’s from Spinal Tap)

KNOWING I could not adequately critique this music in my own words, I decided that the best thing would be to try to describe the “essence” of “Heavy Mellow”, like a gifted sommelier might do with a special wine. So, I found a suitable article about wine, and replaced the word “wine” with “Heavy Mellow”. The result is an eerily perceptive and accurate description of Heavy Mellow’s delightful, unique, and complicated musical stylings. Read on...

Heavy Mellow” and partying go hand in hand. A dinner party that does not have “Heavy Mellow” seems to be incomplete. “Heavy Mellow” lightens your head and enlivens your mood, without any great risks of your getting drunk. So popular is “Heavy Mellow” amongst people that many of the great personalities; like Benjamin Franklin and William Shakespeare, have written or said great quotes about it. These quotes, when shared while (listening to) “Heavy Mellow”, add to the whole experience. Keeping this in mind, we have provided some very funny and witty quotations about “Heavy Mellow”, in the lines below.

Heavy Mellow” is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy. - Benjamin Franklin 

Heavy Mellow” is bottled poetry. - Robert Louis Stevenson
 
Heavy Mellow” gives a man nothing... it only puts in motion what had been locked up in frost. - Samuel Johnson 

Heavy Mellow” gives courage and makes men more apt for passion. - Ovid

 “Heavy Mellow” is a good familiar creature if it be well used. - William Shakespeare

Heavy Mellow” makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilized. - Andre Simon

What is better than to sit at the end of the day and (listen to) “Heavy Mellow” with friends, or substitutes for friends! - James Joyce

If God forbade “Heavy Mellow”, would He have made “Heavy Mellow”, so good! - Cardinal Richelieu

Where there is plenty of “Heavy Mellow”, sorrow and worry take wing. - Anonymous

Well, that’s my review!!! I really am enjoying the music immensely. I think you will too!
See for yourself.  “Heavy Mellow” is available at www.magnatune.com/artists/heavy_mellow  
 and www.itunes.apple.com/us/album/horizons/id257933022 and who knows where else.
 Just surf the web!

Once again, Thank You Ceci! Stay Tuned for more Great CD reviews by Ceci in the near future..

1 comment:

Ceciredhurst said...

Thank YOU Joey for posting this!