Artists Around the World Album Review
Stephen Funk Pearson's Compositions for Guitar, Mandolin and More
Sep 3, 2009
Getting a copy of Artists Around the World, the latest album released by the classical guitarist and composer Stephen Funk Pearson, is like winning a free trip to the mountains for those who can’t afford a summer get-away in this economy.
As the title of his album suggests, Funk Pearson’s original compositions are performed by artists from around the world, including Europe, Australia, the Middle East and America. His use of traditionally pastoral or folk instruments transports listeners to secluded glades and dizzying mountaintops where only guitar, flute, mandolin, violin and the occasional marimba dare to intrude.
Track Listing: Nature’s Landscapes and Creatures
With track titles referencing Nature’s untouched landscapes and free-living creatures, Funk Pearson carefully recreates a musical world of meditative beauty. The album comes with a 12-page booklet featuring tidbits on each individual work. The track listing is as follows:
- Mountain Moor
- Elassomorph
- Copasfivah
- Mountain Morning – Poem
- Mountain Morning
- Jaringhe – Poem
- Jaringhe
- Mummychogs Le Monde
- Variegations
- Mountain Moor
- Sea Peace
Highlights from the Album: Elassamorph, Copasfivah, Mummychogs Le Monde, Sea Peace
“Elassomorph” may or may not be an allusion to Star Trek’s shape shifting allasomorphs, but the piece certainly slips and slides into ever-changing moods, from contemplative watery arpeggios to jazzy twang to good down-home Appalachian cheer. Funk Pearson explains in the liner notes that the erudite Greek roots “elastos” and “morph” are roped together by the colloquial “lasso” in a piecemeal representation of the American melting pot.
“Copasfivah” takes the music in a new direction, adding a mysterious marimba layer whose lower ranges rumble like wind across a bottle opening. The piece was composed for a marimba-guitar duo from France and Chile and represents an unusual but rich pairing of instruments.
“Mummychogs Le Monde” is a piece for four guitars, calling for nearly impromtu ensemble work as musicians enact the Native American word (mummychogs) for “traveling together.” Playing this piece is all about the journey, not the destination. The word is also the name of a fish found along the eastern seaboard.
The album concludes with a free-form encore entitled “Sea Peace.” The trio--on violin, mandolin and guitar--pluck, strum, pound and rub their instruments, eliciting a stream of contemporary art sounds reminiscent of Cowell and Cage.
Stephen Funk Pearson: Classical Guitarist and Composer
With musical parents, including a father who was a Professor of Music at Vassar College, Funk Pearson was bound to end up in music somehow. After studying at Vassar College and Hunter College, he attended the Aspen Music School and has won the top prize at the International Guitar Competition of Puerto Rico. Demonstrating a versatility in differing genres, he has performed with many folk, jazz and rock bands. He currently resides in Cambridge, MA. For more information, please visit Stephen Funk Pearson's website.
 |
