Album Notes

Out of the Woodwork:
Eclectic Modern Compositions for the Acoustic Guitar
All compositions written by Lawrence M. Blatt
All instruments played by Lawrence M. Blatt
Recorded in Boulder, Colorado and Healdsburg, California
Digital Mixing and Mastering by Gary Mankin (Knob & Tube)
All Tracks Copyright: LMB Music


Mark S. Tucker of the Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange Webzine has written a review of Lawrence Blatt's album "Out of the Woodwork"

"Lawrence Blatt is a fingerpicker much interested in the more progressive aspects of the instrument within a purely instrumental milieu. He possesses a polished style glowing with light and introspective intelligence but also casting defining shadows.." said Tucker.

The review goes on to highlight the detailed aspect of many of the compositions including: "Where Have you Gone", "Out of the Woodwork", "Walking Alone " and "Under the Sun".

Tucker compares Blatt's style to several guitar masters " Blatt crosses the mid-ground of Alex DeGrassi and the more involved Fahey while picking up, as many unknowingly have, the sort of post-folk intelligence shown by the procession of Al Stewart's accompanists (Peter Wood et. al.) and by Stewart himself. Then like Carl Weingarten, one of the nearly-unknown masters in modern guitar work, he challenges himself even further, producing a couple of slack-key songs. In the main, however, Blatt keeps to a DAGDAD tuning with EVD Custom Acoustic and Wingert Parlor Acoustic guitars, bass and percussives bringing up the background, and an occasional very light synth coloring the corners. Some songs are solo workouts, others layered, but all show a cohesive effort to bolster the ability of the guitar to speak persuasively outside genre norms."

The complet review can be found at :
http://www.acousticmusic.com/fame/p04141.htm


Prologue:

This series of recordings has many beginnings. To really understand my musical compositions I guess I have to start at the real beginning, that is, the beginning of my interest in music. In the 1960’s, I was growing up in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California. Like all kids at that time, I played baseball, morning, noon and night and I obsessed over the Dodgers. But there was something else brewing inside me and by the age of eight, I had an intense yearning to play the violin. I know that sounds weird however something inside me was begging to play. After several months of pleading with my parents, they agreed to let me play and found a wonderful teacher. My teacher was at least eighty years old, fairly disheveled, always traveled with a violin and a viola and would come to our apartment for my weekly one hour lessons and would stay two to three hours or until my parents kicked him out. He would hand-write all music from memory on staff paper and he built within me a strong sense of musical logic with his explanation of scales and chord theory. I did not know it at the time but he was building the foundation of my musical landscape.

One strong concept that he stressed was music based on theme and variation—more on that later. As I grew older, I continued my interest in the violin and I found myself playing in the Indianapolis Youth Symphony and attended orchestral music camp in the summers. Playing in the symphony exposed me to the great composers such as Mozart, Bach, Mendelssohn and my favorite, Bernhard Heiden. Playing classical music reinforced the foundation that I learned as a child. Much of classical music is based on the concept of theme and variation where an initial musical passage is replayed by various instruments sometimes in slightly different patterns or in a different key. If you listen to my compositions, you will hear theme and variation throughout including the use of Passacaglia where a repeating baseline is used for the entire piece. Listen to “Step Down Then Up Again” for this repeating baseline layered upon a common musical theme. Also, “Say Hello to Yesterday” and “Jason’s Party” both in the key of G-major are rooted in 18th Century classical sensibilities.

Along the way, I picked up the guitar and bass. Like most kids growing up in the 70’s, I was attracted to the sound of Neil Young on his breakthrough acoustic album “Harvest” and I learned every guitar part by painstakingly replaying each track on my turntable. I also learned to play James Taylor, Cat Stevens and of course all of the Led Zeppelin acoustic licks (don’t ask me to play “Stairway to Heaven” again--please).

Living in Indiana, I was exposed to Bluegrass and Country Music and I still remember pickin-and-grinning with Jeff W. and the boys at parties and on his porch in Carmel, Indiana. I was also exposed to music which has a unique feature of moving from major to minor chords in a single passage. You can strongly hear this influence on the title track to this CD “Out of the Woodwork” as well as on “Where Have You Gone”, “Walking Alone” and “Under the Sun”. Listen to these compositions and see if you can hear the blending of major and minor chords to achieve a mysterious quality and a hint of sadness.

While in college I performed in local clubs, coffee houses and bars performing mostly singer song-writer style original compositions with Mitch E.. I also participated in organized music as the bass player for the Indiana University Girl’s Ensemble Choir (not a bad gig) and I took a few music courses as electives at the Indiana University School of Music. Many of my singer-song writer compositions can be found on my first album “Dreaming of the Past” which I released independently in 2000.

For many years, I played with a guitar plectrum or pick and did not know much about harmonics, percussive qualities of the guitar or the enormous variability in the tone of an acoustic guitar when played with different techniques. But all this changed as my adult musical awakening occurred while I was living in Boulder, Colorado. Basically on a whim, I attended a musical workshop of guitar masters Laurence Juber and Brian Gore. Both are modern finger-style acoustic guitar players that utilize classical and modern techniques to coax a never ending array of sounds and tones out of their guitars. They taught me to play with only my fingers and to utilize alternative open tunings such as DADGAD and Drop-D. These open tunings facilitate playing a rich accompaniment with a melody line by a single guitar soloist. I use the DADGAD tuning on most of my compositions on this album and in many cases; I am playing a single guitar with both lead and accompaniment at once. I also learned how to open up the percussive qualities of my guitar with the techniques of “slapping harmonics” and “soundboard tapping”. Listen for these techniques on “Jason’s Party”, “Out of the Woodwork”, “Walking Alone” and “Z-Squared”.

The story of my musical journey would not be complete without some discussion of my guitars. Like many people, I suffer from GAS (Guitar Acquisition Syndrome) and I will only say that the number of guitars that I have is way too many and not nearly enough. The steel-string-guitar is basically a modern instrument and we are now living in the “Golden-Age” of guitar making. Put more simply, guitars made today are the best guitars ever made. Leading this revolution in guitar making is a number of small independent luthiers (literally “the makers of lutes”) that produce between ten and twenty guitars per year. I am fortunate to own several guitars made by independent luthiers and I used two very special guitars on this album. The first is a custom steel-string guitar made by Edward Dick (http://www.evd303.com/guitars.html). This guitar has a spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides. It’s slightly bell-shaped body produces a warm deep sound. I waited almost eighteen months for this guitar to be completed and I worked very closely with Edward during the construction to build the guitar to my exact specifications. The second guitar I used was a small bodied-12-fret parlor guitar made by Kathy Wingert (http://www.wingertguitars.com/guitar03.shtml) with a German spruce top and Brazilian rosewood back and sides. This tiny guitar packs a powerful punch and was the inspiration for the title track to this CD “Out of the Woodwork”. The parlor guitar also can be played sweetly as on “Say Hello to Yesterday”, “Step Down Then Up Again” and “The Road to Poipu”.

Please try to listen to this album, at least once, in its entirety as the compositions are carefully ordered to take you on a journey of my musical world. I hope you enjoy my music.


Compositions:

It’s Not Baroque
Time: 0.56
Tuning: DADGAD
Instrument(s): EVD Custom Acoustic Guitar

This composition evokes memories of a Baroque string quartet utilizing chords and scales that are not commonly employed in modern music. Try to listen for the droning of the D strings and the harmonic overtones of the minor-6th chords as this short melody crescendos to a conclusion. In choosing “It’s Not Baroque” to open the CD, I have tried to select something that will set the stage for a relaxing adventure through my musical world.

Jason’s Party
Time: 3.27
Tuning: DADGAD
Instrument(s): EVD Custom Acoustic Guitar: Tacoma Thunderchief Acoustic Bass; Various Percussion Instruments

Jason is one of my son Zack’s best friends and I played guitar for a very special party for him held at his home. While playing at the party, this melody evolved from an improvisation and captures the joy and celebration of the moment. A special thanks to Howard Simon for loaning me his Tacoma Thunderchief acoustic bass that had just the right tonal quality to complement the guitar phrasing.

Say Hello to Yesterday
Time: 4.16
Tuning: Standard
Instrument(s): Wingert Parlor Acoustic Guitar

This is basically a compilation of many melodies that I have been carrying around since I was about sixteen years old. Initially, I play the first melody in duplicates followed by a short duet played over the melody line. The bridge is a little melody I first came up with in high school which nicely transitions back to the original introduction. I call it “Say Hello to Yesterday” as these melodies remind me of days past.

Where Have You Gone?
Time: 3.30
Tuning: DADGAD
Instrument(s): EVD Custom Acoustic Guitar, Fender Electric Jazz Bass, Various Percussion Instruments

As we grow older we inevitably experience the loss of family and friends through death. Both Elyse and I have experienced loss of family and friends in recent years. This composition evokes the emotions of that loss. See if you can hear the sadness, denial, anger, and finally acceptance of the difficulties of facing the death of loved-ones as this composition moves musically and emotively forward.

Step Down Then Up Again
Time: 2.56
Tuning: Drop-D
Instrument(s): Wingert Parlor Acoustic Guitar

We have two children, Zack and Zoe, who are very close in age and were toddlers both learning to walk at nearly the same time. This composition is my musical impression of them learning to walk stepping down then up again. Metaphorically, the key of this composition moves from D down to C and the up again to D. In the last phrase there is a short duet symbolic of toddler Zack and sister Zoe walking together. See if you can guess who is who…

Out of the Woodwork
Time: 2.14
Tuning: Standard
Instrument(s): Wingert Parlor Acoustic Guitar, Various Percussion Instruments, Yamaha Synthesizer (Ahs)

Anyone who knows me knows that I travel a great deal. The basic melody for this composition came to me on a trip to overseas as I was walking towards an ancient city. The title “Out of the Woodwork” signifies the huge sound both melodic and percussive that came out of my tiny Wingert Parlor guitar. If you listen closely you can even hear the guitar sing as the song ends.

Walking Alone
Time: 2.28
Tuning: DADGAD
Instrument(s): EVD Custom Acoustic Guitar, Various Percussion Instruments

Sometimes we must face life alone. This composition is a journey through adversity and triumph. It is based on theme and variation and utilizes some harmonic and percussive techniques. This was my first original composition in the DADGAD tuning.

Here We Go
Time: 3.30
Tuning: DADGAD
Instrument(s): EVD Custom Acoustic Guitar, Fender Electric Jazz Bass, Various Percussion Instruments

About four years ago my family and I moved from Boulder, Colorado to San Francisco, California. Our journey back to California was a bit difficult due to the need for me to be at my new job as soon as possible, I commuted from Boulder to San Francisco for about 4 months. In the process of moving, I made two driving trips to San Francisco from Boulder. This composition was written somewhere between Colorado and Nevada on one of those trips.

Standing in the Rain
Time: 2.28
Tuning: DADGAD
Instrument(s): EVD Custom Acoustic Guitar

Rain can be cleansing and sometimes a good walk in the rain can clear your mind and open up new possibilities. Anyone who lives in Northern California knows that we have no shortage of rain in our maritime environment. The melody for this composition came to me while standing in the rain and was written on my John How (http://www.johnhowguitars.com/FP.html) finger-style guitar (not used in the recording). It is probably the most difficult piece to play on this album and I think of it as a “Jungle-Gym” workout for the fingers.

Z-Squared
Time: 2.15
Tuning: DADGAD
Instrument(s): EVD Custom Acoustic Guitar, Fender Electric Jazz Bass, Various Percussion Instruments

We have two children, Zack and Zoe both with different personalities and dispositions. This composition utilizes a recurrent theme with an intermittent bridge that may seem at first to be at odds with one another but in the end comes together—just like Zack and Zoe or Z-Squared.


Under the Sun
Time: 1.56
Tuning: DADGAD
Instrument(s): EVD Custom Acoustic Guitar, Various Percussion Instruments

This melody came to me while walking along a beautiful hillside in Northern Italy on a warm spring day. Movement from major to minor chords gives it an ancient tonal quality. The initial background percussion ticking is a kitchen glass played with the hammer from my triangle. I didn’t break it!


The Road to Poipu
Time: 4.38
Tuning: Hawaiian Open G (Taro-patch)
Instrument(s): Wingert Parlor Acoustic Guitar, Various Percussion Instruments

Hawaiian guitar grew out of an era when the Paniolo (the Hawaiian cowboys) were taught their trade from the Mexican vaqueros. In the year 1832, cattlemen from Mexico were hired by King Kamehameha III to teach the Hawaiians the art of cattle ranching. The Mexican vaqueros brought many things with them and one was the guitar. The Hawaiians found the standard tuning of the guitar to be troublesome and soon learned to tune down the guitar to slack key or literally “loose tuning”. I have always been intrigued by the ringing and harmonic open sound of slack key (ki ho’alu) guitar and on a trip to the island of Kauai, I stopped at a local guitar shop and asked if someone could show me slack key tuning. I was introduced to an older guy named Bruddah John who promptly tuned his guitar to DGDGBD. He handed me the guitar and said “This is Hawaiian tuning—now play”. The road to Poipu is my first composition in Hawaiian taro-patch tuning.


Keiki Lullaby
Time: 1.42
Tuning: Standard Hawaiian
Instrument(s): Island Ukulele Acoustic Concert Model

I bought a beautiful Hawaiian Koa Concert Ukulele on another trip to Kauai. The Ukulele was made by Raymond Rapozo of Island Ukulele (http://www.koaukulele.com/). Sometimes an instrument has a song just waiting to come out. I picked up my concert Ukulele and Kieki (children’s) Lullaby just came out. This composition was recorded with one take and two microphones.

Acknowledgements and other stuff

Thanks to Elyse, Zack and Zoe for putting up with late night recording sessions and for giving me the time to complete this project. Thanks to Gary Mankin sound engineer extraordinaire at Knob & Tube for taking the time out of his busy schedule to mix and master this CD. Gary is a real genius and made my poor recordings at least audible. Thanks to Edward Dick and Kathy Wingert for making my beautiful guitars. Thanks to all of my music teachers over all of the years: at least some of what you tried to teach me stuck. Thanks to all of you for listening to my CD. If you like what you heard and want me to play at your special event, please contact me at lmbmusic@gmail.com. You can also send me questions and comments

LB