Gary Ryan has recently released a new CD entitled Visions and
Vistas.
The CD starts off with three ensemble works:
Generator (For 2 Guitars)
Dreams, Rest & Motion (For 2 Guitars)
Latin Cabaret (Showgirls) (For 3 Guitars)
All parts are played by Gary and recorded using multi track studio
recordings and are devoid of any electronic trickery. All recordings are
played on Gary's cedar lattice classical guitars made by luthier Stephen Hill.
Generator was originally written for Mark Eden and Chris Stell, while
Latin Cabaret was commissioned by the Appassionata Trio and also appears
on their 2005 CD Let Go
The CD then moves on to three solo works, the Scenes From Brazil:
Sugarloaf Mountain
Junglescape
Rio Bay
More solo works follow, three pieces which were conceived in part as
technical studies. Gary is not keen on the title "study", postulating
that it "often seems to stifle the imagination and perpetuate the myth
that somehow technique is detached from music making".
These three pieces go by the collective title of City Scenes:
Rush
Birds Flew Over The Spire
Metropolis
The CD concludes with two pieces influenced by Irish folk music and
ballads, collectively entitled Songs From Erin:
Out Of Clonmel
Lough Caragh
Out of Clonmel uses an unusual D, A, D, F#, A D tuning, allowing the 6
open strings to form a D major chord. Lough Caragh by contrast uses a
conventional drop D tuning. Both pieces were originally commissioned by
Rebecca Baulch and Lough Caragh was performed by Rebecca during the last Appassionata recital at the RSM in 2007.
The club has a box of CDs which are available, priced at only
£12. If you'd like a copy, please email
Gary Ryan has recently released a new CD entitled Visions and
Vistas.