Labyrinth

Labyrinth Artist: Doug Smith
Label: Solid Air
Category: Music



Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Format: Extra tracks
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1


UPC: 614145200524
EAN: 0614145200524
ASIN: B00004TLNK


Release Date: 2000-07-11

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Tracks:

  1. Sunday Sonata
  2. Lost In The Here and Now
  3. Traveling Tune
  4. A Fine Line
  5. When the Walls Fell
  6. Shadowcasting
  7. Prelude to Blueskies
  8. BLueskies Mt Hood
  9. Labyrinth
  10. Hammerhead
  11. Evening Prayer
  12. Deep Heart
  13. Two Handed Paradox

Similar Items:

  1. Order of Magnitude
  2. Alone Again
  3. Alone at Last

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars The finest album so far, by the finest player around.......2003-09-13

Doug Smith's music is very accessible, yet complex. His playing is perfection, yet his technique is not in-your-face virtuosity. Like Mozart and Bach, his tunes are the kind you can hum along with, yet they reward repeated listenings. I enjoy Doug's music so much that I made the trek (pilgrimage?) to Portland just to take some lessons from him. That's how much I think of this man's music. So my advice to all lovers of acoustic guitar is: BUY EVERYTHING DOUG SMITH HAS RECORDED! Other top recommended CD's are Order of Magnitude and Alone Again. If there were any justice in the world, Doug Smith would be a household name.

4 out of 5 stars Consistently lovely and rich.......2001-02-28

As with _Order of Magnitude_, this is a decade-old release (1992) from American Gramaphone that the Acoustic Music Resource is to be congratulated for reissuing in 2000. _Labyrinth_ opens with a very pleasant cut, "Sunday Sonata," which was composed at the request of Chip Davis for his 1991 _Sunday Morning Coffee_ collection. There, Smith did it solo; here, the happy theme is backed by light percussion, drums, keyboard, violin, and synthesizer.

"When the Walls Fell" is the album's show piece, with rich, thoughtful opening chords that pick up energy, falter, try to recover, ponder ... then are shoved into the urgent main theme by the drummer. During the break, the band drops away to leave Smith picking furiously in a high-speed train rhythm. Darol Anger's violin makes a pleading guest appearance late in the game.

By contrast, "Shadowcasting" is a good-natured, medium bounce with congas, maracas, and wood sticks supporting the guitar. Other listeners may be drawn to "Blueskies Mt. Hood," a refreshing piece with the flute swooping and flying; the peppy, feisty solo "Hammerhead"; or "Evening Prayer," a pretty and pensive theme to which producer John Archer added the subtle vocal harmonies (and an impossibly high solo soprano) of the Higher Gospel Praise Singers of Omaha.

Archer has added two cuts from the fine but out-of-print _Deep Heart_ album: the title tune, which is a lightly Romantic classical piece whose theme might have come from Chopin or Debussy; and the energized "Two Handed Paradox," with its grumbling 6/8 switching to a Celtic reel in 9/8 and back again.

There is no such thing as a bad Doug Smith piece: some are "merely" good, others are better. All are whole pieces of work, none could be designated a throwaway. (I'm also impressed by the care and accuracy with which Smith names his compositions.)

It's nearly impossible to rate one Smith album over another. Like his individual compositions, they strike me as remarkably consistent. I may like this cut more than that one, but as a whole, the albums come in fairly even for me. So if you like one, you'll like them all.

4 out of 5 stars A good release from an acoustic master.......2000-09-14

"Labyrinth" is a solid disk that features the excellent playing of Doug Smith.

It's not as compelling as his "Order of Magnitude" album, in that the compositions are not as inspired. It does, however, have its own uplifting moments, and Smith's sheer talent in performance shines throughout.

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