David Tanenbaum: Record Reviews

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Acoustic Counterpoint (1991)

Awards:

• Critics Choice: 25 best CD's or the last 25 years Allan Ulrich, San Francisco Examiner

• The Desert-Isle Top 100 (5 Classical): Acoustic Guitar Magazine

Reviews:

• "Spectacular...palpable warmth and emotional power...masterful phrasing and exquisite tone...the quality of the playing is beyond reproach." Peter Golub, CD Review

• "If you don't believe that we are living in a golden age of guitar music, listen to David Tanenbaum...the quality is uniformly high." Joseph McLellan, The Washington Post

• "What Segovia was to the emotional side of the guitar, Tanenbaum is to the intellectual...This record should be in the hands of every fledgling guitar student...Tanenbaum is a brilliant interpreter." R. Ellis, American Record Guide

• "...stunning authority and personality...this is an important album...do we, perhaps, have a new Bream here?" George Warren, Guitar Review

• "...the collection we've all been waiting for, a provocative and deeply moving anthology of important recent works by one of the Bay Area's and the country's most adventurous performers." Allan Ulrich, San Francisco Examiner

• "Tanenbaum proves he is on the cutting edge of contemporary classical guitar music and is one of its most accomplished players." Jim Ferguson, Guitar Player

• "Excellent" Lesley Valdes, Knight -Ridder News Service

• "Guitarist David Tanenbaum is well-known in the Bay Area as (among other things) a first-rate interpreter of contemporary scores, and the five works on this disc, all of them dating from the 1980's, benefit from his crisp technique and sharp musical insight." Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

• "****" Stephanie Von Buchau, Oakland Tribune

• "Marvelous" Paul Hertelendy, San Jose Mercury News

• "A brilliant album" Fanfare

Estudios(1991)

• "Tanenbaum undertakes a formidable workload, yielding 108 minutes of some of the best recorded classical guitar ever." Tom Mullhern, Guitar Player

• "This double disc recording should become part of our instrument's heritage...a milestone...Tanenbaum uses musical technique everywhere. He's got the prowess in abundance, and knows when and how to use it. This intelligence pervades the whole recording." Chris Kilvington, Classical Guitar

• "Each stunning new release takes Tanenbaum one step further in establishing himself as the premier guitarist of his generation...no guitarist will want to be without it...He finds a balance that's both emotionally and intellectually rewarding. Few guitarists ever garner my complete, undying respect. Tanenbaum has earned it." R.Ellis, American Record Guide

Royal Winter Music(1989)

• "Tanenbaum has not yet received the attention he deserves from record companies...glowing, meticulously shaped readings." Allan Ulrich, San Francisco Examiner

• "Throughout, Tanenbaum shows a profound understanding of Henze's unique musical language and rises above the incipient technical difficulties to produce a transcendent, organic performance that breathes with every phrase." Jim Ferguson, Guitar Player

• "He doesn't allow a single detail to pass unnoticed. His attentive ear fine-tunes the score's suggestions in imaginative and gratifying ways...It would take a whole bag of tricks to outwit Bream in his element, yet Tanenbaum gives me the most Henze for the money. His playing is whimsical and complex like the characters that the guitar portrays." R.Ellis, American record Guide

• "Tanenbaum is simply one of the best guitarists around. Everything he does commands respect." Colin Cooper, Classical Guitar

The Perilous Chapel (1993)

Award:

• Top 10 Classical CD's of 1993- San Francisco Chronicle

Reviews:

• "superb renditions" Joe Gore, Guitar Player

• "any composer would be lucky to have an advocate like guitarist David Tanenbaum whose luscious, pointed playing is featured most prominently..." Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

• "Tanenbaum weaves a magical spell" Allan Ulrich, San Francisco Examiner

• "Sensational...superb" Heuwell Tircuit, In Tune

• "*****...incredible range of music transposed for acoustic guitar. Lulling, lilting, joyous, minimalist, its seven parts evoke all of Harrison's interests. Korean modes, tuned water bowls, Flamenco, finger cymbals, Indian music all weaved together by Tanenbaum's energetic guitar...superb" Mark Prendergast, Classic CD Lute Masterworks (1987)

• "As the rest of the civilized world already knows, Tanenbaum is one of the more exciting musicians to emerge from the Bay Area in recent years. In his first recorded recital...Tanenbaum's playing is remarkably blandishing in passage work,. uncommonly patrician in overall effect." Allan Ulrich, San Francisco Examiner

• "A strong debut" Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

Great American Guitar Solo (1994)

• "technique is exemplary and is always placed at the service of the music. The result is a recording that is sympathetic, revelatory, and highly satisfying on all fronts... His mission is to enlarge musical perceptions, and toward that end, he succeeds admirably. This release ought not to be passed up by any serious guitar aficionado, classical or otherwise." William Zagorski, American Record Guide

• "Imaginative, ingenious and expertly performed." Joseph McLellan, The Washington Post

• "Tanenbaum plays with compassion, precision and great depth of understanding" John Schneider, Soundboard Magazine

El Porteño (1994)

• "San Francisco's ace guitarist meets the late Argentine master of El Nuevo Tango, and the results both soothe and sizzle...Tanenbaum's suave readings make them all sound natural to the stringed instrument." Allan Ulrich, San Francisco Examiner

• "A very fine release...technically excellent...The gem of the 12 pieces is 'Triston', a 4 1/2 minute work of Bach-like serenity that someone will no doubt turn into a film score, so haunting is its simple elegance." Jeff Bradley, The Denver Post

• "The four arrangements by Sergio Assad that comprise "Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas" bring Piazzolla's music into a new light that emphasizes both the darkness of his melodies and the diversity of his influences, particularly the early jazz and ragtime of the United States that subtlety inspired his work." Cliff Furnald, CMJ New Music Report

• "David Tanenbaum, the Berkeley-based guitarist, displays his pristine technique, his swinging soul and his good taste...Beautiful, clean sound." Stephanie von Buchau, The Oakland Tribune

• " ***** Languorous, melodious and rhythmically varied, Astor Piazzolla's music comes seductively to life on this gorgeous disc by San Francisco guitarist David Tanenbaum...Tanenbaum's playing is lively and exquisitely pointed." Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

• "*****" Peter Paffgen, Gitarre und Laute

• "On El Porteño, noted classical guitarist David Tanenbaum provides a unique glimpse at the steely skeleton of the Nuevo Tango...Tanenbaum wisely avoids any tango-type flourishes, and instead delivers precise, delicate readings that...underscore the chord-structure and melodic richness that give this music its weight." Glen Hirschberg, Creative Loafing

• "Superb" Karl Quinn, Sydney and Melbourne Weekly

• "David Tanenbaum's playing is stylish and sensuous, elegantly serving Piazzolla's intentions." Robert Carl, Fanfare

• "I'd put this CD on a shortlist of required listening for (in a perfect world) a mandatory five-year apprenticeship in the recording of music." Mike Silverton, Fanfare

• "...it took someone of Tanenbaum's musical caliber to draw out the fire and passion of the late Argentinian composer, Astor Piazzolla. (El Porteño) is an alluring trip through a cauldron of sensuality, marrying the feverish rhythms of the tango with the personal intimacy of the guitar." May Kongfong, Ink Nineteen

• "gorgeous, capturing every drenching bit of the Argentinean passion, while somehow refining the lines: a tango in silks, a tango in satins...you'll love it (listen by candlelight in a bubblebath)." Yellow Silk

• "spirited and technically fluent.. the bright daylight of his interpretations ...reveals finely wrought stylistic details" John Schneider, Soundboard Magazine

• "...if you never thought that the guitar lent itself to this steamy dance form, then this disc will come as an auditory revelation. ...His feel for dynamics and nuance is coupled with an intensity that brings the pieces across with fire in every note." Christopher Gaynor, Santa Cruz Sentinel

David Tanenbaum (1997)

• "A strong candidate for Record of the Year." Stephanie von Buchau, Oakland Tribune.

• "Bay City Best-Top Picks for the Coming Week Guitarist David Tanenbaum is one of the singular musicians who calls the Bay Area home. He is also one of those rare artists who has inspired for his instrument a repertory that transcends the baroque transciptions and Spanish miniatures that have kept many listeners from taking the guitar seriously...An acoustical treat." Allan Ulrich, San Francisco Examiner.
• ***1/2 ...it's inspiring to hear Tanenbaum's cavalcade of new guitar music...This collection manages to be both challenging and soothing." Joseph Woodard, Los Angeles Times.
• "Superb...uniformly well played." Jeff Bradley, The Denver Post.
• "Guitarist David Tanenbaum's exciting new recital disc is a reminder of two facts about him that are well-known: the breadth of his musical taste and the deceptively low-key mastery of his playing...the disc is chockablock with surprises throughout...All of (it) is rendered with such quiet precision and amiability that the depth of Tanenbaum's interpretations can sneak up on you." Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

The Book of Abbeyozzud (1999)

• Amazon.com Picks The Book of Abbeyozzud as No. 4 on its Best of 1999 CD's!
• "After Terry Riley's revolutionary In C, it certainly never seemed that the compositionally brash cofounder of the minimalist movement would take on a lyrical bent. But that's what he's done on this collection of pieces for violin, guitar, and percussion. Violinist Tracy Silverman and guitarist David Tanenbaum play warmly and sublimely on Cantos Desiertos, finding pristine melodies and high, arching curves around which to spread their finesse. Tanenbaum gets unbelievably rich tones from his guitar, and his range is the one consistent ingredient throughout these pieces. He duets with Riley's son Gyan, himself an accomplished guitarist, on "Zamorra" and with percussionist William Winant on Dias de los Muertos. Winant's marimba and gongs are especially appropriate for Tanenbaum's resonant string work, fluctuating from an absolute crispness to a milky froth. Where Riley's chamber works, such as Salome Dances for Peace, are intensely rhythmic, these works veer much more stealthily toward a kind of glorious flowering, even if the blooms are in dusky colors and muted, curvy patterns." --Andrew Bartlett
• "The appeal of this disc lies in the playing of guitarist David Tanenbaum. Lord, does that man make a classical guitar sing and dance. His dynamic range is astonishing, his melodic exuberance scarely less so." -- Joshua Kosman, Sf Chronicle
• "The lyricism of Cantos Desiertos is most immediately striking. It is a lovely five-part invention...It helps, for sure, that the players are superbly adept...If the two closing solos by tanenbaum are the most concentrated music on the disc, that's because he is clearly at one with Riley's rather cheerful mysticism." -- Richard Cook, The Wire
• "The Book of Abbeyozzud stands as one more example of how Riley subtly integrates an extraordinary range of cultural influences, musical forms, and emotional states into his music. It also underscores another crucial aspect of Riley's career; he may live in a remote rural enclave, but everything he does-from composing to performing to teaching-seems inextricably bound to a sense of community. His genius is individual, but he relishesexpressing it through genuinely collaborative ventures." -- Derek Richardson, San Francisco Bay Guardian

• "Riley has transformed himself into a master of guitar composition equally at ease writing chamber music or works for the solo instrument.  The CD begins with a magnificent guitar and violin duo ... which brims with energy and drive ... and the guitar solos, especially the rhapsodic Ascencion, present a soundscape that is spectacularly inventive.  David Tanenbaum and the other musicians on this disc (Gyan Riley is the composer's son) deliver with great conviction.  In Terry Riley, the guitar has found a new voice capable of making a substantial contribubution to the repertoire."  James Reid, Soundboard.

Serenado-Lou Harrison (2003)

"superlative...a delectable collection of Harrison's guitar pieces performed with vigor and sensitivity by David Tanenbaum."--Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

" Tanenbaum, who premiered the work [Nek Chand] at Other Minds Festival in 2002, plays it with both flash and warmth. So far, this is my CD of the year. --T. Hashimoto, San Francisco Examiner

"David Tanenbaum, who is one of the Bay Area's finest guitarists, arranged all the material, and he gives each piece a beautifully articulate performance."--Georgia Rowe, Contra Costa Times

"A triumph"---T. Hashimoto, San Francisco Examiner

"It is no surprise that following the death of Lou Harrison, one of the great champions of modern music on the guitar should provide a retrospective recording of Harrison's idiosyncratic contributions to the repertoire. Housed in New Albion's earth-toned, stylish packaging which, like the composer, entices the consumer with casual wildness, the new recording also surprises, as the composer did, with an intellectual rigor and honesty often obscured by outside appearances.

"Over the last thirty years, no one has done more for new music on the guitar than David Tanenbaum. Henze, Riley (Elder, younger), Harrison, and Kernis have all found champion, friend and interpreter in Tanenbaum..Tanenbaums excellent program notes provide the background for his remarkable performance...The great spaces in these works are a test for any guitarist - but Tanenbaum maintains a larger musical conception of these works that keeps one centered in the work.

The centerpiece of the Tanenbaum's disc is the Scenes from Nek Chand a haunting work for steel guitar. Much like the aforementioned Threnody and Plaint the work is built on remarkably open vistas. But Tanenbaums deft sliding creates connections between the notes not possible on classical guitar. Finally, the long lines are not hinted at but connected. Like a set of dots on a page that once only hinted at an image, they are now connected giving us a complete picture of the work."

Andrew Hull-Guitarra Magazine

 

    

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