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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 Porteņo (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 Porteņas" 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 Porteņo, 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 Porteņo) 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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