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DAN
CHADBURN |
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A
mix of original piano improvisations and refined traditional religious
hymns, Held In The Light is an intimate-sounding, all
instrumental solo album, released in late 2017 / early 2018 by Maryland-based
recording artist Dan Chadburn. In his brief yet insightful
CD liner notes, Dan states that among his fondest memories remain
as a youngster attending church every Sunday morning with his parents
and also playing church organ in the same church. Also in the Held
In The Light liner notes, Dans parents are also praised
in as being an encouraging factor in his musical career. As always
on his unique sounding piano albums, Dan makes you feel hes
performing just for you, with a rare musical gift that often times
sets him apart in a field of crowded competitors. With its up close
and personal studio sound, Held In The Light was recorded in
Sedona Arizona with mixing and mastering engineer Joe Bongiorno
and the album was co-produced by Dan and longtime partner Tom
Nichols. What is even more amazing on Held In The Light
is how Dan recreates a kind of hallowed spirit and aura of these hymns
that he first heard and played so early on in his life. Many of the
hymns, as revoiced for piano by Dan, date back to the late 1800s
although, in his approach to playing them as instrumentals, Dan also
shows how important the chord structures were and still are to 20th
century music and even to rock music. For example, track nine is Dans
solo instrumental version of the famous hymn Morning Has Broken,
which dates back to 1931 when it was first heard and appreciated later,
in recent times in a mass consciousness kind of way, thanks to Rick
Wakemans piano performance and composed piano solo in the song
covered as a pop song on the 1971 Cat Stevens album Teaser And
The Firecat. As Dan intended it to be, each of these hymns has
a rich and unique history and, while ten of the 13 tracks on Held
In The Light are Dans own piano versions of these timeless
hymns, three of the tracksincluding the title trackare
actually recent, original piano improvisations composed by Dan. All
of Dans albums are filled with a rich, sonic texture and fine
attention to detail and with Held In The Light, Dan Chadburn
reaches yet a new level of piano artistry. www.danchadburn.com
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