GUITAR ARTISTRY OF WOODY MANN: SONGS FROM THE BLUES

Woody Mann

Mann has absorbed so many guitar styles that he can change moods on a dime, weaving lyrical single string lines and chord harmonies that can take his tunes across the musical divides between genres. - Acoustic Guitar Magazine

Among guitarists and critics, Woody Mann is considered a modern master. While the blues are his touchstone, he seems to draw inspiration from every direction, blending a myriad of influences with ease and grace. Pioneering guitar legend John Fahey said it well: "You can hear classical, jazz and blues approaches somehow converging into a single sparkling sound a sound completely his own. Woody takes a fresh approach to his blues re-creations and his own compositions defy category. If there was a category simply called 'great music' Woody's music would belong there."

In "Songs From the Blues", Woody showcases his songs that are inspired by his love for the country blues and early jazz styles but brings the past up to the present with his original gui-tar style and contemporary songwriting. Mann's wizardry on the fretboard is matched by his ability to convey deep feelings with his songs - creating moods that incite, delight, or simply soothe. Mann blurs the lines between jazz, blues, classical, and world mu-sic, creating his own sound in the process. Attempts to categorize his music simply miss the point. This is brilliant playing that demands to be heard. - Sing Out Magazine

Woody took his first musical schooling as a teenager in the living room of Reverend Gary Davis, the legendary blues, gospel and ragtime guitarist. He soon went on to perform and record with blues masters Son House and Bukka White, British great Jo Anne Kelly and fingerstyle innovator John Fahey while studying classical music at the Juilliard School and jazz improvisation with the legend-ary pianist Lennie Tristano. Since those early years, he has toured throughout the world, recorded extensively, performed with blues and jazz legends, conducted workshops in a dozen countries, and schooled countless guitarists through his many books and DVDs. He has become one of the worlds renowned guitar masters with his own contemporary improvisational style.

Every now and then, you hear a guitarist whose sound is completely his own and whose music flirts with several styles, never resting for very long with just one. Woody Mann is an artist who seems to have internalized many different genres and combined them in a way that is more than the sum of its parts. What is remarkable is how he can draw from several styles and techniques within a single song and have them blend without the feeling of inconsistency. - Musician Magazine

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