CD Reviews

No Shadows CD Review

After several album releases featuring her Celtic harp, tin whistle, piano, oboe, autoharp and psaltery skills in addition to mountain dulcimer, Lorinda Jones has at long last released an entire album featuring the mountain dulcimer as the lead instrument on each track.  It was well worth the wait.  No Shadows was recorded in its entirety in one long session in early February and I'm guessing the title means that a local groundhog did not see his shadow.  He was probably enraptured by the sweet sounds anyway and, had he seen his shadow, it would not have been a shadow of and serious doubt about the music.   Lorinda's playing is typically terrific, tremendously tasteful, totally titillating, and, as always, suits my ear to ... wait for it ... a 'T'.    The songs are mostly traditional American folk favorites with some beautiful old hymns and a couple of Celtic tunes thrown in for good measure but Lorinda's treatment of these venerable old tunes is anything but business as usual.  Her arrangements are different in that special way that sets good players apart from the ordinary.  She has also surrounded herself with some very capable people like Rob Smith on mandolin and cello, Dell Harris on guitar, Gary Gallier on dulcimer and udu (hedu a fine job as engineer too!), Brenda Brooks on hammered dulcimer and flute, Rob Harris on fiddle, and Jean Ham on harmony dulcimer.  Lorinda also plays whistle and recorder but her versatility extends well beyond just playing a room full of instruments.  She flatpicks hot fiddle tunes with the best of them; she fingerpicks slow ballads with the gentle touch of the wonderful harpist she is; and she unleashes her dujo (a cross between a dulcimer and a banjo) on a lively Irish jig.  Not least, her inventive arrangements give her supporting cast plenty of room to shine too.   This is a classic dulcimer album that should find its way into your collection.

 

 

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Night Cap CD Review

From Dulcimer Players News, Spring 1998:

Another of the great new releases that came in while I was enjoying Maddie's grace period is from Kentuckian Lorinda Jones.  On Night Cap, Lorinda plays (a deep breath, please) Celtic harp, oboe, mountain dulcimer, English horn, tin whistle, autoharp, bowed psaltery, tenor recorder, flute, and piano.  Ginger Harden helps by adding another half dozen instruments from mandolin to bodhra'n and Dave McKellep adds guitar.  Lorinda's dulcimer playing is great, of course, but it's just part of the story here as her harp and oboe add wonderful textures to the music that never seems cluttered or rushed.   The album is filled with lovely "just one more before we go to bed" melodies and lullabies from Celtic, American, and even classical sources.  Another wonderful resource for you "tune hounds."

 

 

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Cozy Corner Review

"Thank you for the CDs.  They are a fine addition to our shop, shelves, and sound!"

Cozy Corner, Kentucky

 

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Cottages & Castles CD review

Kentucky's Lorinda Jones and her friends who call themselves Just By Chance, have released a lovely collection of Irish and Scottish traditional music played on hammered and mountain dulcimer, Celtic harp, whistles, recorders, flute, violin, cello, English horn, piano, oboe, mandolin, and guitar. Cottages and Castles is filled with marvelous arrangements that seamlessly weave the various instrumental textures into a very cohesive whole. The music is contemplative, peaceful and serene for the most part with frequent injections of sprightly dance rhythms that make this a complete and utter delight to experience. Lorinda's Celtic harp playing is just terrific and along with Brenda Brooks hammered dulcimer, generally states each theme. Close your eyes and you can almost see a leaf floating down a quiet brook, encountering a gentle massage by Rob Smith's languorous violin or cello and then being buffeted by a playful whistle or recorder or Dell Harris' rhythmic guitar accompaniment, making it bob and weave for a moment before breaks free and, undamaged, makes its way back into calm water. That's what I saw anyway. Your mileage may vary but I suspect you'll enjoy letting these folks create your own custom image as you lose yourself in the music.

 

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Wow, what can I say.  Just took a workshop under Lorinda at E-town this past weekend.  Great workshop, learned a lot.  Bought two CDs...they are really great and am so glad to find them.  They are very peaceful CDs that I will use to relax.

 

DGL, Lexington, KY

 

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Acoustic Accord CD Review

Kentuckian, Lorinda Jones is nationally known as a solo performer, a very much in demand and outstanding teacher, a very busy recording artist and as a Board Certified Music Therapist. She specializes in Celtic and American traditional music and plays Celtic (Irish style) harp, mountain dulcimer, and tin whistle, along with a variety of other folk instruments. In Acoustic Accord, she teams up with Bruce Adair who has studied guitar with likes of Pat Kirtley and Eddie Pennington, both stalwarts of the Kentucky "thumbpicking" school of guitar playing. In Acoustic Accord, Bruce plays guitar, mandolin, ukulele and bouzouki while Kelsie Westfall adds bass, fiddle, and mandolin to the mix. Acoustic Accord, their first recording, features a somewhat eclectic mixture of tunes ranging from ancient harp tunes of Ireland and Scotland to American mountain music, bluegrass, ragtime, and gospel.  The tunes certainly come from a variety of sources, but they all have a peaceful, easy feeling that is the trademark sound of Acoustic Accord. Lorinda's dulcimer playing is very solid. She appropriately takes a leading role on most of the traditional tunes like Sonny's Mazurka and The Gypsy Rover and gets to play some great harmony lines when Bruce shows off his fingerpicking skills on tunes like I Am a Pilgrim and Pete Seeger's Living in the Country. Other tunes like Blue Moon of Kentucky and Happy Trails aren't songs you hear every day on the dulcimer and are very welcome additions to my list of songs to learn. If you like Celtic harp, Lorinda's version of Beaumont Rag is killer. This is a totally delightful recording that manages to be very relaxing and stimulating at the same time.  I'm guessing that it will find a permanent place in your CD rotation

 

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