Customer Reviews

One Morning - featuring Ronn McFarlane and Ayreheart

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Lutist McFarlane broke away from the early music ensemble The Baltimore Consort last year with his Grammy nominated crossover CD, Indigo Road, which is still the only album which remains year round on my MP3 player. I truly love that album.

I counted the days until his next project and it has finally been completed. Using some of the fellow musicians he used for Indigo Road, he has created a "band" named Ayreheart to accompany him on most of the tracks here. He has also added vocals for the first time. But these are "vocals" in the same category of vocals on Enya's CDs. There are words (they are listed in the enclosed booklet) but mostly they are there for atmosphere. (Listen to the final track - the "full band" performance of the title track - and see if you can decipher the words without the printed booklet. But this doesn't matter, or detract from the enjoyment of the album. Its all about the "sound".

Like its predecessor, One Morning contains a lot of acoustic "folk music". The opening track - the title song with just McFarlane on overdubbed lutes with some background percussion - reminds me of "Pinetops", my favorite track from Indigo Road. Later on comes "Union Bridge" which could be an updated Civil War tune. The real oddball track - which shows that McFarlane has a real sense of humor - id "Bad Hair Day" where his lute is accompanied by percussionist Danny Mallon on such "instruments" as a hair dryer, combs, rainstick, bodhram, hairspray and even a computer mouse! A real fun track to listen to.

If you liked Indigo Road, you'll love this follow-up. If you thought IR was a bit too "new-agey", you'll probably think the same of this one. Since I fall into the former camp, I'm so glad that the album is finally out. Now we only have to wait another year for the next one!

Steve Ramm

"Anything Phonographic"

ONE MORNING-Ronn McFarlane & Ayreheart-Dorian

World-renowned lute virtuoso Ronn McFarlane has taken time out from the Renaissance and Baroque repertoire which has made him (justifiably) famous and, with his group Ayreheart, has recorded a collection of his own compositions.

Aided by vocalist, Jessyka Luzzi, percussionist, Mattias Rucht, and flautist/harpist, Mindy Rosenfeld, Mr. McFarlane's arrangements have a modern, new-age acoustic sound. Special mention must be made of the work of bassist, Willard Morris, whose fretless electric bass has an Eberhard Weber-ish tone which serves as a perfect harmonic foil to Mr. McFarlane's lute-a truly unique combination.

The compositions, a blend of folk, jazz, and classical elements, are always melodic and much easier to listen to and enjoy than to categorize.

Overall, this is a very entertaining collection of songs. People looking for the ruffled shirt, "prithee m'lady"-type nostalgia approach will probably not care for it, but if you're a fan of newer music which is, at a minimum, consistently interesting (and, sometimes, flat out gorgeous), played by people who've thoroughly mastered their instruments, then "One Morning" by Ronn McFarlane and Ayreheart ought to go on your check-it-out list.

Highly recommended.

Oscar O. Veterano

Such exciting and inventive new music for the lute and accompanying instruments! The performance and recording are scintillating and exquisite. I especially love the song "One Morning" which is pure happiness and joy encapsulated! The entire CD creates an array of emotions and experiences and is truly memorable!

This is McFarlane's second CD of his own compositions. He is one of the few lutenists who carries on the true Historically Informed Performance tradition of playing his own works. Given the success of Indigo Road, which added other instruments to his solo lute works, Ayreheart was formed, adding other musicians with serious early music credentials. This is NOT Dowland or Weiss. This is modern music exploring the possibilities of Renaissance and Baroque instruments in a contemporary idiom.

Ronn McFarlane is an excellent lutenist, both with The Baltimore Consort and in his own right, with a fine range of Early Music releases.

Here however, he jumps with both feet into New Age/Easy Listening. The samples (which you can find on the MP3 album's listing) give a representative indication of the whole album, and if you like them, by all means buy it. To me, however -- an Early Music fan but not an Easy Listener -- all the material appears bland, unmemorable and unappealing. Your taste may of course differ.

Mr. McFarlane is aided by flute, harp, bass, percussion, strings and voice aahs, imaginatively deployed, and the playing, it has to be said, is impeccable.

The total time is 63:18.

I had heard a cut from this CD on WFMT our only classical music station in the Chicago area. I fell in love with it and with the help of Amazon, tracked it downb. I have since given the CD to my Tap teacher as I can imagine him flying across the floor to "Snapdragon".