Customer Reviews

String Planet

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This is the group String Planet's debut album (self-titled) which has an unusual sound because the primary instruments are viola (a big violin) and Chapman Stick (a guitar and bass combined as one instrument) backed by assorted hand drums. Plus two songs have vocals (special guest Lauren Wood should have been a star like Linda Ronstadt 20 years ago). It's a cross-genre sound combining new age, classical crossover, folk and world. The sound of strings is their thing. You may remember viola master Novi Novog and Stick player Larry Tuttle as members of the instrumental string-ensemble Freeway Philharmonic or the vocal group Soulskin. Novi also is a well-known session musician who has played with many big-name pop and rock acts. Novi and Larry grew up playing classical music initially and that heritage is obvious. One tune, "The Race," even features a classical string quartet. This is soft, melodic music with propelling world-music-sounding drums underneath and lots of viola improvisation over the top. Great interplay between the Stick and the viola.

I love this music. I find the strings and the Stick very interesting and compatible. My wife was very close to Novi's sister, Elyse, the artist who did the pottery on the cover of the album, so I am probably biased, but I don't think you can go wrong buying this album.