Peter Lang
Quotes/Reviews
Quotes/Reviews
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Quotes/Reviews |
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Discovered by guitar legend John Fahey in 1972, Lang is one of the finest acoustic fingerstyle players in the nationa true master. His songs are complex, mercurial, lyrical, and fluid. After 20 years in absence from recording and performing . . . he's back with an excellent new CD Guitar. A rare mustsee show for fans of fingerstyle guitar. The Village Voice May 2004 BEST OF THE REST: …Significant for fans of John Fahey's American Primitive Guitar language is the appearance of Peter Lang, a pillar of Fahey's Takoma label in the '70s. Lang was off the radar from the late '70s till the early '00s, but his reemergence has come with not a hint of rust. His newest disc, last years GUITAR (Horus) is flatout gorgeous and powerfully evocative. Time Out New York May 2004 "…this soulful, selfproduced release reveals he never stopped writing for, or playing this guitar. That melodically rich engrossing magic is still all over the place even though it's been a quarter of a century since his last studio sessions. Nothing pretentious, streamlined, or newagey here. Simply genius at work as a guitar master delivers his best album to date." Sing Out Oct/Nov 2002 Lang has returned to the Guitar Fold with Dharma Blues an album that displays his fragile fingerpicking, vicious slide work, and an uncanny ability to mix his virtuostic technique with tenderness and soul" Guitar Player Magazine June 2002 "Flag waving: Acoustic Guitarist Peter Lang is releasing Dharma Blues his first album of new original material since 1978. Well remembered for his '70s work for John Fahey's Takoma Records has essentially been out of the music business since the early '80s. Lang walks down that road anew on Dharma Blues. He cites the work of such country Bluesmen as Blind Boy Fuller, Blind Blake, Rev. Gary Davis, and Mississippi John Hurt as the principal influences on his dizzying fingerpicking." Billboard Feb 23 2002 "While Minnesota guitarist Peter Lang may not be as wellknown as Leo Kottke, or even the late John Fahey, he is nonetheless one of a handful of acoustic guitarists who defined new American styles in the 1960s and '70s by drawing from this country's own rich musical heritage, and going deep into musical esoterica from around the globe, particularly the Near, Middle, and Far Eastern musical cultures. . . the two memorials on the album, "Snaker Ray Has Come and Gone," and "Witness to the Messenger" written for Dave Ray and John Fahey, respectively, are absolutely groundbreaking in their use of Eastern tonalities, muddy Delta blues, and shimmering textural devices. But more than this, they are poetic, elegant, and deeply moving. To say that Lang's Guitar is literate is to far understate the case. This is guitar music that matters because it is played not only with technical acumen and a sense of history, but with an aesthetic that celebrates and pushes the tradition in new directions". AMG December 2003 "Lang was just a kid out of Venice, Calf. Whom Fahey discovered and championed on a couple of releases, including one featuring the two of them as well as Kottke which became Takoma's best selling record. . . Lang is back with Dharma Blues, a 12 track, 50minute instrumental collection that mixes folk and blues together just like the old days. It's just Lang playing 11 original compositions, plus one ("Poor Boy") credited to Fahey and Bukka White. All are good, with the standout a nine-and-a-half minute epic entitled "Dogs Howl" that catches some of the lilting island magic of the great Bahamian guitarist Joseph Spence. If that were the only track on Dharma Blues, it would still be worth the sticker price. But Lang also delivers topDollar value with "Poor Boy" "Halloween Blues," "Spanish Fandango" (no, don't think Segovia)., and the title track . . . even listeners who don't know a guitar capo from a Mafia "Capo" will find Dharma Blues a pleasure." Blues Review Fall 2002 "A first wave 'American Primitive' who was a pal and peer of John Fahey and Leo Kottke, he gave up playing in 1991, and hadn't recorded a new album since 1978. So it stands to reason that Lang should sound a bit rusty on his new CD Dharma Blues, but nothing could be further from the truth. It is a dazzling sampling of his polyglot blues/folk/improv pickin' style…" Mpls Star Tribune A guitarist's guitar player who rivals Leo Kottke and Peter Otroushko The St. Paul Pioneer Press John Fahey, Leo Kottke, and Peter Lang comprised the legendary holy trinity of fingerstyle guitar innovators back in the '70s. After being nominated for a Grammy in 1976, Lang abruptly dropped out of the music business . . . His newest effort, Dharma Blues, is a lesson in technical wizardry, tenderness and guile. It is filled with honest recordings of the kind of dazzling guitar playing that makes you look at the astonished person next to you and ask "Did he really just do that?" Santa Cruz Sentinel June 17, 2002 "Guitar purists who didn't have the privilege of seeing Peter Lang in the '70s can die happyhe's back with his first albums since 1978. A pioneer of fingerstyle guitar playing, his blues and folk influenced strumming has landed him gigs with the best of the best in the guitar worldChet Atkins, Emmy Lou Harris, Hot Tuna, Ry Cooder, John Hammond and Santa Cruz's favorite Jerry Garcia. Well known for his work with John Fahey and Leo Kottke on Fahey's label Takoma Records, Lang falls into the American Primitive category, with its traditional folk and Blues roots. His instrumental fingerpicking style will enrapture music aficionados nostalgic for talent." Good Times June 13, 2002 For more information: PeterLang.com |
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David Alderson |