Mark Hillis

Acoustic Environment Mark Hillis

From Art Anomoly: Mark Hillis (in the vein of California Guitar Trio, King Crimson, Trey Gunn, Tony Levin, and all the top progressive guys--too many to name!) has created complex and captivating compositions that are extremely intimate in essence & passionate in nature. On this CD, 'Acoustic Environment', the strings blend beautifully and smoothly with acoustic guitar into classical/progressive/jazz movements - all very fluidly interwoven. Graceful and well composed, the pieces travel in and out of different time signatures & feature succinct & perfectly resolved endings. The bass lines add a nice rhythm counterpart to build the impact of the music. These are beautiful compositions, and very organic. From Music Street Journal: The disc flits between rock and roll, folk, jazz and progressive rock in an entertaining mélange of instrumental pieces Track reviews from Music Street Journal: Acoustic Environment: I hear a lot of elements that remind me of Pink Floyd on this one, particularly sections of the Animals album. The trumpet brings in more of those jazz tones, though. This one is possibly my favorite on the album. Talk about a contrast from one piece to the next. They just seem to get everything right here. Shades of Red: ...It's full of fast paced, fusion-like acoustic jamming. It's a dramatic piece of music that's remarkably effective considering it's short length. This gets quite powerful as the arrangement is expanded and grown and more layers of instrumentation come across. This one is really quite amazing. Climbing the Walls: This piece reminds me a bit of some of Kansas' acoustic work with perhaps a bit of Steve Howe thrown into the mix. The violin certainly adds a lot to the arrangement. Squirrely: This one comes in with a more rocking texture. It's a more playful and fun piece of music. It's an interesting way to end the disc with a bit of a laugh - literally. Musicians who contributed to CD: The violinist, Tiffany Modell, is a very accomplished concert violinist who attended Julliard and toured with several symphonies. Bryan Kuban is one of the "top call" session bassist's in the Phoenix area. Bryan's name appears the credits of over 100 recordings including Grammy nominated Amanacer. Tom Griesgraber, who plays the Chapman Stick on the CD, has opened for four national tours with the California Guitar Trio as well as shows with Al Dimeola, Stanley Jordan, The Tony Levin Band, Bill Bruford's Earthworks, Larry Carlton, Steve Lukather, Tower of Power, Michael Manring, Jazz Mandolin Project, The League of Crafty Guitarists and the Dixie Dregs.