{"id":5260,"date":"2015-06-02T04:44:47","date_gmt":"2015-06-02T04:44:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skylight.gr\/administrator_wordpress\/index.php\/2015\/06\/02\/contemplative-guitarist-tom-caufield-expands-his-sonic-palette-on-breakthrough-release-things-i-heard-while-in-the-womb\/"},"modified":"2015-06-02T04:44:47","modified_gmt":"2015-06-02T04:44:47","slug":"contemplative-guitarist-tom-caufield-expands-his-sonic-palette-on-breakthrough-release-things-i-heard-while-in-the-womb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/2015\/06\/02\/contemplative-guitarist-tom-caufield-expands-his-sonic-palette-on-breakthrough-release-things-i-heard-while-in-the-womb\/","title":{"rendered":"Contemplative Guitarist Tom Caufield Expands His Sonic Palette on Breakthrough Release \u2018Things I Heard While in the Womb\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Tom Caufield is a contemplative guitarist with an uncommonly melodic style, and though his music shares traits with ambient music, one still walks away humming identifiable melodies that float in an effortless dream-stream, built into traditional verse-chorus-bridge structures. \u201cI grew up on the popular rock, pop, folk and soul of the times,\u201d says Caufield of his musical boyhood, \u201cso even when I make contemplative mood music, I can\u2019t help but infuse it with a strong melodic storyline.\u201d That\u2019s good news for listeners who love relaxing music and memorable hooks. <\/div>\n
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Blessed with an ineffable touch on the fret board, Caufield\u2019s 6th release \u2018Things I Heard While in the Womb,\u2019 represents a breakthrough, bringing to fruition the promise of his earlier albums and giving birth to something wholly unique \u2013 his own distinctive take on what can be done with the modern, acoustic guitar based album. After four sparse, contemplative, \u2018guitarist alone in a cathedral\u2019 albums, Caufield desired to capture more of the depth of engagement on offer from the side-long tracks of classic \u201870s prog-rock and ambient albums (think: Brian Eno\u2019s \u2018Music for Airports,\u2019 and Mike Oldfield\u2019s \u2018Ommadawn\u2019), and so created and released the 22 minute single \u2018Rust of the New Babylon.\u2019<\/div>\n
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\u201cI thought of my favorite artists, and reimagined the context,\u201d says Caufield. \u201cI wondered what it would sound like were Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana to grab a couple of acoustic guitars and trade licks, after hours, backed up by \u2018Dark Side of the Moon\u2019 era Pink Floyd.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The whole thing works \u2013 with blues and Spanish tinged phrases dancing like lace and pain over a soft, natural, wooden bass, brush-kit drums, Fender Rhodes and Hammond organ backing, creating a groove that sounds like \u2018giant seaweed swaying.\u2019 In addition to a larger sonic palette, Caufield also discovered another crucial element in making a sound all his own: improvisation, adding this to his already formidable compositions skills.<\/div>\n
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\u201cMusic to slow the relentless pace of life\u201d \u2013 Bruce Gall, Atmospheres\/One World Music<\/div>\n
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\u201cMy foundation, my most crucial starting point, is that I try and emulate the dynamics, cycles and patterns of nature,\u201d says Caufield,\u00a0\u201cand reinforce the\u00a0idea that metaphysics, ethics and aesthetics are simply different languages expressing the same idea. It\u2019s hopefully, all together, a way of giving a voice to the inarticulate speech of the heart.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The new album journeys farther into this sonic territory. From the\u00a024 minute opener \u201cWaif Among the Reeds\u201d, one is swept into a seductive dreamworld of spiraling, elegant, Spanish, pop, folk and blues tinged guitar, composed and improvised soloing, accompanied by creamy, retro Moog synthesizers and Arp synth strings. The phrases echo the minimal Zen restraint of Weather Report era Wayne Shorter \u2013 more suggestions than finished melodies.<\/div>\n
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The poignant reverie \u2018Rubies on Fallen Leaves\u2019 and epic \u2018Palace of Broken Mirrors\u2019 round out the collection.<\/div>\n
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Citing Harold Budd, Mike Oldfield, Tony Banks, Vangelis, & Brian Eno as his primary musical models, Caufield admits to relating more to ambient music artists and their aesthetic ideals than other acoustic guitarists, who he feels are\u00a0\u201cmore structured, roots-based or conversely, adventurous and\u00a0explorative than I\u2019m aiming to be.\u201d His main influence as a guitarist is probably Carlos Santana, and\u00a0\u201cthe simplified Andres Segovia pieces that were\u00a0assigned to me when I first took lessons.\u201d He also cites as influences, and offers admiration for Will Ackerman, Ralph Towner, and Pierre Bensusan.<\/div>\n
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Caufield\u2019s\u00a0first four albums all charted in the Top 20 of Zone Music Reporters\u2019\u00a0Top 100 Radio Airplay Charts, with his debut, \u2018The Slow Dance of Time\u2019 making the Top 10. His music has been featured on John Diliberto\u2019s syndicated NPR program \u2018Echoes,\u2019 and is a regular feature on Music Exchange\u2019s streaming network \u2018Soundscapes,\u2019 in addition to receiving airplay on over 50 airwaves based stations nationwide.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThere is a level of emotional clarity in this music that is a rare find.\u201d\u2013 RJ Lannan, Zone Music Reporter<\/div>\n
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Caufield\u2019s aim is to convey emotion as directly as possible, yet leave lots of space for listeners to find room for themselves inside the music. Eschewing busy arrangements and speedy passages, his compositions are minimalist, sparse and create an experience that is relaxing, yet involving.<\/div>\n
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Offering a chill blend of creamy, retro yet modern music that will amplify the sound of your heart and soul, Caufield\u2019s sound is a 21st century take on contemplative instrumental music. Wooden and natural, peaceful and evocative, ancient yet modern (i.e.: timeless), accessible, yet hinting at life’s complexity, Tom Caufield\u2019s music will transport you to a place you probably don\u2019t visit enough – your deeper self.<\/div>\n
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Watch Tom Caufield in Live Performance Here:https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jYpx_l1-hbU<\/a><\/div>\n
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Video:\u201cThe Weakness That Leads to Strength\u201d:https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=m352-1mnVCw<\/a><\/div>\n
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To purchase Tom Caufield\u2019s \u201cThings I Heard While in the Womb\u201d:<\/div>\n
Amazon-http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Things-I-Heard-While-Womb\/dp\/B00X0TZYXG\/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1431198897&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=tom+caulfield+things+womb<\/a><\/div>\n
iTunes-https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/album\/things-i-heard-while-in-womb\/id991019928<\/a><\/div>\n
CDBaby\u2013 http:\/\/www.cdbaby.com\/cd\/tomcaufield9\\<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: www.caufieldmusic.com<\/a><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tom Caufield is a contemplative guitarist with an uncommonly melodic style, and though his music…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5260\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}