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Carl Weingarten — Blue Faith
(Multiphase Records MP-CD 105, 2000, CD)

Blue Faith Cover art

It seems like it has been eons since Dobro master Weingarten released his outstanding The Acoustic Shadow. Five years in the making, his newest release picks up (for the most part) right where he left off, telling a story through impressionistic and highly original pieces of connected music. Listening to this new record is a truly cinematic experience, rich in detail and yet totally wordless. The soundscapes created by Weingarten and his numerous talented collaborators are epic in scope, and yet sensitive and delicate at the same time. Weingarten uses mainly Dobro, acoustic slide guitar, and synthesizers to create these sonic environments, but a wealth of other exotic instruments serve their purpose equally well. The genius of the music lies in the arrangements, where many other artists throw in exotic instrumentation not simply because they can — Weingarten has a place and purpose for every note, every line on this album. That, combined with an artistic vision all his own, truly sets him apart from his peers. If you aren’t familiar with his music, this album is a perfect place to start. So what if it took five years to get this project finished, the results speak for themselves.

by Dan Casey, Published 2001-03-01

As stated in the liner notes to the album, Blue Faith is the continuation of the musical and sonic story that began a few years ago with his previous album, The Acoustic Shadow. Not surprisingly, the compositions are in a similar style to that excellent release. Weingarten continues to successfully combine ambient music and electronics with acoustic, electronic, and world instruments with good results. All in all, about 20 musicians contribute parts to the release and many are familiar names — Barry Cleveland, Michael Manring, Joe Venegoni, Dan Reiter, and Forrest Fang just to name a few. Weingarten mainly plays slide guitar and Dobro and even plays slide ebow Dobro from time to time! He also contributes lots of sound effects and the occasional keyboard part. Though most of the tunes don’t have traditional kit drum playing, several of the songs have pulsating grooves that are provided by alternate percussion, sampling, sequencing, bass, and synth parts. “Red Night” is a good example of this, a song that is based on a short repeating sequence, but builds nicely along the way. “Spirits of the Id” is reminiscent of something mid-70s King Crimson might have done in an improvisational jam. All the musicians are good, but cellist Dan Reiter and erhu player Jie-Bing Chen deserve special mention for their performances. The music on Blue Faith is great and the production quality is equally good. This is a great follow-up to The Acoustic Shadow and certainly one of the best releases of 2000.

by Mike Grimes, Published 2001-03-01

Carl Weingarten has been producing music for years that defies easy categorization. He uses acoustic, electric, and electronic instrumentation to create a music that blends folk, space, ambient, trance, and ethnic stylings to produce something intimate, subtle, mysterious, and exotic. His latest, Blue Faith, incorporates Eastern aesthetics, not always so prevalent as to dominate the mix, but just enough to give this album a different flavor from past recordings, slightly similar to Island period Jade Warrior at times. As on prior efforts, Weingarten brings in a large number of guests to extend the palate, and throughout this CD you will be treated to appearances by Cloud Chamber alumni, Forrest Fang, Emerald Web flautist Kat Epple, and many others. The range of instrumentation includes cello, violin, piano, flute, trumpet, vocals, and more, all strong accompaniment for Weingarten’s array of acoustic and electric guitar textures. The results are rich and varied throughout the album’s 16 tracks (all between seconds and just over seven minutes long), each piece exploring a subset of the wider palate. While Weingarten’s approach is analogous to musicians like Erik Wøllo, Anthony Phillips, and other do-it-yourself guitarists, it is far more esoteric in nature and produces a more spectral catalogue of images. Blue Faith is a fascinating journey, a long time in the making, but portraying what fine work can come out of the exquisitely crafted.

by Mike McLatchey, Published 2001-03-01

Filed under: New releases, Issue 21, 2000 releases

Related artist(s): Forrest Fang, Michael Manring, Carl Weingarten, Barry Cleveland

More info
http://carlweingarten.bandcamp.com/album/blue-faith

 

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