Peter Janson (& Friends)
Beautiful Day
© 2006 Peter Janson (881144101125)
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this gorgeous new Contemporary Instrumental Folk Jazz album from Peter Janson & Friends, features all instrumental music rising from a fusion of diverse roots and influences - folk, jazz, world music, classical, and Celtic - woven into a hauntingly beauti
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∙Peter Janson’s fourth album (domestic)
∙For this album, guitarist Peter Janson chose to record with a variety of world-class musicians from a variety of musical genres – Jamie Bonk (Smooth Jazz Canada “Guitarist of the Year” nominee); Steve Hunt (keyboardist with Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Clarke, Alan Holdsworth); John Lockwood (bassist with Pat Metheny, Dizzy Gillespie, Boston Pops); Raymond Gonzalez (performed with John Renbourn, Peter Lang, Ellis Paul); Bertram Lehmann (performed with Joe Zawinul, Rebecca Paris, Natraj); Chris Lopes (bassist with Nina Ott, Jeff Parker); Henrik Bridger (bassist with Makoto Takenaka); Julie Woods (performed with Roberta Flack, Livingston Taylor, Jeffrey Osborne).
∙Peter Janson, primarily a solo guitarist, created Beautiful Day, the first in a series of Peter Janson & Friends albums, as an artistic rendition of his belief that if we are to achieve true peace and joy in the world we must all learn to caringly and creatively work together. In addition to the captivating instrumentation, the vocalists only sing vowels and a few consonants, as a gesture of the recognition of the universal connections we all have in our most important form of communication, spoken language, and as a symbol of the hope that we can indeed have a future of beautiful days.
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IN BRIEF
Peter Janson offers superb original fingerstyle acoustic guitar music in a style called Contemporary Instrumental Folk Jazz - rising from a unique and compelling fusion of stylistic influences.
BIO
One of a growing breed of new acoustic musicians gaining a reputation for an eclectic approach to performance and composition, Peter Janson offers superb original fingerstyle guitar music rising from a fusion of diverse roots and influences - folk, jazz, world music, classical, and Celtic - as well as quintessential guitarist influences as diverse as Martin Simpson, Ralph Towner, Pat Metheny, Leo Kottke, Pierre Bensusan, Ed Gerhard, Tuck Andress, and David Leisner. Solo and with his band this is world class acoustic music with artistry, detail of classical technique, and attention to melodic line. According to “Wind & Wire” magazine, “Peter Janson is one of the best acoustic guitarists recording today…a true artist’s soul.”
Janson began playing guitar as a kid in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Although his list of guitarist influences is long and diverse Janson’s earliest musical influence was his father. “My dad played solo guitar that reflected his love of the music of Chet Atkins, Django Reinhardt, Les Paul and Andreas Segovia. He had it all: style, taste, technique, improvisational ability. From as early as I can remember I would just sit and listen to him for hours at a time.” The brilliance displayed by each of these various artists inspired Janson not only to strive for excellence but to do it in a way that was particularly his own.
As he enhanced his musical sensibility through exposure to many styles and techniques, Janson further honed his skills through formal training. After receiving an undergraduate degree in music, he studied for two years with David Leisner at the New England Conservatory of Music where he was awarded a Master’s of Music. Now actively composing, recording, and performing his own Contemporary Instrumental music as a soloist and with the Peter Janson & Friends band - which includes a variety of configurations including keys, bass, and African/Eastern style percussion, among other configurations - Janson tours throughout North America and also currently directs the Guitar Studies program at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
In addition, Janson has an endorsement agreement with Bill Tippin Guitars and is often requested to demonstrate his fine instruments at national and international guitar festivals. Recently he has been asked to demonstrate guitars built by Mario Beauregard, Michael Bashkin, and Bob Laughlin as well.
CONCERTS
Performances at concert venues throughout the US and Canada including:
A Cuppa Tea Cafe, Berkeley CA
Acoustic Cafe, Nederland CO
Bayside Expo Center, Boston MA
Blackstone River Theatre, Cumberland RI
Blackthorne Tavern, Easton MA
Cozmic Room, Eugene OR
Orange County Convention Center, Orlando FL
INATS West Trade Show, Denver CO
Living Room, New York NY
Mozaic Room Coffeehouse, Avon MA
Orpheum Theatre, Foxboro MA
Rose Garden Coffeehouse, Mansfield MA
and many more
FESTIVALS
Healdsburg Guitar Festival
Newport Guitar Festival
Sirius Rising - Brushwood Folklore Festival
Mansfield MA Music & Arts Festival
Easton MA Annual Harvest Fair
SHARED STAGES WITH
Alex de Grassi
Ed Gerhard
Raymond Gonzalez
Chris Proctor
Brooks Williams
Aine Minogue
and many others
AWARDS
2006 NAR Lifestyle Music Awards, Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
2004 Grammy Awards, 1st round, Best New Age Album of the Year Nominee
2004 Grammy Awards, 1st round, Best Engineered Album (non-classical) Nominee
2004 KTEP-FM, El Paso TX - Top 20 for the Year
2003 KTEP-FM, El Paso TX - Essential Audiosyncracy Collection
2002 NAV Music Awards, Best New Age Album of the Year Nominee
2001 KTEP-FM, El Paso TX - Top 20 of the Year
2001 KRSC-FM, Tulsa OK - Top 20 for the Year
2000 NAV Music Awards, Best Acoustic Instrumental Album of the Year Nominee
2000 KGOU-FM, KROU-FM Norman OK, Best of 2000
FACTOIDS
*Firelight Moonlight is currently in rotation on the nationally syndicated "Echoes" radio in US, and "Galaxie" radio in Canada
*favorably reviewed on over thirty publications including Acoustic Guitar and Dirty Linen magazines
*feature articles in The Boston Globe - South Weekly, as well as regional magazines and local newspapers coast to coast
*featured in Toronto weekly television magazine show "York Region Living" - concert hailed as "Tonight's Hot Spot!"
*live performances and interviews including NPR stations KLCC-FM Eugene OR, KZYX-FM Willits CA, and folk giant WUMB-FM Boston MA
*verified for airplay by BMI a total of 27,102 times in US, and more in Canada and Europe as of last accounting *aired on over 250 stations across the US, Canada and Europe
*radio rankings on individual monthly charts included 15 stations at #1; 184 in the Top 10: 294 in the Top 20
*Sometimes From Here was ranked #2 on National Top 100 Radio charts in June, July and August 2001 as reported to Lazz Promotions (Toronto)
DISCOGRAPHY
2006, Peter Janson & Friends, Beautiful Day
2005, Peter Janson, A Clear Stillness export licensed to THETA Music, Sweden
2005, Peter Janson, Firelight Moonlight export licensed to Orange Music, Singapore
2004, Peter Janson, Firelight Moonlight
2004, wrote and performed on "Waiting For Winter" on Jamie Bonk's NAR Lifestyle Award winning album "My World"
2004, Various, En Stamningsfull Stund, from THETA Music, Sweden
2004, Various, Amingsro, from THETA Music, Sweden
2003, Various, Sounds of New England Vol 1
2001, Peter Janson, Sometimes From Here
1999 - Peter Janson - Across the Bridge
*as reported to NAR, NAV and LAZZ Promotions (Toronto)
reviews
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Peaceful and Uplifting
author: Heather S.I love the variety of this CD which ranges from calming and peaceful to uplifting and enlivening.
Beautiful!
author: The Minor 7th, January/February 2007In the 1980s the Windham Hill label assumed stewardship of a meditative acoustic sound which was often simplistic in composition but soaring in spirit. Although Michael Hedges (who was a label-mate) referred tongue-in-cheek to Windham Hill's new age music as "California Hot Tub Music," artists such as Liz Story and George Winston really did prove the converse to the prevailing truism in jazz that dazzling musical complexity need be a prerequisite to evoke artistic mysticism. Peter Janson has rediscovered Windham Hill's vibe on "Beautiful Day," an elemental and atmospheric collection of world-jazz fingerstyle songs. The vibe succeeds not only because of a consistent deference to introspection, but because of Janson's collaboration with well-chosen sidemen. Steve Hunt is on keyboards, bringing with him a resumé that includes stints with Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Clarke and Allan Holdsworth. Bertram Lehmann on percussion has played with Joe Zawinul, John Lockwood on bass with Pat Metheny. Jamie Bonk (on second guitar) has been nominated as "guitarist of the year" by Smooth Jazz Canada. There is a drone-like beauty to the aptly-named opening track, "Mantra for Mieka." "Waterfall" opens with sounds of placid water... to be replaced by torrents of guitar lines played with a sinusoidal urgency. "December Morning Sun" begins like an ambient overture from Brian Eno and remains on-theme as a somewhat formless tone poem even as more traditional instruments assume control. "Beautiful Day" is beautifully captivating in a way that a state of nirvana must willingly claim an ascetic practitioner. ~ © Alan Fark
Excellent!
author: NAR, Both Sides Now, September 2006..brilliant album that will add just the right musical ambience for just about any positive occasion. The music is that good. ~ RJ Lannan
Excellent!
author: NAR, Both Sides Now, September 2006Beautiful Day is a stunning album, to say the least. ...easily one of the best releases of recent years. ~ Bill Binkelman