Robert Linton
Whisperings at Nightfall
© 2006 Robert Linton (837101175852)
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"Here is yet another fine release produced by Will Ackerman. Even with some of the same outstanding guests, Robert Linton carves out a distinctive sound and his guitar playing fits well practically anywhere. The beginning, middle and ending tracks are eac
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Growing up, Robert was always surrounded by music of different sorts. Before Robert's birth in October, 1981, his grandfather was a well known pianist/organist in the Logan, Utah music scene. Robert's father grew up playing the saxophone in front of large crowds with his band mates. Robert would always pound the keys on the piano while his older sister would play complicated piano pieces, in which soon after it would be his turn to practice. Robert liked to listen while his father would play a mean slide guitar. Music from the guitar would include impromptu pieces and famous songs from classic rock artists such as Led Zeppelin, Cat Stevens, and Simon and Garfunkel. Robert grew up listening to these bands and learning any song he could by ear. The list of songs could play grew as he took his first guitar lessons in 1993. Starting with more simple pieces, Robert studied the licks of incredible guitarists such as Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix. Trying to match their style, he would plug away on his first electric guitar.
Through his teenage years, Robert's music collect grew as he discovered new music from artists of the past and present. It was during his high school years that he took the knowledge he had gained from his teachers that he begun composing his first songs. One song in particular that can be heard on his new CD release "Whisperings at Nightfall" "Autumn Moon", was written during this time. At the end of his days in high school, Robert revealed his guitar skills to his class mates playing a medley of Metallica songs with a friend playing along on cello. From this point, everyone besides his close friends would bring up the word guitar during conversations. After high school, Robert attended college at Utah State University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences. During this time, a majority of his guitar pieces were composed.
2001 revealed Robert's early demo with songs such as Scent of Rain, Mountain Mist, and Autumn Moon. After his college graduation in 2004, his first CD Pale Shades was completed, which was soon followed by his second release in 2005 Within the Outline. During his promotion for Within the Outline, Robert connected with Will Ackerman, founder of the famous Windham Hill record Label, to record his newest CD release "Whisperings at Nightfall". With Will coaching him on performing styles, particular songs were taken and transformed from Robert's earlier CD recordings. For the first time, other instruments were added into the mix creating a beautiful arrangement of guitar, cello, violin, english horn, bass, vocals, and percussion. At the present time, Robert will be setting out to introduce his new CD "Whisperings at Nightfall".
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Whisperings at Nightfall
author: Bill BinkelmanThe moody and atmospheric black and white photography featured throughout the CD booklet should've tipped me off, but even by the usual Will Ackerman-as-producer standards, acoustic guitarist Robert Linton's recording is more subdued, introspective and (pleasantly) somber. Of course, Ackerman doesn’t produce "bouncy" music even at his cheeriest. Still, Whisperings at Nightfall earns its title with only one track breaking out of the mood which I refer to as "late autumn music." None of these comments are meant as a criticism; in fact, I love nearly this entire album. I'm just defining the CD's music to distinguish it from Ackerman's ever-growing cannon as producer Note: Ackerman shares producing credits on this album with Corin Nelsen, who engineered and mastered the disc. The usual cast of guest artists is scattered throughout the recording, although Linton offers up three solo guitar songs, too. Eugene Friesen's haunting cello work on Autumn Moon adds the perfect shading to Linton's quietly pensive fingerstyle playing, although why use Friesen so sparingly? More..please! The title track unites Linton's gentle lonely guitar with Noah Wilding's wordless vocals (Wilding's vocals are always so well integrated with the music on Ackerman's productions). The one relatively "boisterous" track is next. Within the Outline starts off quietly but builds by adding O’Hearn-esque echoed percussion (Derrik Jordan) and spirited (yet less joyful than the tempo might dictates) violin (Tracy Silverman). While I use the term "boisterous" to describe this track, in all honesty, the "oomph" only stands out in contrast to the overall somberness of everything else here. It's only boisterous by comparison, not objectively so. You’d expect songs with titles like Silent Hollow (guitar, violin and Michael Manring’s bass), Flowing Echo (guitar and bass) or Field of Lilies (T-Bone Wolk on bass, Jill Haley on English horn, Ackerman on guitar, and Wilding' vocals) to be subdued pieces, but "Field.." is less melancholic than most of the others here (and again, that statement is not judgmental, since I love sad music; it's only meant to describe the mood). The three solo guitar numbers are the equal of those with accompanists. The opening Candlelight is delicate yet with a slight sprightliness and I detect a hint of classical guitar influence as well. Wait Until When has the feel of a sad ballad; in fact, (and I don't recall ever writing this before about any piece of instrumental music), I could see the right lyrics and singer turning this into a tremendous folk song. Closing the album is the ultra-moody (perfect!) Moonlit Rainfall, a song exemplifying the approach Linton (who wrote all ten tracks) and producer Ackerman took on the album, which I would describe as beautifully sad. In some ways, this CD is emotionally similar to the music of Tim Story (circa Beguiled) and (in his earlier days) Mychael Danna (see his album with Paul Clement, North of Niagara), except they are pianists/keyboardists, not guitarists. Note to the artist: When I start comparing you to Story or Danna, to quote the worn-out phrase, it doesn’t get any better than that. On second thought, though, maybe who I should compare Linton to is his own producer, hmmm? While most of Will Ackerman's recordings are solo works, Whisperings at Nightfall resonates on the same emotional level with me as did Ackerman's recent career retrospective, Returning. Both are damn near flawless recordings (while I can't fault the more energetic Within the Outline on its own merits, I don't necessarily agree with including it on this release). Despite the tiny nit I'm picking, this is a great recording. Recommended without reservation to all acoustic guitar instrumental lovers provided they like music on the soft, gentle and, particularly, sad side.