Hanz Araki: Flutes, Whistles, Bodhran & Vocals
Kathryn Claire: Fiddle, Guitar & Vocal
"Best Vocal/Instrumental Group of the Year 2012" - www.LiveIreland.com
Special guests:
Cal Smith: Guitar (3,5,7,12)
Chris Hayes: Guitar (10) Ukulele (6)
Joe Trump: Percussion
Elizabeth Bacon: Vocals
Music for The Seasons: The second of 4 releases reflecting the music of the seasons, as featured in Hanz & Kathryn's very successful touring shows. Hanz Araki and Kathryn Claire , joined by special guest artists, musicians and dancers lend their individual expertise, lyrical knowledge and love of Celtic music to four, theme-based concerts that present some of the strongest and most beautiful elements of the Celtic tradition.
Two of USA's most beloved touring musicians turn their talents to the UK, with a mind boggling schedule of releasing 4 CD at once. The 4 CDs reflect their 4 different seasonal shows which they have been delighting audiences all across the USA. We at Copperplate are delighted to be collaborating with Hanz & Kathryn and hope to enlighten the UK to these two brilliant musicians. This is their second CD is a seasonal blend of song and dance music appropriate for this wonderful time of year.
Audio
Pleasant and Delightful:
Up and about in the morning:
1st Month of Spring:
Coutnry Life:
Track Listing
- The Fairy Child/Primrose Lass
- Searching for Lambs
- As I Roved Out
- April Fool/ The Dawn/ The Skylark
- Rosemary Fair
- Blackbirds & Thrushes
- Pleasant & Delightful
- Spring Up In The Air/ Up & About In The Morning/ Na Ceannabhain Bhana.
- Rosebud in June
- Lucky in Love/ Game of Love/ 1st Month of Spring
- Country Life
- The Verdant Braes of Screen
Also available from Copperplate:
Hanz Araki & Katherine Claire: The Emigrant's Song
Hanz Araki & Katherine Claire: Songs of Love & Murder
Hanz Araki & Katherine Claire: A Winter Solstice Celebration
Irish flute player Hanz Araki is the quintessential world music musician. After six generations, the name Araki is synonymous with the Japanese shakuhachi (an end-blown bamboo flute) which Hanz mastered making his professional debut in 1988.
After four years of concert appearances and teaching at the prestigious Keio University in Tokyo, Japan, Hanz returned to his hometown of Seattle, WA and found himself drawn to the world of Celtic music. The penny-whistle and the Irish flute became his single-minded focus, and jigs and reels became a second language. His unique style and passion were soon recognized and met with high praise.
Hanz also discovered his voice was well-suited to the songs of Scotland, Ireland, and England and is highly regarded for his interpretation of folk songs in what is one of the most exciting living traditions.
After several tours across the US, Canada, and the UK (first with the Juno Award winning Paperboys, then Casey Neill) as well as a return to Japan, now as a well-respected Irish flute-player, Hanz moved to Portland, OR in 2006. This move proved to be most fortuitous as it led to the musical partnership with Oregon-native
Kathryn Claire.
A self-taught guitarist and accomplished vocalist and fiddle-player, Kathryn has asserted herself in a new generation of traditionally-inspired musicians. Early classical training gave her a strong foundation, but naturally gave way to her own creative inclinations. Her violin-playing exhibits a technical grace which is matched only by her truly captivating voice. While she possesses the rare ability to move seamlessly across genres, her love and deep respect for traditional music has long been a driving influence, and those roots can be heard in her own original music, as well as her own distinctive take on folksongs.
Kathryn and Hanz quickly discovered a shared love of harmony -- and a well-matched work ethic -- and a creative process began that has produced a tremendous body of work. Their shared passion for traditional music is magnetic and they have become a favorite at music festivals and venues in the US and abroad. Frequent collaborators include Cary Novotny, Joe Trump, and Cal Scott (US); Takeaki Nagahama, Hirofumi Nakamura (Japan) and Aiko Obuchi (Japan).
Press Reviews
R2 Monthly Music Glossy May/June 13 ****
Fashions in folksong go in cycles. Artists look back to the folk revival of the 60s for songs that were hard-wired into the collective consciousness and seek out variants to provide a new perspective. Add to that an American viewpoint and you have this: one of four themed albums of traditional music.
Hanz Araki is a flute virtuoso who specialised in the Japanese shakuhachi before turning his focus on music from Western traditions. Kathryn Claire is a classically trained fiddler and self-taught guitarist and as a duo their voices complement one another very well.
There are occasionally stylistic tricks in their singing that I could do without but I'm not going to be harsh because they manage to refresh the old repertoire: 'Searching For Lambs', 'As I Roved Out', 'Rosemary Fair' (quite near Scarborough), 'Pleasant And Delightful', 'Country Life' et al, plus four instrumental sets.
There are two guest guitarists and subtle percussion from Joe Trump supplementing Hanz's bodhran. Add a couple of voices to flesh out the choruses and you have an album that is delightful in its simplicity and, yes, freshness. Dai Jeffries
The Living Tradition June/July 2013
This, the second of Hanz and Kathryn's series, is Songs Of Spring, and contains a mixture of traditional songs and tunes loosely based on this theme.
The material here is all well known - songs like As l Roved Out, Rosemary Fair, Pleasant And Delightful, Verdant Braes Of Skreen and Blackbirds And Thrushes. They are well sung, particularly by Hanz who has an attractive, strong voice. The tunes are also standard session fare, but are well handled. Spring In The Air / Up And About In The Morning is a nice set showing off their versatility on flute, fiddle, bodhran and guitar, and they are joined on other tracks by several guest musicians to pleasant effect, though at times there is an overuse of percussion for my taste.
Hanz and Kathryn handle the material here well, and the overall effect of the album is a good one, though for me, it doesn't do anything new and with these songs and tunes being recorded so frequently before, it perhaps needs something more to make it sparkle. Fiona Heywood
www.netrhythms.com
This is the second release in the duo's seasonal cycle of four discs (A Winter Solstice Celebration appeared only a few short months ago), and is an equally attractive prospect, presenting, over the course of its dozen selections, a brief tour through some very well-known folksongs (Searching For Lambs, Verdant Braes Of Skreen, Blackbirds And Thrushes, Rosemary Fair, etc.) interlaced with a small number of sufficiently sprightly tunes arranged into neat little medleys.
Hans and Kathryn are respected on the Northwest coast of the US for their interpretation of Irish traditional music, and the various tunes chosen for this release are reliably played on flute (Hans) and sometimes fiddle, with guitar accompaniment (Kathryn), and sufficiently genial soft-folk-rock-style rhythm backing from guest percussionist Joe Trump. The songs tend to employ a similar strategy, although there's a suspicion of formula in the arrangements and general approach (once you've heard one setting, you've heard them all), although some necessary variety is provided by Hans and Kathryn taking it more or less in turn to provide lead vocal.
The menu of the disc as a whole is intelligently balanced, and the overall tone is warm and pleasing. It's hard to fault the performances either in freshness of execution or basic technique, though I do wish there'd been a touch more imagination in the arrangements on occasion, and interpretively the duo have little new to offer on this material. As with their previous CD, perhaps the most satisfying tracks are the pair of a cappella renditions - here, Rosebud In June and Pleasant And Delightful, with their tightly coordinated (if at times a touch matter-of-fact) harmonies. Yes, As I Roved Out is a most acceptable set; in fact (while not wishing to damn the CD with faint praise) one could probably best describe it all as quite pleasant and delightful. David Kidman
Irish Music Magazine
I like the style of this jaunty pair who are based in Oregon, U.S. Hanz Araki and Kathryn Claire have embarked on a project that involves the release of four albums depicting the corresponding seasons in just one year. The thought process behind this is unique in the fact that the four albums can be toured respectively giving fans of the pair the opportunity to purchase in line with the performance and with the albums produced with minimum over dub and editing, the duo has proved that this can be done at minimum cost to the production yet, on an enjoyment level, with a maximum bene?t to the listener.
As I Roved Out: Songs of Spring depicts the Season that embodies the emergence of all things nature so the slow air introduction on the first track gently bears fruit into an upbeat version of Primrose Lass where the wind instrument prevails with a quality assurance. The mix of pace is evident again in the April Fool set where, with a lovely flow, the pair, sweep into The Skylark with a flourish of percussion backing. The song choice is detailed with a strong traditional folk vibe and makes full use of the intuitive harmony, especially in the acapella version of Pleasant & Delightful which fully enhances the striking vocal. The pure tones of Araki's voice at the start of Verdant Braes of Skreen is perfectly complemented by Claire's sweeter subtlety and the flute and fiddle provide a whimsically poignant background to bring an a end to a highly accomplished offering. Eileen McCabe
Folkwords
Having listened to previous albums from Hanz Araki & Kathryn Claire , those superb exponents of Irish-inspired folk from across the Atlantic, the arrival of 'As I Roved Out: Songs of Spring' was bound to attract and destined to entrance. Their outstanding musical expertise, blending of contrasting influences and finely-balanced, integrated style make this album truly 'one to add to the collection'. There's a seamless approach to their collaboration whether voice or instruments that gives this duo a natural and immediate edge that many must surely envy.
From the opening couplet of 'The Fairy Child/ Primrose Lass' you're instantly in touch with their abiding delivery of traditional tunes. The captivation continues through the delicious dexterity of 'April Fool/The Dawn/ The Skylark' , an inspired slip through 'Spring Up In The Air/Up & About In The Morning' and Ne Ceannabhain Bhana' , and just to ensure your surfeit of tunes there's 'Lucky In Love/Game Of Love/ 1 st Month Of Spring' . The vocal tradition is not neglected - through the flute-led seductive narrative of 'Searching for Lambs' a pulsating toe-tap version of 'As I Roved Out' with Kathryn on lead vocal, to the tender tale of 'Rosemary Fair' and the lovingly crafted harmonies of 'Pleasant and Delightful' .
Part of a 4-CD selection covering their take on the four seasons — winter, spring, summer and autumn — this album bursts with the assurance of the returning sun, the restoration of light after the winter dark and the inherent promise of springtime magic. To create their level of inspired spontaneity, Hanz and Kathryn believe in recording with minimal takes. As Hanz states : 'We record albums mostly live. We rehearse and rehearse ... walk into the studio to record in one or two takes.' The result is flawless.
Playing alongside Hanz (flute, whistle, bodhran) and Kathryn (fiddle, guitar) are Joe Trump (percussion) with Cal Scott (guitar) Chris Hayes (guitar, ukulele) on selected tracks and Elizabeth Bacon and Ara Gale (vocals). Tim Carroll
Folking.com
My good friend Alan O'Leary was kind enough to send me a copy of this thoroughly enjoyable CD from the Stateside based duo Hanz Araki & Kathryn Claire. Starting with the slow air 'Fairy Child' (more recognisable to most of us as a variant of The Auld Triangle) things move up a gear with 'The Primrose Lass' introducing additional 'band' members Joe Trump (percussion), Cal Scott (guitar), Chris Hayes (guitar & ukulele) plus Elizabeth Bacon and Ara Gale on vocals. A soft-rock approach is taken without a full blown drum kit and is all the more pleasing for it driving everything along at a nice pace. Proving no slouches themselves instrumentally both Hanz (flute/whistle & bodhran) and Kathryn (fiddle & guitar) provide down to earth vocal lead performances that suit the arrangements very well. Now, the idea of concept albums…the clue is in the title…may not be new but the very fact that this engaging duo have produced four albums in a year is quite honestly astounding. With little or no overdubs and a one or two take approach they have succeeded where others would have failed. With a bright and breezy production of (some would say) standard fare such as 'I Roved Out' and 'Pleasant And Delightful' this in no way detracts from what are first class performances played with panache and very much a thought process other artists could well learn from. Hanz and Kathryn have a work ethic that should be much admired and by making sure it does not interfere with the enjoyment of their approach to predominantly Celtic based material they can be justifiably proud of a job well done. PETE FYFE
