LOGAN BRILL

At the moment Logan Brill emerged into the world and drew her first breath, Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” issued from a boom box in the delivery room. Her parents had selected the strings-driven classic to provide a soothing welcome to the world.

Engaged as Logan was in the process of being born, it’s questionable whether she fully appreciated the gesture, but who knows? The important point is that, from the very beginning, music was present in the life of this Knoxville native whose new album you now hold in your hands.
The offerings on Shut Eye, Logan’s second album—all products of the storyteller’s art—range from gritty blues (Shut Eye) to country (Far Cry from You) to roots (Tupelo) to newly crafted songs that have the soft patina of revered old ballads (Wish You Loved Me).

“Recording my first record, Walking Wires, was enormously rewarding, but it presented me with a pretty steep learning curve,” says Logan. “When I began to work on Shut Eye, I had a much stronger sense of myself as an artist, and I built a collection of songs—a little blues and Americana and a lot of country and rock—that would reflect my tastes, demonstrate my growth and evolution as an artist, and get people out of their seats and onto the dance floor.”

It’s only fitting that Logan would want her music to incline people tomove. By all accounts, she was an active baby, and the adjective her parents most frequently plied in describing her waswiggly. During her first year or two her store of energy was inexhaustible but, as yet, largely undirected. In short, she just wiggled.

Grandpa’s Cough Medicine

Pierre Bensusan

“The way the guitar would want to sound if it played itself.”

“Bensusan is very much his own animal. It’s like listening to a butterfly, to dappled sunshine coming through quaking aspens. His music flits and darts around like fish in a pool. And his compositions manage to encompass both the calmness of the pool and the flashing of the fish. It’s an entrancing, almost hypnotic thing to watch and hear, as he seems eager to share his journey, his light. I was struck by how the aim of each song was to be beautiful. Not witty, not avant-garde, not new, necessarily, but beautiful. A great craftsman plying his trade. A shepherd with his flock. As I left I felt all of a sudden that I’d been to temple after all. My own sort of temple, and by the end of the service I felt purified, cleansed, and ready for the new year.”

Nyack News and Views (USA, Dan Cohen, Oct 4, 2015)

Winner of the Independent Music Award, in the Live Performance Album category for his latest triple live album “Encore” (2014), “Rose d’Or” of the Montreux Festival for his first album, “Près de Paris” (Switzerland, 1976), “Best World Music Guitar Player ” by the readers of Guitar Player Magazine (USA, 2008), Pierre Bensusan is recognized as one of the premier musicians of our time.

If “World Music” is music that pays tribute to the spirit of a collection of human beings through distinct rhythms, traditional instruments and harmonic colors, French-Algerian guitarist, singer and composer Pierre Bensusan can be recognized as one of the most eloquent and world musicians today.

Born in Oran, French-Algeria, in 1957, when France was decolonizing its Empire, Pierre Bensusan’s family moved to Paris when he was 4. He began formal studies on piano at the age of 7 and at 11 taught himself guitar. Influenced in those early days by the folk revival blooming in Britain, France and North America, Bensusan began first to explore his own diverse musical heritage and then moved to the horizons beyond.

At 17 he signed his first recording contract, and one year later his first album “Pres de Paris” won the Grand Prix du Disque upon his debut at the Montreux Festival in Switzerland.

Described by the L.A. Times as “one of the most unique and brilliant acoustic guitar veterans in the world music scene today”, Pierre’s name became synonymous with contemporary acoustic guitar genius, long before the terms New Age, New Acoustic Music or World Music were invented. He has the ability to make a single guitar sound like an entire band as he brings the audience on a mesmerizing musical journey. And yet, Bensusan is more than what any musician or music lover expects from a guitarist. He is a composer as well as a bilingual and a brave improvisational vocalist, melding whistles and resonant low notes with something like his own scat technique.

There is a sense of something both playful and serious in his work, an unparalleled sense of freedom in his compositions and his improvisations. His “manner” of playing defies classification – crossing world, classical, jazz, traditional, folk and more. None can be isolated as simply “Brazilian”, “Arabic” or “French”; rather, they represent our world in its current state, a world sharing itself, fusing cultures together in ways we have never experienced. A great embassador of peace. Not to be missed!

Muriel Anderson

Muriel’s new Audio-visual show,”Wonderlust”:
Muriel Anderson’s world-renowned guitar and harp guitar playing is highlighted by a backdrop of stunning visuals by celebrated photo-artist Bryan Allen. Together they bring you on a journey around the globe, full of joy and humanity, with new tunes, old favorites, stories and images.

MURIEL ANDERSON:
One of the world’s foremost fingerstyle guitarists and harp-guitarists, Muriel Anderson is the first woman to have won the National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship. Her recent CD “Nightlight Daylight” has won top honors in 11 national awards. She has performed/recorded with Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Victor Wooten and the Nashville Chamber Orchestra. Her obvious joy of music, humor and her facility across the genres of folk, classical, jazz, bluegrass and international music is revered by guitarists worldwide. An engaging performer, Muriel’s unique approach to the instrument virtually transforms the guitar into a lyrical choir, then a marching band, then a Japanese koto, then a Bluegrass band, one minute launching into a Beatles’ tune and the next, a Rodrigo concerto. Muriel is host of the renowned Muriel Anderson’s ALL STAR GUITAR NIGHT® and founder of the MUSIC FOR LIFE ALLIANCE charity. In addition, her new program incorporates stunning visuals by Bryan Allen.

Recordings and Publications

Her new double CD “Nightlight Daylight” has won first place in its category in eleven national awards. It features her concept – the first ever interactive lighted CD cover and includes collaborations with her friends and fellow musicians Victor Wooten, Phil Keaggy, Mark Kibble of Take 6, Danny Gottlieb, Stanley Jordan, Tommy Emmanuel, Earl Klugh, Howard Levy, Jeff Coffin, Tierra Negra and members of the Nashville Symphony.

Her recording of “El Noi de la Mare” appears in Woody Allen’s film “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” and her “Heartstrings” recording accompanied the astronauts on the space shuttle Discovery.  Muriel Anderson has released more than a dozen instrumental CD’s, seven instructional DVD’s and guitar books published by Hal Leonard, Mel Bay, and Zen-On Japan.  Her compositions include commissioned classical works for the Nashville Chamber Orchestra and Vox Caelestis Womens Choir, as well as songs which have appeared as title tracks for three albums by various artists.

Music for Life Alliance

Many of her concerts benefit the Music for Life Alliance, a charity founded by Muriel Anderson to help support music education for young people. www.musicforlifealliance.com

All Star Guitar Night

Muriel continues to host the semi-annual live show Muriel Anderson’s All Star Guitar Night, and has three commercially available DVDs of past shows. In addition to the two large shows in Anaheim, CA and Nashville, TN, Produced by Truefire, smaller versions of the show are sometimes presented by individual sponsors across the country.  www.allstarguitarnight.com

Endorsements and Columnist

Muriel has published articles in Guitar Player, Acoustic Guitar, Fingerstyle Guitar, Classical Guitar and Frets magazines, and is currently a regular columnist for Acoustic Guitar Japan magazine. She is a regular guest instructor for Truefire and at guitar workshops across the country. Some workshops are sponsored by her GHS Signature strings. She plays many handmade instruments and endorses Morris Guitars in Japan, as well as Seymour Duncan D-Tar pickups.

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COMPOSER BIO

Composer, guitarist, and harp guitarist Muriel Anderson has composed music since about age five. She fell in love with the guitar at an early age and learned every style available to her, beginning with folk, bluegrass and jazz. She received a degree in music from DePaul University and went on to study with classical virtuoso Christopher Parkening and with Nashville legend Chet Atkins. Her current CD “Nightlight Daylight” is a culmination of her creative spirit and has won 11 awards including Global Music Award’s Best Instrumental Composition for “A Bakers Dozen.” Books of her original music include “New Classics for Guitar and Cello” and her works have been performed by the Nashville Chamber Orchestra and Chicago’s Vox Caelestis among others. She is founder of the Music for Life Alliance charity and the Muriel Anderson’s All Star Guitar Night®.