Musical Reviews

THE URBAN QUARTET AT THE OLD TOWN
CENTER FOR THE ARTS, COTTONWOOD, AZ

by Haizen Paige for Sedona Talk Radio

There was a great deal of buzz, expectancy and anticipation as the audience took a giant leap into the musical unknown to hear a remarkable new live performance: the Urban String Quartet playing what it might have been like if John Lennon, Mick Jaggers, the Smashing Pumpkins, etc., had been classically trained composers from, say, the Julliard School of Music. Of course, instead of these rock gods writing for string quartet, their music was skillfully transformed into a completely different genre by violinist Carrie Caruso and violist Matt Gordon, with further inspiration from the Hampton String Quartet and perhaps some Bartok thrown in to knock a few heads together and open the ears.

Amber Norgaard's Friday, October 9th Performance

at the Old Town Center for the Arts

by Haizen Paige

Amber Norgaard Never heard of Amber, except "amber waves of grain" from America the Beautiful? Neither had I, until I was lucky enough to hear her live tonight. Lately I've been eager for as many live performances as possible and nothing takes the place of those sound-vibes bouncing off your skin, mind and heart, no matter how great your sound system at home.

After a glowing introduction by William Eaton, saying that he once heard Mary Chapin Carpenter early in her career at a music festival and sensed that she was a rising star-he has the same feeling about Amber. He could be right.

This young lady has wonderful gifts on her side, starting with her outstanding writing ability...and we're in the age of some great female singer/song-writers, such as Carpenter herself, and more recently-and deservedly hotter than a pistol-Taylor Swift. But rather than compare Amber to anyone, being less country and more eclectic in her tastes, she has great emotional range from ballads to kick-ass rock 'n' roll and can drive a band with her voice, keyboard or guitar.

Being an adventurous spirit and having a background in farming, nursing, volunteer work, and working with the indigenous people of Alaska-she's conscious of the healing power of music. This propels her into original songs that cover such issues as, politics aside, the human story of immigrants dying while trying to cross the border, and what it must be like to be old and thinking "I'm still in here!" This last one could become the anthem of the geriatric population which is growing daily, as she gives voice to those who may not be able to put their feelings into words. Healing and music blended together add a conscious dimension of depth to her performances, and drawn from her own life experiences, it's hard to imagine that she would ever run out of ideas to write about.