Lawrence Blatt Reaches For The Rainbow On The Color Of Sunshine CD

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Acclaimed acoustic guitarist Lawrence Blatt, who also has a deep love and understanding of science, explores the natural relationship between colors, sounds and moods on his third recording, The Color of Sunshine, with the tunes written and presented in the order of colors found in the light spectrum. After two self-produced solo guitar albums, Blatt stretches his sound on his latest CD to include other musicians as well as production by legendary guitarist William Ackerman, Grammy winner and founder of Windham Hill Records. In addition to being a solo artist, Ackerman also is one of the most respected producers of contemporary instrumental music. "Passion and intellect merge in Lawrence Blatt's compositions and performance. His musical instincts amaze me. He can move through a very broad landscape of musical influence and never seem imitative or insincere, " states Ackerman.

According to Blatt, "The basic concept of The Color of Sunshine is that both light/color and sound/pitch are a function of vibrating waves that are similar and related. Moreover, music and moods are often described using the metaphor of color, as in the passion and intensity of being 'red hot, ' or the melancholy feeling of 'the blues.' Given this natural relationship, I used colors as the inspiration for different moods and emotions on an entire album. I composed one piece after another working sequentially through the colors represented in the light spectrum which include red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. I then ordered the music on the CD in the sequence imposed by the light spectrum. Since white light, including sunlight, naturally contains all of the colors of the spectrum, I begin and end the album with two pairs of compositions that are reflective of blended light and color."

Blatt has studied guitar under renowned recording artists Laurence Juber, Pierre Bensusan and Brian Gore. Following the technique used by those artists, Blatt picks the strings with only his fingertips rather than utilizing a pick or even fingernails. To create the moods and emotions evoked by each color on his new album, Blatt utilizes a variety of guitar tunings including standard, DADGAD, Hawaiian and the offbeat CFCFCF. Blatt also plays several other instruments on the album including baritone guitar, bass, charango, ukulele, keyboards and percussion.

"It was an honor and a pleasure working with Will on the new album, especially since he is an accomplished guitarist himself, " explains Blatt. "He instinctively knows what works on the instrument and was able to introduce additional instruments and textures played by other musicians without taking away my voice or vision."

Ackerman, whose own CD was the #1 "Album of the Year" in 2008 according to New Age Reporter, has produced many highly-successful artists including pianists (George Winston, Liz Story, Scott Cossu, Philip Aaberg, Karen Marie Garrett, Fiona Joy Hawkins), acoustic guitarists (Alex de Grassi, Michael Hedges) and folk-singers (John Gorka, Patty Larkin). Blatt traveled to Vermont to record in Ackerman's legendary Imaginary Road Studios.

A rising star in the world of instrumental music and acoustic guitar finger-picking, Lawrence Blatt won an international radio LifeStyle Music Award and was named "Best New Artist" by New Age Reporter (NAR) for his debut CD, the Top 10 airplay Out of the Woodwork. The follow-up CD, Fibonacci's Dream, used concepts discovered by 13th Century math pioneer Leonardo Fibonacci and related them to musical theory in composing the music. The album went to #2 on the NAR chart and was the #7 album of the year for that trade publication. The first two CDs were both finalists for Independent Music Awards with Out of the Woodwork receiving a "Vox Populi Award" (voted on by the public). All of Blatt's music (including occasional "bonus tracks" and alternate versions) can be purchased online at his own website (lawrenceblatt.com), CDbaby.com, Amazon.com, Tradebit.com, Musicishere.com, and digital download locations such as iTunes and Napster.

Blatt's style bridges many genres including new age, neo-classical, folk and world music with subtle, hinted-at elements including Latin, Mid-Eastern, jazz, bluegrass, Hawaiian and pop-rock. Blatt's fluid acoustic sound can feature subtle counter-melodies, rhythmic interplays, harmonic overtones or even multiple parts played simultaneously on one guitar. Blatt's exceptional technique mixes delicate nuances one moment with passionate fire the next. On The Color of Sunshine, Blatt plays a variety of steel-string and nylon-string acoustic guitars, acoustic bass, two different Hawaiian ukuleles, a small South American 10-string charango guitar, the occasional keyboard and a variety of percussion. He is joined by top musicians such as T-Bone Wolk (who has worked extensively with Hall & Oates) on bass, accordian and slide-guitar; Derrik Jordan on percussion; Jeff Oster on flugelhorn; Steve Schuch on violin; Patrick Gorman on drums; and others.

Blatt says the new tunes "Look to the Sun" and "The Color of Sunshine" join "Under the Sun" from his first album and "A Little More Sunshine" from his second CD as part of an on-going "Sun Suite" featuring related musical themes. The next two compositions on the new album, "Gray Salt Marsh" and "Infrared: The Abyss, " depict the edge of the color spectrum. According to Blatt, "'Gray Salt Marsh' was inspired by a foggy, overcast day exploring the protected wetlands near where I live; and 'Infrared' covers light we can not normally see which represents the unknown, that area beyond perception."

The color spectrum songs start with "Alhambra (The Red)" ("inspired by the red sands of the Moorish desert and the pink-tinged fortress of that name in Spain"), and continues with "Orange Blossom Honey" (a solo ukulele piece) and "Jaune (Yellow)" ("influenced by seeing people sick with jaundice or chronic Hepatitis C, watching their skin turn yellow, and following their difficult therapy procedures"). Next is the solo guitar "Green Corn and Spring" ("a no-overdub tribute to my growing up in Indiana"), "Mar Azul" ("inspired by the Pacific Ocean, from where I live in San Francisco and all the way to South America"), and "Violet Blue" ("this one has a bit of sadness in it"). Following are two more edge-of-spectrum pieces - another unseen-light number ("UV Radiations") and one representing the absence of light ("'Black Rock Beach' is a place I go snorkeling with my son, Zack, in Hawaii, so he contributes on beat box and I use a Hawaiian taro-patch tuning on a tiny parlor guitar").

Lawrence began classical violin studies at age eight which continued through high school (although he also played classical bass for two years and learned basic piano skills). While still in junior high, he became the youngest member of the Indianapolis Youth Symphony. In addition, when he was twelve, he began learning guitar, and over the next decade became a part of the Indiana folk scene as a singer-songwriter-guitarist. Blatt went on to graduate from Indiana University where he studied both microbiology and music (Leonard Bernstein was on the adjunct faculty giving lectures and concerts). Blatt moved to Los Angeles and earned his MBA and a PhD degree in science ("it was something I enjoyed and had an aptitude for"), while continuing to privately study music (especially folk and jazz). Blatt went to Boulder, Colorado, for five years, began his "serious music career, " and delved deeply into finger-style playing. In addition to studying with Laurence Juber at this time, Blatt was influenced by other finger-pickers including Dave Wilcox, Leo Kottke, Michael Hedges,Ottmar Liebert and The Netherlands’ Harry Sacksioni. In 2001 Blatt moved to San Francisco where he studied intensely with Brian Gore and began performing regularly.

Blatt’s music has been licensed to appear on film soundtracks, television shows and various multi-artist compilation CDs. For example, “Here We Go” was in a Tom Green film (“Shred II”), and “Keiki Lullaby” was incorporated into the PBS/Showtime-TV magazine show “This American Life.” Blatt’s tunes also have been played on National Public Radio national news shows during story breaks.

“I don’t know where I will head next musically, ” states Blatt, “but it will probably incorporate my interest in science, math, biology, history, nature and the world around me. Sometimes it is like setting up a laboratory experiment and seeing where the results will lead.”

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