OPEN WINDOWS, the new solo acoustic guitar CD by Christopher Barber, is out now!
Austrian label ATS-Records proudly announces the release of Christopher Barber's new solo acoustic guitar CD “Open Windows”. Barber, a native of upstate New York, is a guitarist, composer and music educator based in Vienna. His music is many-faceted and yet highly personal, bringing together a wealth of influences and experiences to make a distinctive artistic statement. Asked to characterize the new disc, Christopher Barber comments, “I wanted to do a CD using only the nylon-string guitar. Long ago, when I was studying music in the USA before moving to Europe, I learned classical guitar. And really, although I've played all kinds of music, often using electric guitars, I have always preferred this instrument. 'Open Windows' focuses on my own compositions. Most of the eleven tracks gravitate between worlds that are usually fenced in using categories like 'Jazz' or 'Classical'. But music flows like water, and it can just as well be described with words like 'earthy' or 'conceptual'. I hope that the four pieces by other composers will help listeners as points of orientation.” Two of these great masters, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Antônio Carlos Jobim, are certainly familiar to anyone interested in the music of Brazil, which has had a profound influence on Barber's music and his approach to the guitar. The Cuban Leo Brouwer recently celebrated his eightieth birthday, and he is still going strong, creating music that combines compositional rigor with a refreshing openness to the sounds of our time. Finally, Sidney Bechet’s “Petite Fleur” pays homage to the great African-American musical heritage that Barber grew up with in the USA. The music is available on all major digital distribution platforms, but the actual CD offers more, primarily thanks to an extended booklet text (in English and German). Here Barber writes about his personal motivations, inspirations and experiences while shedding light on the cultures and traditions behind the music.
