Jazz Articles about David Strother

About David Strother

Album Review

Azul is an aural meditation by electric violinist David Strother that covers a wide swathe of emotions and delves fearlessly into the human condition. The word azul means “blue" in Spanish, and indeed the songs explore many shades of this emotional color. The blues also refer to loss: during the editing and mixing phases of the EP, Strother learned about the death of bassist and composer Charlie Haden, a musician who influenced him deeply, so the EP also serves as ...

Album Review

David Strother: Muse

by Florence Wetzel
July 26, 2013

Muse is a poetic suite on loss and resilience by violinist and sound sculptor David Strother. His previous release, Soundings.live (Self-produced), was a lovely integration of improvised violin and Los Angeles street noise, but on Muse he delves into the personal to tell a story through sound. Given Strother's extensive experience with spoken word, it's not surprising that his new recording has a narrative quality: he has collaborated often with noted performance artist Ulysses Jenkins, and he also co-hosts a ...

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Album Review

David Strother: Soundings.live

Read "Soundings.live" reviewed by Florence Wetzel

by Florence Wetzel
October 12, 2011

The Japanese term mono no aware means “the pity of things," a reference to the gentle sadness that results from acknowledging the impermanence and transience of life on earth. David Strother's beautiful EP, Soundings.live, evokes this quality throughout. Strother has created six aural haiku using the unique combination of a five-string electric violin and sounds from the streets of Los Angeles. Strother displays admirable restraint throughout the EP, tastefully merging his violin with a variety of street noises. ...

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Album Review

David Strother: The Desert is Singing

Read "The Desert is Singing" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
September 4, 2010

Violinist David Strother is the fiddle player on Lawrence Lebo's Don't Call Her Larry, Volume 3, American Roots. On that recording, Strother has a homey feel, very much in keeping with the stripped-down ambiance Lebo was trying to achieve on her recording. On his own 2007 recording, The Desert is Singing, Strother further strips things down to just himself and his Yamaha SV-110 electric fiddle. Among his original compositions are a couple of standards, one of which is Thelonious Monk's ...