Jenny Oaks Baker has the claim to fame of having been nominated from a Grammy award, and it does not take long listening to her to understand why. She's a virtuoso on a level that you do not often here. As a musician, I can image that it must be a struggle these days to make people interested in listening to you play the violin. Lindsay Sterling, another LDS violinist, gets around this by combining violin with hip-hop dancing.
Jenny Oaks Baker gets around this by using her talent to create versions of popular songs. Her last album delved into Disney and in this new album, arriving April 2014, she takes on classic rock. Take a look at the track list:
1. Liverpool Suite (Beatles Medley) |
2. Everybody Hurts |
3. Kashmir |
4. You are So Beautiful |
5. Scarborough Fair |
6. Stairway to Heaven |
7. Fields of Gold |
8. Pinball Wizard |
9. Sweet Child of Mine |
10. Yesterday |
There's a lot to like on this album. The highlights for me would have to be the first track, which combines all sorts of Beatles songs in a very clever fashion (All You Need is Love, Eleanor Rigby, and Let It Be to name a few), Stairway to Heaven, and Fields of Gold. There's a great balance between the orchestral accompaniment and her violin as the main attraction. The song selection was also really well done, as I felt that she chose songs with strong, recognizable melodies that lend themselves well to the violin.
As you might expect, most of the tracks have a more "classical" feel than a "rock" feel, but at least for me, I liked that about them. Some of the tracks sounded very similar to me, but overall, I really enjoyed the album. It would be one of those I'd put on while I'm writing.
Definitely recommended. If you would like to give it a try, you can purchase the album here: http://deseretbook.com/Classic-Rock-Album-Jenny-Oaks-Baker/i/5119169
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