Andrea Hoag Review from the Takoma Voice

Reviews

Takoma Voice - December 1999

Andrea Hoag & Friends
Fire & Water
Azalea City Recordings

As evidenced by her recent, standing-room-only CD release concert, fiddler Andrea Hoag is one of those few performers who can bring together diverse music and audiences into experiences of brilliant unity. Her 1999 recording, "Fire & Water", folds the best of many musical worlds together to form a strong new voice in the arena of traditional music.

Produced by extraordinary fiddler, Bruce Molsky, "Fire & Water" features daring hybrids of Appalachian, Scandinavian, Celtic and New England music styles. Hoag also ventures to include several original instrumental compositions and reveals her "other side" as a singer and lyricist.

Surrounded by an array of excellent supporting musicians, including pianist Jacqueline Schwab, multi instrumentalists Paul Oorts and Molsky, among others, Andrea Hoag delivers a passionate take on traditions old and new. "Fire & Water" will be something youíll want to hear many times over, each time revealing yet another surprise to the listener. Look for Andrea throughout the year featured in many of the bands playing at dances sponsored by the Folklore Society of Greater Washington. In particular, watch for the band Cabaret Sauvignon. They are delightful.

Franklin Taggart

Fire & Water is an instrumental album for the poet at heart. The music is an expression of joyous conversation, often inspired by the words of others or the longing for words never shared. Andrea explores a vocabulary common to several different folk traditions and merges it seamlessly with her unique expression of disparate emotions.

Andrea crosses generations and genres effortlessly, sometimes within a single, playful phrase. She draws most often from Scandinavian and southern Appalachian traditions, employing those tell-tale features common to both: drones, double stops, complex rhythms and fascinating "blue" notes. She also draws from the Celtic, English country dance and blues traditions. Clearly Andrea reveres these traditions but she is often a refreshingly irreverent interpreter and an outstanding composer in her own right. Her original works have a timeless, universal quality for they are informed by centuries of tradition and a tremendous passion for life.

The production and recording quality is exquisite. The album features a wonderful cast of supporting musicians: Jacqueline Schwab on piano; Bruce Molsky on fiddle and banjo; Ralph Gordon on cello and bass; Jeremiah McLane on accordion; Keith Murphy on guitar; and Paul Oorts on guitar and mandolin. These musicians are all masters of their craft and Andrea shares a rich history with them. They are not merely accompanists but true friends who hold up their end of an artful conversation.

Fire & Water will tease and surprise you. It will touch your heart and pull you laughing from your slumber into a lively dance in celebration of life and all its multi-faceted wonders.

Amy White and Al Petteway

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