Maya Beiser’s UNCOVERED Now Available
“With this electrifying disc, the avant-garde cello virtuoso Maya Beiser transforms herself into something of a rock ’n’ roll diva.” – San Francisco Chronicle
“she has the chops to make her cello a license-to-kill instrument . . . Her sense of invention borders on stupendous. . . Some of the songs are like tone poems, often bringing genre-defining music into modern global music consciousness.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
“[Beiser] reaches moody, wailing electric-guitar grandeur, and she cuts a riveting swath through Janis Joplin’s version of Summertime and a wandering, ambiguous take on Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here” – The New York Times
“The raging quality of Kurt Cobain’s vocals in the original is matched here in surprising and ferocious ways by Beiser’s cello, further proving to us laymen that classical music has more than two modes: pretty and eerie.” – Flavorwire
“Beiser’s stunning impressionist reinterpretations bring out new colors, sounds and rhythms from songs we’ve likely all heard hundreds of times. And for the classically minded, Beiser’s refreshing sonic approach brings life to establishing rock as part of the canon.” – WNYC’s Soundcheck
“Uncovered succeeds because of Ms. Beiser’s ability to make well-known material her own . . .she doesn’t try to mimic Robert Plant’s pungent yowl. Instead, she murmurs the opening lyrics and employs her multitracked cello to play Jimmy Page’s guitar riffs … Howlin’ Wolf’s Moanin’ at Midnight works because the cello covers the range, world weariness and menace of Howlin’ Wolf’s voice as well as his fleet, piercing harmonica licks . . .Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here seems made for a stringed-instrument cover, but Ms. Beiser’s gritty intro deepens the sense of loss in the piece and makes it even more elegiac . . . In Ms. Beiser’s hands the cello can capture a wide range of voices, and with multitracking it can effect the sound of a power chord. On Uncovered, the cellist plays classic rock with the unbridled passion that she brings to her other repertoire.” – Wall Street Journal
“an exceptional mix of elemental energy and tasteful musical originality, with many high points. . . Maya Beiser . . . is at the peak of an eclectic career in which Uncovered is just one of a string of varied projects. . . Beiser is one of those “classical” artists . . . who are expanding the audience for classical and other ‘serious’ music by embracing pop culture with eyes and spirit wide open, not looking down on anything or anyone With Uncovered she takes a serious journey into the heart of serious rock, and we’re the beneficiaries.” – Blogcritics
Listen to Maya Beiser on Slate’s The Gist: http://bit.ly/UncoveredGist
Read the Wall Street Journal feature on Uncovered: http://bit.ly/MayaBeiserWSJ
Hear Maya Beiser play live on WNYC’s Soundcheck: http://bit.ly/MayaUncoveredSoundcheck
Watch Maya at home, talking about Uncovered with the Wall Street Journal:
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