Elevation (Lawson Rollins album)

Elevation is the third solo album by guitarist and composer Lawson Rollins. Rollins co-produced the album with Persian-American musician and producer Shahin Shahida (of Shahin & Sepehr) and multi-platinum producer Dominic Camardella (Flora Purim, 3rd Force, Ottmar Liebert).[1][2] The cast of 20 different musicians includes the Grammy winning violinist Charlie Bisharat, avant-garde electric guitarist Buckethead, Nepali sarangi player Kirin Nepali, Iranian vocalist Parsa Hassandokht, Nepali flute player Ruban Kumar Shrestha, Iranian santourist Pejman Eckhtiari, and Nepali tabla player Raju Maharjan. Associate producer William Aura of 3rd Force recorded the Nepali musicians in Kathmandu, Nepal. The Iranian musicians were recorded in Iran by co-producer Shahin Shahida.[3]

Elevation
Studio album by
Released2011
GenreWorld music
Length1:13:27
LabelInfinita Records
ProducerDominic Camardella, Lawson Rollins, Shahin Shahida
Lawson Rollins chronology
Espirito
(2010)
Elevation
(2011)
Full Circle
(2013)

Composition edit

Rollins composed all of the music on the album; however, the song "Parisian Rhapsody" was inspired by "Gymnopedie No. 1" by Eric Satie. "Francisco's Dance" contains excerpts from "Capricho Arabe" by Francisco Tarrega.[3]

Reception edit

Elevation received positive reviews from jazz, guitar, and world music critics.[4][5][6]

The single from Elevation, "Daybreak", appeared on the Billboard top-30 Smooth Jazz Songs chart. The single peaked at #22.[1]

Track listing edit

All tracks are written by Lawson Rollins

No.TitleLength
1."Elevation"5:22
2."Voyager's Tale"5:43
3."Persian Night"5:28
4."Parisian Rhapsody"5:31
5."Santa Barbara Song"4:27
6."Daybreak"4:57
7."Shadows of Life"5:49
8."Himalayan Blue"5:55
9."The Wind at Dawn"5:58
10."Francisco's Dance"5:48
11."Slow Ascent" (featuring Buckethead)5:11
12."The Diamond Path"6:56
13."Ghosts of Alcazar" (featuring Buckethead)6:14

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Elevation – Lawson Rollins". Allmusic. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
  2. ^ "Lawson Rollins: Elevation". Infinita Records. Archived from the original on January 25, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  3. ^ a b Elevation (PDF) (PDF). Lawson Rollins. Infinita Records. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 2, 2013. Retrieved November 29, 2013.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. ^ Rollins, Lawson. "Lawson Rollins" (PDF). Guitar Player (Interview). Interviewed by Matt Blackett. pp. 62–66. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 2, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  5. ^ "Free Song of the Week: Lawson Rollins". National Geographic. Archived from the original on November 2, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  6. ^ "Around the World with Lawson Rollins". Straight No Chaser. December 14, 2011. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013.

External links edit