FOUR PIECES

Cailyn Lloyd is a female American multi-instrumentalist, who appears to have started her musical career in London, England, playing the guitar in a number of small bands.Upon returning to the States she became a multi-instrumentalist and after giving birth to a healthy family she got active again, recording an EP in 2008 titled ''New world in blue'' and collaborating later with vocalist Dani Daly for the creation of the album ''True lies and other fairy tales''.In 2012 Cailyn recorded her second EP ''Four pieces'', playing all instruments by herself.

Not a very imaginative title to say the truth, this EP contains -as expected- four long instrumental cuts, three of which are adaptions on works by composers Ralph Vaughan Williams, Antonin Dvorak and Samuel Barber.Let's get straight to the nice discoveries of the album, first and foremost Cailyn avoids any relation to annoying sound programming and really plays all instruments naturally.The production is quite nice and she appears to be a decent performer on the instruments.Her overall style reminds me a lot of Dutch veterans ODYSSICE, these reworkings sound pretty tasteful and melodic throughout with some good guitar solos and sentimental atmospheres.On the other hand the material is pretty guitar-dominated with slow tempos and rare escapes from the emotional guitar solo-stylings, not having enough room for keyboards or piano, even if playing a style requiring the pronounced use of keyboards.This results to a similarity between the pieces' atmospheres, which is not a nice thing in my books.''Adagio'' is definitely the best of all reworkings with some very cinematic keyboards in the opening minutes and some beautiful guitar work.''Nocturne'' distinguishes as the only original composition in here, having some evident CAMEL influences and sounding a bit bluesy at moments.There's even some notable PINK FLOYD inspirations during the softer parts, but also a very reduced keyboard role.

Maybe I am a bit too harsh, but as a whole this effort isn't what you'd actually call recommended.Very melodic and warm music with symphonic overtones, lacking original themes and balanced instrumentation.Lloyd though appears to be an excellent musician and I admit that I expect a monster personal release by her.Fans of ODYSSICE and similar groups are the ones to take a chance on this...2.5 stars.

I only like about six classical music pieces and three of them are on this CD. I saw a review of this album in Progression, and being a fan classical-rock adaptations like Pictures at an Exhibition, I had to have a copy. Cailyn is a very talented lady and pulls off a very impressive effort. The opening track, Fantasia is an adaption of Fantasia on a Theme by Vaughan Williams and the best track on the album IMO. This track sounds faithful to the original in an almost reverent way with some tasty overlaid guitar. The bass and drums are solid and punchy and surprisingly effective. Somewhat lost in the mix is some very nice piano working behind the guitars.

Largo is from the Dvorak New World and is a loud (almost too much) remake of the quiet movement. This track has some great guitar work, with the exception of the beginning where the guitar fails to capture the mysterious atmosphere of the original. After that however, Largo has some cool blues moments that lead to a rocking climax and a return to the opening music. This track will take a couple of listens unless you are familiar with the original.

Adagio is powerful and reverent take on Adagio for Strings by Barber. There is a great video for this track on her Youtube page. The final track, Nocturne, was written by Cailyn is a mostly quiet bluesy piece that reminded me of Andy Latimer and Camel. Some lovely licks and guitar work. A perfect late-night chill out song. Not essential but an excellent addition to any collection so 4 stars.