Vin Downes

What people are saying about “dreamlets"

“With dreamlets, Vin Downes explores the nourishment found in the wandering mind. Between waking thoughts and the uncategorical realm of dreams––considered by many to be a space of fantasy or escape––Downes seems to understand that it is there that the reduced mind is free to engage with the heart. The concise solo guitar pieces that make up the collection are warm and crisp, patiently floating between wisps of Celtic mystery, mournful Americana, and unresolved questioning. The mastery demonstrated in both the performance and the shimmering production by Tom Eaton only accents that Downes is an ever-evolving artist who is as curious as he is capable.”

~ Charlie Rauh - Guitarist/Composer/Author/Educator 

 

"Vin Downes' music makes me forget that I'm listening to a guitar. Don't get me wrong: his playing is impeccable, his sound is warm, and his records are expertly produced by Tom Eaton. Vin Downes is a guitarist's guitarist, sure.

It's just that his writing is so inventive and alive, at once familiar and unique, that his music would be successful on any instrument. The guy is a musician's musician, a composer's composer.

That forgetting-it's-a-guitar phenomenon is on full display in Downes' latest project, "dreamlets." The title work is a multi-movement meditation which deserves inclusion in the wider guitar canon. Movements "the visit" and "imagine a chorale" come close to stopping time for me, and I've returned to those tracks many times to experience the sensation. Thing is, the album is brimming with tracks that compete for your attention. "Redwing" and "The Quietest Midnight" are both instant classics.

There are a lot of excellent guitarist-composers out there. But there is only one Vin Downes."

~ Matthew Cochran - Guitarist/Composer/Educator

 

"The wonderful new album by guitarist Vin Downes, called "Dreamlets," is like a book of musical short stories, where each one leaves you fulfilled and eager for the next one. Some are tranquil; some tell a tale that is continuing and unresolved; some are resolute; some are restless. Yet they are all tied together by Vin's exquisite taste, touch, tone, and phrasing, and producer Tom Eaton's consummate recording and mastering." 

~El McMeen - Guitarist/Author

 

“I just listened to Vin Downes' newest album from start to finish and it was transporting. The album creates an atmosphere of peace and enchantment, almost like musical incense. Expertly composed, performed and recorded.”

Candice Mowbray - Guitarist/Educator/Scholar

 

"Once again Vin Downes dazzles on his new album Dreamlets,  offering 16 transcendent Solo guitar miniatures infused with uncommon elegance and grace."

~ James Filkins - Composer/Guitarist Educator

 

“Vin Downes’ mastery of the guitar is matched only by his musical erudition and his compositional skill. ‘Dreamlets,’ his 10th solo album, is at once richly complex, elegant, mesmerizing and quietly intimate. You almost feel like he’s playing guitar right next to you, his crisp steel-string accompanied only by the ambience of a fire on a snowy evening. This is especially evident in the album’s first single, “the quietest midnight.” There are cleverly no capital letters in the track titles, à la e.e. cummings. Shades of Monk, Monet and Metheny subtly echo throughout the 16 mini musical reveries contained within. There are more “waltzes” than one might expect, but not a thing feels overdone here. This release coincides with the 50th anniversary of Windham Hill Records, the legacy sound and musical ethos of which Downes faithfully embodies while still speaking with a voice all his own. My only “complaint” is that after these 34 minutes of music are over, I want more—but that’s what album-repeat is for.”

~ Colin Alexander - Bassist/Session Musician