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Quotes about "Decibels"
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"Former Joe Rockhead bassist and busy Austin session and rock band
'cellist Bernal blends classical, experimental and rock music around
his 'cello playing with an elan, imagination and
stunning instrumental proficiency to create vivid, picturesque
and evocative instrumental music.
Hardly your usual listening experience, yet a wondrous aural adventure."
- Rob Patterson, Texas Music Magazine
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Patience is clearly one of Steve Bernal's finest virtues.
On Decibels, the longtime local cellist and bassist's
fourth album, his neoclassical compositions nurture
the space they require. His technique is sparse yet
demanding and intensely personal; nothing feels forced
or rushed, all of which works in favor of meditative
opener "Hidden," for three cellos and bass. "Dreams and
Concrete," written and performed with Loren Dent, introduces
electric guitar and drums over a 19-minute arc that rattles
and hums, while the four-part "Suite for Solo Cello and
Subsonic Continuo" achieves a full spectrum of style
and sound. Bernal takes a more contemporary approach to
"Pluto: Requiem for an Icy World," his lone cello strum slower
and more pensive, at times giving way to stretches of a digital,
lunar landscape, as if searching for solace amidst
the vast emptiness.
- Austin Powell / Texas Platters Columnist for the
Austin Chronicle
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"In this day and age we the people are inundated with a mind-bending
barrage of information that greatly accelerates our
life cycle, to the point that we may not notice the
beauty in stillness. In the quiet wherein dwells divinity.
With "Decibels", Steve Bernal reintroduces us to the mystery and
wonder of austerity through melody, tone, texture and space.
"'Decibels' is the mark of a composer firmly in control of his craft,
who understands all too well the importance of the fragile balance
between sound and silence. We, the listeners, are the beneficiaries
of his efforts. This music is like a breath of fresh,
clean air and sunshine after years spent underground, as
if in a coalmine. Sublimity captured, serenity gained. A masterwork."
- Dony Wynn, Drummer/Percussionist
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"Steve is engaged in a complex improvisation which is not
really improvised at all, but composed in the silence of
his contemplative mind. A power of creation he shares with
certain inspired composers of the past, Beethoven and Brahms
most notably. He doesn't make-up his melodies, but rather
reaches for them from a place beyond conscious arrangement
of notes, and as a result something timeless occurs when he
places bow to string."
- Dr. Charles Ervin, Ph.D., Master Bowmaker/Luthier
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"I don't know what's more impressive : his rapid mastery of
the 'cello after so many years as a bona fide Rock & Roll bassist,
or the depth and power of expression in his compositions. But none
of the back story really matters. Steve Bernal's 'Decibels' is a
compelling piece of work on it's own."
- Stephen Belans, Drummer/Producer
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"This music is exciting!"
- Graham Reynolds, Composer/Performer/Pianist/Drummer
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"This music is so different form anything I've heard in a long time.
Truly unique stuff."
- Will Hoffman, Producer/Engineer/Arranger
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"This is clearly an 'everything' record. One can hear a lot of
stuff! The marriage of traditional 'cello with non-traditional
sounds is wonderful. The music really exhibits all the range
and technology available for this combination. This is a wicked record!"
- Sam Lipman, Composer/Arranger/Saxophonist/Pianist/Vocalist
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"At once hypnotically emotional and jarringly attention-getting.
Mr. Bernal's 'Decibels' is a soul-stirring, phantasmagoric
aural journey traveling through a wealth of amazing colors.
All the more impressive that they are virtually all being
created and played by one individual!"
- P. Kellach Waddle, Pulitzer Prize nominated Composer/Bassist w/Austin
Symphony/Writer/Editor
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