Karen Marie Garrett

Karen plays from a classical background, but brings to it her abundant heart” Will Ackerman (legendary pioneer of New Age Music and founder of Windam Hill Records)

Karen is currently touring and promoting her new release "Allure of Sanctuary" that placed Number 8 on the NewAgeReporter.com Top 100 Airplay chart for the month of October 2005!

For up to date information and song samples visit: www.kgpiano.com

Concert testimonitals:

August 2005 - “This past weekend I had four overnight guests. We were very energetic in the daytime hours, with long walks and drives around the peninsula. Saturday evening, the living room was littered with exhausted bodies flaked out on the couch, chairs, cushions on the floor. I put on the Sanctuary CD and wish you could have been a fly on the wall to observe each person stop reading what they were reading or doing the crossword puzzle and just stare into midair, clearly captivated by the mesmerizing effect of your music..... I noticed a similar effect on your
audience the Friday night of the Espy weekend, when you performed for us.... Captivated not only by your compositions that, with their mantra-like repetition of melody, seem to lap up to shore like the high tide..... but also with your exceptional skill, Karen, I did not know it was possible to achieve such subtlety ..... we were pulled to and fro by your tender little notes later filling out into deep resonance." Cynthia Hayward, Seattle, WA

I can’t thank you enough for your wonderful concert ... it was magical! A wonderful treat for all us Espyites! Polly Friedlander, Seattle, WA

Review by RJ Lannan, New Age Reporter, 11/3/2005

If you are looking for a piano album that suggests light, airy feelings and sunny, day-dream interludes then Allure of Sanctuary the new release by Karen Marie Garrett is just the ticket. The overall theme promises that there are still places remaining that cater to the weary spirit and harbor the heart-searching if only for a few precious moments. Karen Marie has a great sense of composition and she must know first hand what breaks, or better still, what heals a troubled heart.

Like something out of child’s imaginary dream world, the first tune Tip-toe Dancer (Kathryn’s Song) creates a light, flirty mood. You can almost see the tiny ballerina dancing amidst a red velvet background. Once you close the lid of the box the music stops, but the tune remains in your heart.

I always thought that the Ewoks in the Star Wars movies were superfluous and just too cute for words, but apparently Karen Marie thinks differently as she pays homage to the furry little heroes in the song Lake EWOk Muse. I am assuming that it is actually the lake side setting that is the subject. Frankly, it doesn’t matter what she called the tune as it is absolutely superb. There is a wondrous pastoral beauty about it that paints the image of a placid lake on a warm afternoon. Hungry fish make dimples on the lake’s surface and perhaps a few angry clouds are moving in from the west, but for now the lazy sun is your only companion. Eugene Freisen’s cello is a welcome addition and the song would not be complete without him. It is one of my favorites on Allure of Sanctuary and seems to suit the theme for the album quite well.

It’s like walking through a door and finding escape just on the other side. The title track Allure of Sanctuary probably has the snappiest beat of any song and it grabs you with its tango-like cadence and whispery voice background. There is a place that consoles the spirit and lets your cares melt away. It may be called dreamland, inner peace or Cloud 9, but is best accompanied by this fanciful tune.

Wistful dreams abound when you listen to the tune The Green Hills. The solo piano number is a showcase for Garrett’s pastoral composing style and versatility and it is a welcome reprieve from the day’s harried endeavors. It will be one of your favorites as it is mine.

Karen Marie touches on three of impressionist Erik Satie’s more somber works, the “plain songs” Gnossiennes 1, 2, & 3. Satie of course is a favorite of mine and I have long suspected that he is the pater of New Age Music. Satie dedicated his works to the great palaces at Knossos and I imagine that Garrett is enamored by his simple, yet inventive ideology.

Will’s Song is I suppose sort of a tribute to Karen Marie’s producer, Will Ackerman. Yes, that Will Ackerman. Who knows why, but the song remains an outstanding cut on Allure of Sanctuary (I jest of course). The tune, an improvisation made with K.M.’s engine at idle and the meter running has a depth of mood with an almost idyllic beauty.

The best cut by far on the CD is called Toll of War. Accompanied once again by cellist Eugene Friesen, the solemn, emotional piece is a work of musical art. In the back of my mind I am reminded of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata when I listen to this work. The same gravity of mood, but from differ