Todd Boston
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Todd Boston

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The best kept secret in music

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"Todd Boston Alive-Echoes October CD of the Month."

World Fusion in a Pastoral Mode from Urban Nature Guitarist

Todd Boston is a child of Windham Hill records and Shakti and you can hear that with his world fusion duo, Urban Nature and on Alive, his solo debut. Although to call it solo might be a misnomer. Boston plays acoustic guitar as well as flute, bass and percussion and he’s joined on many tracks by his Urban Nature partner, Ramesh Kannan on tabla.

He’s also doing live looping. He’ll lay a guitar line down and just as you’re getting lost in the melody, a new theme comes in, played in real time while the original melody continues in a loop.

Urban Nature with John Diliberto in Echoes Concert
That makes Alive a lot more than your standard finger-style solo guitar album. Boston creates deep meditative pieces that swirl with melody, from the refined strains of “Harmony” with Boston weaving flute melodies through his guitar filigree to the gentle sound of “The Brightest Night,” where he plays a simple solo line, plucking harmonics against a back drop of bass and crickets. “Midnight Dreaming,” is a caravan crossing, with Kannan’s tabla groove loping underneath Boston who first plays guitar and then brings in the bansuri flute.

Calling this album meditative might be misleading. Much of it is buoyant, like “Just The Beginning” with its Celtic trilling once Boston hits the solo run. The folk-like refrains of “Skipping” sound like an Appalachian folk song with Indian percussion. Boston isn’t afraid to toss anything into the mix, including some country slide guitar on “3AM.”

Todd Boston is getting into a different sound on Alive. You can hear his roots, but he has a more pastoral feel than Shakti, especially when cellist Matthew Schoening guests on the luxurious expanse of “Twilight.” There’s also a more expansive approach to melody than you’ll find on most Windham Hill records.

Todd Boston is now working with Windham Hill founder/guitarist Will Ackerman, but I’m not sure how much that can improve upon Alive, an auspicious debut from a soulful musician.

We’ll be featuring Todd Boston’s Alive, on Monday’s Echoes, 10/04/10, as well as on our weekend stations that following Saturday and Sunday. - John Diliberto - host Echoes


Discography

TOUCHED BY THE SUN (2012) by Todd Boston

ALIVE (2010) by Todd Boston - Extensive radio airplay on Echoes, nationally syndicated NPR music show. CD of the month (October 2010)

URBAN NATURE COMING HOME (2008) by Todd Boston and Ramesh Kannan. Extensive radio airplay on Echoes, nationally syndicated NPR music show.

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Bio

San Francisco based guitarist/multi-instrumentalist and composer Todd Boston lives a musical life. He brings with him a devoted heart to connect, share and enrich the lives of those he touches through the positive effects of music, sound, and vibration.

While spending a number of months in the pristine mountains of Vermont he has recently completed his second album titled Touched by the Sun with Grammy winning producer Will Ackerman (Windham Hill Records) and a group of world class musicians including Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel) Eugene Friesen (Paul Winter Consort), Jeff Haynes (Pat Methany Group) and vocalist Snatam Kaur. He will be touring internationally in support of the new album as a soloist, as well as in various ensembles including singer Snatam Kaur's band together with longtime musical partner Ramesh Kannan (Tabla, Percussion) throughout 2012.

On stage, he fuses an acoustic world sound with advanced finger style guitar techniques, percussion and various instruments in combination with live looping technology to create a mesmerizing and impressionable sound. As a performer for concert audiences, yoga classes or at the bedside of hospital patients, Todd invokes the feelings of nature in his melodic and rhythmic playing to inspire his listeners.

"Todd Boston is almost impossibly talented, he’s a brilliant guitarist. Touched by the Sun is the work of a mature artist who has come of age and who has given us a great recording of singularity and value, the world’s a better place for his gift." ~ Will Ackerman (Grammy winner and found of Windham Hill Records)

Todd Boston's music has been gaining popularity and recognition worldwide. He received nominations in the 2003 Arizona Music Awards and in the 2005 California Music Awards. Todd was chosen as Top Performer for Philly Rising at the esteemed World Cafe Live in 2005. His first two albums (Urban Nature, Coming Home and Todd Boston Alive) have been consistently featured on Echoes, the two-hour nightly music show heard on over 130 NPR channels and distributed by Public Radio International. Urban Nature Coming Home was voted #13 for the Best CDs of 2009 on the Echoes listeners poll. Todd Boston, Alive was chosen as the CD of the Month of October 2010 by host John Diliberto and was chosen in the top 25 Listeners Choice Awards for 2010. Read the review

Todd has worked and performed with Snatam Kaur, Tony Levin (legendary bassist of Peter Gabriel), Charlie Bisharat (Grammy Winning Violinist), Jeff Haynes (Grammy Winning Percussionist), Eugene Friesen (Grammy Winning Cellist), Deva Premal & Mitten, Manose, Tina Malia, Shimshai, Donna De Lory & Suzanne Sterling. He has performed at prominent festivals such as Wanderlust Festival Vermont and California, Earthdance, Harmony, the 2007 Mac Conference and at events featuring Joan Baez, Michael Franti, Jai Uttal, MC Yogi, Sila and the AfroFunk Experience and more. He has played at venues such as The Fillmore (SF), Marin Civic Center, XPN Studio World Cafe Live (PA) and many others.