(Chamber Jazz / Adult Alternative / Crossover Jazz) Michael Manring - Soliloquy - 2005, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Hailed by many as the world's leading solo bassist, Michael has been pushing back the boundaries of what's possible with just a bass guitar for two decades, winning thousands of fans and wowing countless audiences the world over with his stunning compositions and mind-blowing technical mastery of the instrument. Since his time as the house bassist for the Windham Hill label, Michael's profile and influence as a solo bassist have gone from strength to strength, first through years of touring alongside acoustic guitar legend Michael Hedges and then through solo performances and collaborations with artists as diverse as Patti Larkin, Henry Kaiser, John Gorka and Thomas Dolby. Michael is without doubt one of the most original, remarkable and celebrated voices on the electric bass in the world today, and a performer not to be missed.
-Steve Lawson

Two hands. Ten fingers. No overdubs.
Bassist Michael Manring writes in the Extended Notes to his new release Soliloquy [2005 Manthing Music], that he conceptualized the album around the idea of solitude for a number of reasons:
“Solitude is a unique state for us---one in which we are compelled to honesty. It is perhaps the most basic fact of human existence, and yet there’s something mysterious about it. The self is all we truly know, and yet I’m not sure that the self is ever fully knowable.”
And, as a professional musician who does most of work solo, performing on stage, traveling, practicing, composing, etc., Manring has spent a lot of time just considering his own self and solitude. Also, he was intrigued by the idea of doing a truly solo album; just him and his basses, space and sound.
Soliloquy largely succeeds at Manring's intent: an exploration of space and sound within the environment of the solo bass that envelopes the listener within.
Manring uses a number of specially designed basses in his work (Hyperbass, Hyperbass/Hybrid, 5-string acoustic bass, 10-string prototype, and the vb-4 prototype. Each bass has its own sound rewards and colors and the result is an album with which Manring seeks to establish and explore different “tones” throughout.
“I’m fascinated by the enormous wealth of timbre the bass has to offer and I hoped to capture a bit of its versatility on this disc. I wanted each piece to have its own sonic world...”
By using his mix of fretless and fretted basses, alternate tunings, special microphone staging, different pickups, an E-bow, judicious use of reverb, and other studio sound techniques, Manring has gone for what he describes as trying ”to obtain the same kind of sonic space that solo recordings of acoustic instruments have.” He states he was trying to counteract the normally one-dimensional sound of the bass by trying to pick up the “sound” around the bass itself, to add a spatial element to his music.
On one track When We Sleep On this Earth, he avoids touching the strings. Instead, he drums a pattern a pattern on the body of the bass with his fingers, allowing the sound to emanate from the vibration of the strings in response to the drumming.
On other tracks he traces his inspiration to philosophy, poetry, mythology, movies, his personal history, Walden, and other reference points in his mind. The result is that by basing it on Manring’s own internal dialog, he invokes a corresponding dialog in the listener.
Beyond, the “Wow, how did he’d do that,” this album strikes me as kind of an existentialist listening experience. It’s the kind of record that has to be heard to be appreciated for what it is---a kind of unself-conscious look at the self through a musical prism.
For all the "head scratching" that kind of description can invoke, it's that kind of album to me. It has to be experienced individually for full effect as I imagine each listener will take something else out of the experience. That is to say, I highly recommend it (four stars), especially for fans of musical journeys with plenty of left turns as opposed to knowing exactly where you’re going.

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008
EAC extraction logfile from 6. June 2008, 23:48
Michael Manring / Soliloquy
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15 | 54:40.67 | 6:22.29 | 246067 | 274745
Range status and errors
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Filename F:\z\Michael Manring - Soliloquy.wav
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Copy CRC 5EB8DC59
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AccurateRip summary
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