Sugarloaf Mountain

$20.00

Debuted at No. 5 on Billboard’s Classical Crossover chart, June 2015!

Jeannette Sorrell, director, harpsichord, arrangements; Amanda Powell, soprano vocals; Ross Hauck, tenor vocals; Susanna Perry Gilmore, fiddle; Kathie Stewart, wooden flutes; Tina Bergmann, hammered dulcimer & vocals; Brian Kay, lute, banjo, long-neck dulcimer, vocals; René Schiffer, cello

“Authenticity and that most elusive of desirable qualities, exquisite taste… Every performer made marvelous contributions.”
–THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER

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SKU: AV2329 Category:

“Sorrell and a hand-picked band of eight musicians… tap into America’s hardscrabble Southern roots with grace and power… with music that asks questions about life and death, and bores into the American national psyche at visceral and emotional levels. Beautiful and eloquent… infectious energy. Every song signifies a personal response… Sorrell’s magical, rapt harpsichord riff on ‘I wonder as I wander’ reveals how profoundly spontaneous this folk music is at its core.”
– GRAMOPHONE Magazine [Read the full review]

“Wonderfully fresh… exuding utter authenticity, contagious kinetic energy, and a totally free-wheeling spirit to the nth degree while shedding not a whit of their phenomenal technical polish, exemplifying the kind of art that conceals art. A must-have item; highest recommendation.”
– FANFARE Record Magazine [Read the full review]

“Entirely compelling, by turns funny, tragic, and even grisly. This release should continue to gain international attention for this forward-thinking group. Sorrell, who came of age as a musician partly in the rural South, has a way with this music.”
–ALLMUSIC.COM

“Spectacularly fine singing and instrumental playing… full of energy and life. Terrific sweep from the ensemble who really swing. A first rate recording.”
–THE CLASSICAL REVIEWER, UK

“Authenticity and that most elusive of desirable qualities, exquisite taste… Every performer made marvelous contributions.”
–THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER

“Haunting melodies, foot-stomping jigs and reels, stories, and a healthy dose of comedy, all with musicianship of the highest order. The audience sang, clapped, shed a few tears, and laughed, ultimately enjoying a taste of the good times that our mountain forebears must have had. The program is an ingenious conception of Apollo’s Fire director Jeannette Sorrell, the fruit of considerable research… A rich tapestry of the dark, the joyful, the sad, and the humorous, all of which the deep treasury of Appalachian music encompasses. At times songs segued seamlessly into one another to add to the sense of a journey through time. The logic of song sequence and changes of moods were beautifully placed and yielded a powerful effect… An absolutely joyous achievement.”
–CLEVELANDCLASSICAL.COM

“The U.S.A.’s hottest baroque band.” –CLASSICAL MUSIC MAGAZINE (UK)

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