Jethro Tull – The String Quartets
BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd – March 24, 2017

by Virginia Egressy

Ian Anderson is a Scottish born musician who had just reached his 70th milestone birthday this year. He is known for his years of performing with British rock band Jethro Tull as lead vocalist and flutist amongst the wide range of other instruments he masters. In 1980 is when Ian Anderson had started his solo career. I had the opportunity to see him perform this year with Jethro Tull and the Denver Symphony at Red Rock Amphitheater and got a taste of what was coming on his new release coming out on Pledge Music with the strings performing with him. I was excited to have this opportunity to listen to these new releases in their entirety on the cd.

With the recording of his new cd Jethro Tull The Sting Quartets with Carducci Quartet, he had taken some of our best remembered hits and had given them new life with adding a classical rhythm. This cd is far from the Ian Anderson I remember rocking it out in Jethro Tull with the heavy guitar along with his flute and dancing on one leg. This is a much softer, soothing experience of some old time favorites. He has taken some of his past hits and given the song and titles a new twist. Not only will you enjoy the melody of the music but the tranquility in his voice in the lyrics. It was interesting listening to these songs with the extraordinary re-birth into a classical session. I truly enjoyed listening to each song on this cd. It is definitely one for the collection for those moments to just sit back and relax to a quiet evening embracing the moment. All songs on this cd are a pleasure to listen to but a few of my favorites were Sossity Waiting, We Use to Bach and Velvet Gold.

Not all artists would be able to recreate their hits as this but Ian Anderson had magically done so. This is not a cd for all generations but will definitely be an addition to my collection.