Beautiful Day

For this album, American acoustic guitarist Peter Janson chose to record with a variety of world-class musicians from a variety of musical genres - Jamie Bonk (Smooth Jazz Canada quot;Guitarist of the Yearquot; nominee); Steve Hunt (keyboardist with Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Clarke, Alan Holdsworth); John Lockwood (bassist with Pat Metheny, Dizzy Gillespie, Boston Pops); Raymond Gonzalez (performed with John Renbourn, Peter Lang, Ellis Paul); Bertram Lehmann (performed with Joe Zawinul, Rebecca Paris, Natraj); Chris Lopes (bassist with Nina Ott, Jeff Parker); Henrik Bridger (bassist with Makoto Takenaka); Julie Woods (performed with Roberta Flack, Livingston Taylor, Jeffrey Osborne). Peter Janson, primarily a solo guitarist, created Beautiful Day, the first in a series of Peter Janson & Friends albums, as an artistic rendition of his belief that if we are to achieve true peace and joy in the world we must all learn to caringly and creatively work together. In addition to the captivating instrumentation, the vocalists only sing vowels and a few consonants, as a gesture of the recognition of the universal connections we all have in our most important form of communication, spoken language, and as a symbol of the hope that we can indeed have a future of beautiful days. __ Peter's Bio: A 'gifted acoustic finger-style guitar player' (Dirty Linen), Peter Janson brings world-class acoustic guitar music to records and the concert stage with fresh contemporary arrangements of new and traditional tunes from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, and North America, as well as Celtic inspired compositions. Reminiscent of American folk guitar, Celtic guitar, and American roots music, his original and compelling contemporary style is filled with artistry, superb technical mastery, and heartfelt passion: weaving songs about Celtic kings, lost love and sad dogs, memory, life, and the heart. Born in Cambridge Massachusetts, USA, Peter Janson began playing guitar at age 7 and started composing as a young teen. His early influences were eclectic - from Django Reinhardt, Andres' Segovia, Chet Atkins, Doc Watson, Les Paul, and Grant Green, to Steve Reich, Arvo Part, Brian Eno, and more - and remain so to this day. While attaining his Master of Guitar Performance degree at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston he focused on early music for stringed instruments, jazz, Indian classical and contemporary classical composition. It was at this time that becoming his own artist, through intense study of a variety of music from his interests as well as his heritages, ignited in his soul and his style of guitar music that 'falls in the space between the personal and the universal' began to reveal itself: his passion for folk, world, and traditional music, especially Celtic, was formed and since that time his performances have mostly been as a soloist playing steel-string guitar and, more recently, singing. As an experienced independent performer having played across the US and Canada, from the legendary Freight & Salvage in Berkley CA, to the guitar shows at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, to the iconic Club Passim in Boston MA, he's had the privilege of performing with a variety of acoustic artists including American Guitar Masters tours with Larry Pattis and Steve Davison, Artistry of the Guitar tours with Ken Bonfield, String Songs concerts with luminaries Tim Farrell and Michael Manring, Friends concerts with Steve Hunt, Henrik Bridger and Bertra