Sean Kelly, John William Davis and Julia Hays
| I've known Sean now for probably about eight years, both as a friend and as a musical co-conspirator. He is one of the most musical people I've ever had the pleasure of playing alongside and has that rare gift of knowing both what to play and what not to play, which is another way of saying that Sean is a great listener. He is never one to muddy up a song. His bass lines enhance and support whatever I try to do with my voice and guitar. And he is equal to anyone, in my opinion, in both crafting and executing bowed melodies. Because of this gift and his mastery of bowing in the upper register of the instrument, I've often had people who've heard our recordings ask me, "Who is the great cellist playing on those cuts!" No cello player at all, that's just Sean stretching the bass register. Sean's bass is an essential part of the web and woof of almost everything that happens on my two CDs. And when I have both him and the equally talented Julia Hays (violinist) at a show, people are amazed that there aren't more string players on stage. These two in tandem have a way of structuring strings so that the ear is often fooled into imagining a whole quartet of players. In sum, I envy any artist who has the luck of having Sean and big bass sailing away in either the studio or on a live date. Whatever you happen to be playing will suddenly have a lot more class, polish, and integrity. Be very careful, he will spoil you. - John William Davis, 2008 |