Susan Alcorn Best Jazz Albums of 2020 in NY Times

Thornton Lewis · Post by **Thornton Lewis** » 3 Dec 2020 9:28 am

Congratulations Ms Alcorn! I hope the orders are piling up.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/02/arts ... lbums.html

Chris Brooks · Post by **Chris Brooks** » 3 Dec 2020 10:31 am

Congratulations, Susan! It's been a long road; you have been a pioneer for quite a while now.

Chris Brooks

Paddy Long · Post by **Paddy Long** » 3 Dec 2020 3:51 pm

Very cool Susan, congratulations :-}

john widgren · Post by **john widgren** » 3 Dec 2020 3:57 pm

Yay for Susan!! She so great! JW

Chuck Stowe · Post by **Chuck Stowe** » 3 Dec 2020 4:23 pm

Congratulations Susan!

Ron Shalita · Post by **Ron Shalita** » 3 Dec 2020 4:25 pm

Congrats Susan.. so happy for you!

Joe Krumel · Post by **Joe Krumel** » 3 Dec 2020 4:52 pm

Congrats Susan! Carry on!!!!

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 3 Dec 2020 8:07 pm

This is actually historic ! Amazing work Susan

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 4 Dec 2020 12:53 am

Well deserved

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 4 Dec 2020 5:14 am

Congratulations on this well deserved recognition!

Jack Hanson · Post by **Jack Hanson** » 5 Dec 2020 9:29 am

The Times may be the most prominent of newspaper jazz polls to recognize Ms. Alcorn's new album, but far from the only one. The jazz rubes here in the Rocky Mountains dig it too:

https://theknow.denverpost.com/2020/12/ ... 20/250074/

Congratulations, Ms. Alcorn!

Jack Stanton · Post by **Jack Stanton** » 5 Dec 2020 9:47 am

Congratulation, Susan! Well deserved.
You are a musical hero to me because of your fearlessness!

Gary Newcomb · Post by **Gary Newcomb** » 6 Dec 2020 6:22 pm

This album is amazing beautiful! A great day for pedal steel guitar â¤ï¸

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 7 Dec 2020 2:08 am

This is a big deal! Congrats, Susan.

Tal Herbsman · Post by **Tal Herbsman** » 7 Dec 2020 7:13 am

Amazing accomplishment. So proud of you Susan.

Susan Alcorn · Post by **Susan Alcorn** » 16 Dec 2020 2:22 pm

Thank you Thornton, Chris, Paddy, John, Chuck, Ron, Joe, Bob, Ian, Mike, Jack, Jack, Gary, Charlie, and Tal - most of you are personal friends.

This was quite a shock and surprise. After I recorded Pedernal a little over a year ago, I had a feeling that things might change a bit - I felt it was going to be a good record; I was lucky to record in a really nice studio with some truly great musicians, and a legendary mixing engineer (Ron "Saint" St. Germain). I figured it would get a few nice reviews, and that would be it; I never expected the NY Times list (and several other ones too), and I've always felt like an outsider (especially on the SGF), so all this attention was hard to wrap my head around - it felt weird.

But the thing I think that is the most important about the attention this album seems to be getting (though very little in the steel guitar world) is that it's a steel guitar album getting recognition. There are so many other great steel guitar players who put out really good albums of jazz, minimalism, microtonalism, and creative music. Hopefully this is a door open for other steel guitar-based albums.

Some of the reviews have been kind of funny. One in France said the pedal steel reminded him of a sewing machine (?), and another one compared it to IKEA because we're always putting the guitar together on stage. Some reviews have called it a "steel pedal" or a lap steel, and most of them hear the album as being country-flavored, Americana, or reminiscent of the west - a typecasting of our instrument which I hope will lessen with time. I guess it's like someone playing jazz on the bagpipe (it's been done and done well) as sounding like Scotland. The album does contain fiddle and steel, so maybe that's what they hear, but mostly I'm glad that they liked the album and that a steel guitar instrumental album can be taken seriously.

The pedal steel guitar had a golden age in the fifties, sixties, and seventies - great and legendary musicians who had such facility on the instrument and such originality. They could play pretty much anything they set their minds to (as can current musicians like Tommy White, Paul Franklin, and Travis Toy), but they lived in Nashville and their collective genius was mostly funneled into country music to the point that most of us have a hard time imagining country without the pedal steel. Here's to hoping that someday soon we can have another renaissance to the instrument that is played well and excels in other genres of music. In fact, listening to great players, many of them younger, I think the renaissance is well underway. Who says it's a dying instrument.

Well, I was going to just write thanks, but I got carried away and wrote an essay - my apologies (and thanks).

Craig Stock · Post by **Craig Stock** » 16 Dec 2020 2:34 pm

Well said, Susan.

Congrats to you on your fine acheivement, people are listeningðŸ‘ðŸ»

Andrew Goulet · Post by **Andrew Goulet** » 18 Dec 2020 6:42 am

This IS a big deal!! Congratulations, Susan, and thank you for your ambassadorship of the steel guitar.

(It would be nice if the pedal steel was also a sewing machine available at IKEA because it would be more practical, affordable, and readily available

)

Dale McPherson · Post by **Dale McPherson** » 18 Dec 2020 9:59 am

Congrats Susan

Larry Coombs · Post by **Larry Coombs** » 18 Dec 2020 5:27 pm

Congratulations on your award and successful career. Iâ€™ve enjoyed following your work through the years.
Be happy and be safe,
Sincerely, Larry Coombs

Billy Knowles · Post by **Billy Knowles** » 29 Dec 2020 4:41 pm

Susan,
Congratulations
Billy Knowles

Al Evans · Post by **Al Evans** » 25 Jan 2021 6:19 am

I finally got my copy of Pedernal a couple of days ago, and listened to it Saturday night. I was amazed. My wife was amazed -- she said I could just leave it on forever!

I ordered four more of them yesterday for friends who really need to hear this. Wow!

Thank you, Susan Alcorn!

--Al Evans

Joe Krumel · Post by **Joe Krumel** » 25 Jan 2021 6:40 am

Hey Susan, I was reading some of the Funny reviews and descriptions you got of your pedal steel. They reminded of my cousin asking me about my "Iron Guitar"

John Larson · Post by **John Larson** » 25 Jan 2021 7:15 am

Susan Alcorn, Daniel Lanois, Heather Leigh, and Chuck Johnson for everyone that says "oh that weepy country instrument." It's like saying the electric guitar is only capable of hair metal.

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 25 Jan 2021 10:26 am

Congratulations Susan... Happy for you to get this kind of recognition, this is great for you in particular and for the steel guitar in general...

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Susan Alcorn Best Jazz Albums of 2020 in NY Times

Susan Alcorn Best Jazz Albums of 2020 in NY Times

The real Deal

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