DESCRIPTION:
A live performance by the New American Mandolin Ensemble of Owen Hartford's composition, "Urban Sketches." Recorded on June 6th, 2014 at the Doopsgezinde Kerk in Steenwijk, Netherlands. Video recording by Henk Houtschild, and audio recording and video editing by Emiel Stopler.

Notes from the composer:

In "Urban Sketches" I've tried to echo the rhythms of city life. I don't want to be too literal in connecting words to the music, but these are some of my associations:

1. Circuits
Perhaps like an electronic circuit board, or the constant pulse of small but precise connections running in the background that keep the city moving to different rhythms.

2. Underground
This section is dark and subterranean in feeling — suggestive of things that happen at night, things not quite seen but felt. It includes sections that could be dance music coming from a Latin nightclub.

3. Walk About
A quiet, introspective improvisation. One might imagine this to be the meditations of someone seeking something more personal in the midst of urban life.

4. Fast Lane
A reflection of the high energy of city life. It expresses the fast pace of the urban social scene, or even driving in the fast lane of a highway.

If I had to use one word to describe each movement, it would be these:
1. Circuits — cerebral
2. Underground — sensual
3. Walk About — personal
4. Fast Lane — social