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                                                      Sweets and Conundrums

    David Woodhead's first CD reveals a unique musical vision combining the warmth
of acoustic folk-style instrumentation with an adventurous melodic and harmonic
sensibility.  His pieces are carefully crafted with a generous helping of 19th-century
romanticism, spacious phrasing with a touch of haunting dissonance, and some trademark
solos on the fretless bass. Then, of course, there’s the romping number in the
Dixieland-spy movie tradition! Besides his very personal bass style, David is featured on
piano, banjo, guitar, mandolin, mandola,  pennywhistle, accordion, and lap steel, and
he shares the track sheets with:

    Colleen Allen (reeds),
    Al Cross (drum kit),
    Matthew Shawn Fleming (percussion),
    Justin Haynes (electric guitar),
    Daniel Lapp (trumpet),
    Anne Lindsay (violin),
    Don Ross (acoustic guitar!),
    Oliver Schroer (violin),
    Brent Titcomb (vocals),
    and David Travers-Smith (brass).

 Tested to be good kitchen listening!
 

Available direct: send $20 Cdn money order or cheque
    (includes shipping) to DW at:
    133 Albany Ave, Toronto, Ontario, M5R 3C5
    Don't forget your return address!
 
 

    "David warned me that it is 'not what you might expect', but he was wrong.  I expected brilliance and it was there".
    -Don Bird, Artistic Director, Summerfolk Festival, Owen Sound, Ont.

  "I just spent a lovely Sunday morning drinking good coffee and listening to your CD.
        Congratulations on a job very well done!"
  -Doug McArthur, singer-songwriter, London, Ont.

   "I just got your CD in the mail today, and I *love* it.  I'm listening to it for the third time now.  I can't get over how much variety
        there is - yet there's a cohesiveness and "togetherness" that's rare on albums of this sort".
  - Mike Helms, "Folk Exposures", CFRU, Guelph, Ont.

   "I just wanted to let you know how much I like your CD; it's really lovely...your playing is exquisite. There's a striking and unique
        sensibility inherent in the music which is at once both powerful and gentle and mystical-like; it evokes an atmosphere of peace
        and serenity.  Thank you so much for giving me your music - it's a true gift".
  -Lillian Wauthier, Acoustic Harvest Folk Club, Scarborough, Ont.

   "Picks of the week include...a fabulous new acoustic/jazz/fusion instrumental album by David Woodhead that got the vote from all
        the studio mates as preferred album to make pots to..."
  - Frank A. Gosar, KLCC Eugene, OR

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The Great North Wind Porcupine Awards©
OFF BEAT AWARD
        David Woodhead, Toronto, Ontario for his CD Sweets & Conundrums
         A former winner of the Lenny Breau Award for his excellent work as a bass player, David has created a powerful CD filled with mood
        swings, mind poems, portly images and never a wasted moment. Off beat being different, being hard to categorize, being something
        unique, something stunning, Sweets and Conundrums is a CD that I just want to keep playing cuts from on Back To The Sugar Camp.
        Every track is implicit and a true portrayal of some aspect of his life. Without words he has been able to do what most songwriters strive
        for by scrabbling their minds for lyrics. Using various instruments, most of which he plays himself, Woodhead has created something that
        probably won't go down well in most traditional settings but instead is the art of folk jazz.

LENNY BREAU AWARD (1997):
       David Woodhead - the guy in the background that just about everybody uses - started playing in the legendary folk troup Perth
       County Conspiracy in the early 1970s. Having mastered the art of electric bass, and especially the electric fretless, he has
       performed and recorded with the who’s who of Canada: Stan Rogers, Loreena McKennett, Eileen McGann, Oliver
       Schroer, Valdy, Anderson and Brown and countless others. His sound is like that of no other. His ability to play in almost
       any style, to solo, and his lesser known talents on the electric jazz guitar, is astounding.
            -Steve Fruitman, CIUT, Toronto

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David Woodhead/Enter Your Problem/Sweets And Conundrums
a fine bit o' bass playing...
David Woodhead/From Their Homes/Sweets And Conundrums
People really oughta take a listen to the arrangements on this disc
David Woodhead/The Moose With Wings/Sweets And Conundrums
from another recommended disc, this one from the Northern regions
David Woodhead/Ton Chapeau Les Etoiles/Sweets and Conundrums
A cool tune from a very cool disc of instrumental essays.
David Woodhead/Little Whirl/Sweets And Conumdrums
...those who like instrumental music should enjoy this one
if this track is any indication...nice juxtapositioning of
instruments.
    --Doug Tucker, the texas chainsaw acoustic hour, KWVA, Eugene, OR.

"I've got your CD running in the CD player next to the computer even
as I type this (we're on the moose at the moment), and I'm enjoying it lots.
You know, I don't usually play instrumental stuff on my show, but this will
definitely get some airplay".
    -Susanne Millsaps, Host, Thursday Breakfast Jam, KRCL 91FM, Salt Lake City