Driftwood by Rena Jones

"For some reason, cellists--more than any other classical instrumentalists--seem drawn to electronica. Recent CDs by Zoe Keating, Jami Sieber, Hans Christian (Rasa), and Gretchen Yanover find cellists riding electronica atmospheres. Rena Jones is a bit different from most of them. They use electronics to extend their cellos' range and sound. Jones plants her cello next to her laptop in fractalized grooves. Driftwood is an entrancing album that's as much about Jones's translucent laptop compositions as her gifts ..o, guitar, violin, and clarinet. But all those instruments give her music a different feel from many laptop jockeys. Compositions like "Photosynthesis" and "Driftwood" have an almost classical flow, as her strings and clarinet articulate Arvo Pärt-like lines of liquid inevitability while rhythms pulse, shudder, and ping through the melodies. But it's not all airy on Driftwood. "Open Me Slowly" finds her plucking a cello bass line with a funky grit you can't get with a computer sample. Rena Jones's soulful cello lines lend her music a somber tone and soulful beauty, which is all the more striking when cast against her chromium-plated arrangements. The combination makes Driftwood intoxicating". - John Diliberto, Echoes.org ℗ 2006 Cartesian Binary Recordings