"You are a great addition to Acoustic Player Magazine, and someone pushing the limits of the acoustic guitar. I think what you do is great. Keep up the fine work." - Doug Jones, Asst. Editor; Acoustic Player Magazine   (USA)

  "Kevin writes beautiful, thoughtful, highly original music. His work is not to be missed."  - John La Grou, President, Millennia Music & Media Systems  (USA)

"Dear Kevin,

I listened to the three albums after each other on a chronological order.
1. Book Of Days
2. Bichromial
3. Scalar Fields
With these three CDs you seem to occupy the empire of atonality. Nowadays I miss the atonal music a lot on guitar. There are some classical composers who write some atonal things but the "all on nylon string" limits the possibilities.  So I was very glad to hear that at last someone writes (improvises) real contemporary guitar music for steel string guitars using atonality.  I see a big evolution from the first to the third one. The first had vertical dimension, then in the third album the chord appeared which is really very nice in such an atonal texture. The recorded sound of the Scalar Fields album is really phenomenal in any aspect. Detailed, atmospheric, personal, serves the music perfectly.  I also loved the sound of the Bichromial.  I have an absolutely different image how a baritone guitar should sound. When I listened your short MP3 samples I told myself: That's it! At last there is a guy who made a really nice baritone sound.  My first thought was that you are a very important figure in the modern guitar scene.  To tell the truth I am always continuously searching for new modern guitar music and it is so rare when I find one which is really high level in any aspect.  The baritone guitar is a new thing, theoretically it exists for a while but there are not really brave and inspired guitar players to try it. So it is not accident that I am so much interested what you do and compose.  All together, I can say that these albums are very valuable pieces of my acoustic guitar music collection.  So Kevin, congratulations for this very disciplined music carrying a shady beauty all the time!  Just keep on composing such a very special music.  I would be very curious on hearing some solo compositions. 

Kevin, I was very much impressed after you mentioned that the bigger part of the music was improvised. Actually I compose by improvising. I love freely improvised music. This is the only way which can keep the music organic. So knowing that you both improvised made the albums even more valuable for me.  The SF is a really very original and deep album that I very much miss in the modern guitar scene. L'art pour L'art.   I do not exaggerate if I tell you that your Scalar Fields album made a big impression on me. I said to myself: Wow, there is a guy who is not really known and created something really strong which is missing so much from the guitar world. Your music is strong, original, beautiful, soulful....it has a lot of properties that has a big value. There are a lot of famous players who actually do NOTHING just waste the notes.....according to that, you showed a possible, very important direction, a possibility for the guitar world...YOUR MUSIC, YOUR PERFORMANCE, YOUR SOUND.

In the last days I listened to only your albums. I have a deeper and deeper view on your soundscapes.

I am absolutely blown away by the sound quality of Scalar Fields. The 12-string tracks are really fantastic. I never heard such a fat sounding 12-string before...!!!Wow!

What you do is absolutely satisfy my taste and demands in music. It is so fargoing and new that it is not possible not to notice that. Your baritone approach is also absolutely original. I would like to encourage you to continue on this path. It is for the future!!!!!

So that is all for now and I think I will listen to the Scalar once more...

Thank you for the great musical experience!"  -  Sándor Szabó, guitarist/composer, Hungary

  "Listening to Scalar Fields. This is some amazingly beautiful music. Amazing guitar tones on this recording, very pure, clear and present; beautifully recorded. It's pretty rare to hear unadulterated acoustic guitar tones and it feels good. I am excited about your music, it is not often I discover something that sounds fresh to my ears. I've been listening to quite a bit of acoustic guitar lately, but your music is quite original!  It's beautiful music."  - Laurent Brondel, Tone Casualties Records recording artist; audio engineer for Bill Frissel, Cuong Vu, Myra Melford   (USA)

"I think your CD is a product of your mind, and you express yourself with a guitar.  Obviously, this is no commercial project, but more like a personal expression. Great CD's like this should happen!" - Michel Wegen, Wegen Picks, The Netherlands

"If I may be permitted a bit of a ramble, I do enjoy your website. You appear to be striving for something I want in my own life; that I think was best captured (until now) by the post-medieval concept of the Renaissance Man. That, within an individual, there is no conflict between art and music, science and technology, spiritualism and humanity. I read your notes for 'String Quartet No. 5' and I understand hearing the music of the trees as they flash by. I also think the baritone guitar is a splendid vehicle for expressing the transcendental qualities of the guitar. Well done." - Betz, Acoustic Saver  (USA)

HI Kevin!  What amazing music. Hope to hear more of what you do.  - Fareed Haque  (USA)

"I've recently purchased several copies of "Scalar Fields" for my massage therapy practice. Although not a musician myself, I've enjoyed listening to this music...I find it lovely and very creative. I've played selections of "Scalar Fields" for some of my clients during their sessions and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. I have several copies on hand to sell to those most interested....hopefully I'll be ordering more from CD Baby soon!  Thanks for this wonderful, artistic music!"  - Cindy Rush, Massage For Health  (USA)

"I love the circular stave graphic when used in conjunction with your website. I find that graphic really says something about your music because it is both old and modern... and it is twisted.  And from the opposite direction - it starts outward in the sense that you take musical influences and take them inward." - Kenneth Moreland, musician; Austin, TX; (USA)

"I’m an inventor. I need to think outside the boundaries.  Kevin Kastning and Siegfried write music to think to… it pushes the boundaries and nudges open doors to new ideas.  All the best, Nick"  -  Nick Campling, The G7th Performance Capo England, UK

 

"Very impressive stuff!"  - Acoustic Player Magazine   (USA)

"I'm really digging your CD and I am blown away. I don't even know what to say. Wow. I want to hear more. You have no idea how impressed I am. I like it because it really makes me listen carefully. It's lovely."  - J. Armstrong; Washington (USA)

"It's so great when I meet fantastic musicians and hear new music, like yours. I truly do love your work. The more I get into my own music, I realize how much I enjoy the spaces between the notes. There's just so much power in that moment when we hunger for the next note. I am definitely going to paint to your music very soon. It's inspiring. I'm very picky about what I choose to listen to while I'm being creative because it influences my work. I absolutely LOVE your music. Your use of silence and space is so wonderfully refreshing. Your music evokes so much imagery." - Marie Stone van Vuuren, Classical Guitar Instructor and Performer (USA)

"Your music needed my full attention. It is thought-provoking and wise. Keep pushing those boundaries, and making the rest of us think and contemplate...."
- Sora, singer and musician  (Canada)

"Your music is the sweet and eternal gem for the soul. Airy and intense pieces of dreams. You light up the interior landscapes. And the delicacy of your world strokes the hopes. Thank you."
Yours,
Deborah"- Deborah Link  (France)

"NICE CD ( Resonance )! THIS IS WAY COOL! I really love this. Really great. I want to spend some more time listening then I'll ask you some questions. I love your harmonic "thing"."

- Ken Kugler, film score composer (USA)

"Dear Kevin,

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your music. It isn't every day one comes across music that one wants to listen to again and again. Your music feels and sounds very particular, precise, full of complex thoughts, it is very special. I am sure you will go a long way.

My reaction to your music comes straight from - well, more than the heart, really, music touches something more than that when it does touch like that, whatever that something may be.

Again, I wish you all the best for the road that you are traveling on - it's the kind of road that doesn't always travel easily and requires perseverance, above all. But the rewards are, of course, beyond what most people in this world can ever hope to reap.

Thank you again, wishing you all the success in the world (I'll point you out to my Chinese musician friends and some in Berlin - that's the best I can do to thank you for the pleasure of listening to your music!)

All the best,
Kerstin"
- Kerstin (Beijing, China)

 

"CIAO, KEVIN!!

Yesterday I received the CDs ... WHAT A GIFT FOR ME!!  For me it's something much more important of a precious jewel... money will never buy a feeling, or a true emotion!!  I have a secret (I speak only for myself..) that permit me to appreciate at maximum level your music, Kevin, that is: "When you hear something from KK, you have to forget everything you knew before".

Now I will 'dive' in this new ocean, living new experiences in music....  At first hearing, let me say, I finally can hear the whole extension of the guitars, low tunes are something really new for me.. some chemistry between wood and gauges.. but also the high ones sound so clear.. is it a miracle? For sure you know the secret!  This for the technical impact of the sound on my ears.  But, if you want, I will tell you the most important part of feeling that I have with your music: the emotional one!  So, dear Kevin, you give me a complete new experience with music, the one that I love, so how can I thank you enough??  With this thanksgiving I salute you, be sure that your fan is now enjoying your wonderful creations.

Now I have your CDs, I'm listening the marvelous sound of two guitars, I'm starting from the heart (tracks 4 5 6 7 8) of Resonance going toward the frontiers of it and then exploring Scalar Fields, learning and appreciating the differences between the playing of Szabo and Siegfried...they are great musicians; now I can recognize your playing in the tracks, and it is the one that I like so, so much, (it's a matter of feeling, not easy to explain)..., than, as final, I will explore Parallel Crossings.

I'm happy to hear that you are working on new albums, I will sure buy them when they will be available.. you are the kind of Artist that I appreciate so much, a never-ending research and work for music. I'm in good company now, listening your music I feel like to live in a magical world. Thank you so much, Kevin, have good & creative recordings as (only) you are able to do, I'll wait for them.

Ciao, Kevin, e arrivederci a presto."

- Daniele Demunari, guitarist (ITALY)

 

 

"Kevin:
Your talent, intelligence, knowledge makes you a once in a life time legend."

- Mr. Fady Dairy
(Lebanon)