Gurf Morlix : ‘Music’s Zen Master’
With Gurf Morlix there is more to the story than what first meets the ear or eye. Gurf works hard not to overshadow the music. He’s been nominated as Instrumentalist of the Year by the Americana Music Association on six occasions, most recently in 2011, and won that award in 2009; yet Gurf seldom sounds flashy on guitar, or on any of the many other instruments that he plays so well. Much of his work is sparse, at times almost minimalist. The notes that Gurf doesn’t play are as important as the ones he does. Gurf doesn’t obscure feelings with a flurry of noise, and the same holds true with words when it comes to writing for his solo career.
In a 2004 review of Gurf’s third solo release, Cut ‘N Shoot, the Waxed reviewer observed “If honky-tonk country were written in haiku, Gurf Morlix could be the music’s Zen master… Terse and laconic, he reduces each lyric to its bare-bones essence, as if he’s singing in Morse code or emotional shorthand.” Another Waxed reviewer of Gurf Morlix’s 2007 Diamonds to Dust CD noted, “No matter the tempo — and Morlix is a Zen master of tempo — each lyric squeezes out rivers of emotion…” While a Sing Out Magazine review of Gurf Morlix’s most recent 2013 release says, “Finds The Present Tense is a haunting set that in its apparent simplicity is deceptively deep and complex.”
More: Gurf Morlix Concert in Phoenicia Sunday March 23, 2014