More About PURE MAGIC

Douglas Niedt’s (pronounced "neet") listeners around the world know him best for his love of fresh, diverse, and emotionally engaging repertoire performed with incredible energy, technical perfection, and most of all, emotional depth.

One of the fabulous things about his playing is not only is he true to each musical style he encounters, but he has an uncanny, magical ability to change the very sound of his guitar to suit each piece. Witness the lushness of the classical El Noi de la Mare, the hard-edged groove of the pop-African Mombasa, the raw percussive attack on the Argentine folk dance Misionera, or the delicate bittersweet quality of Cavatina. All are played on the same guitar and recorded identically. Part of Doug’s magic is how he makes the guitar speak the distinct language of each piece.

Several elements have contributed to Doug’s love for diverse repertoire and his ability to bring it to life on the classical guitar. His father, an amateur guitarist, gave him his first lessons at the age of seven. Doug’s interest in music was stimulated by his father’s encouragement to listen to and explore the entire spectrum of music. Doug’s early studies in the Segovia Master Classes in Spain and with Narciso Yepes, Christopher Parkening, Jorge Morel, and Oscar Ghiglia laid the foundation for him to develop his technique to the high level demanded by his unique repertoire—a level beyond that needed for the traditional literature. His general musical training was in the classical conservatory tradition with studies at the Juilliard School and the Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri—Kansas City where he is now head of the guitar program.

But impeccable musical credentials, technical wizardry, and critical acclaim do not tell the real story of Douglas Niedt. Perhaps that is best told by a fan in Bay City, Texas who, after hearing Doug in concert, wrote in a letter to the editor of the Daily Tribune, "Critics are falling all over themselves to assure us that Niedt’s ‘playing is highly colored, his pitch exact, his phrasing precise’. Well yeah, certainly, but I haven’t seen any mention of what it is the man really does with his music. He takes melodies and evokes again for his listeners the visions and ideals, the passions, if you will, of those who first set them down. Glad I’m not a critic, because I don’t think critics are supposed to say things like—this fellow plays with his heart, not his fingers. And it’s with your heart that your hear him." That is the spell of Pure Magic.