’s World Café: A CD Review

by Dr. Kathleen Joyce-Grendahl

Ron Korb brings Contemporary music to new heights with music that is exquisitely executed, a joy to listen, emotionaly satisfying, and stimulates the imagination.

Canadian flutist Ron Korb has traveled around the world collecting bamboo and various indigenous flutes. Reflecting Celtic, Asian, classical, jazz, and Latin influences, his music embodies the diverse cultures, traditions, and experiences of his travels. An award-winning flutist, he is renowned for playing a wide variety indigenous woodwinds from around the world. His critically-acclaimed music has been released in 20 countries on various record labels. The are on many top favorite lists. He has toured extensively throughout Europe, Canada, the United States, Central America, Australia, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Mainland China, Singapore, and Japan. Ron’s compositions evoke imagery of the diverse cultural traditions and experiences of his travels.

Ron has played on numerous movie soundtracks, many of which have been nominated for Oscars and Cannes Film Festival awards. Some of the films include: Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm (1997) and Ride with the Devil (1999); Atom Egoyan’s Exotica (1994), Sweet Hereafer (1997), and Felicia’s Journey (1999); Nô (1998) by Robert Lepage; Mira Nair’s Kama Sutra (1996); John Woo’s Blackjack (1998); and the IMAX 3D film Space Station (2002), narrated by Tom Cruise. Other credits include: The Snow Walker (2003); Return to Kandahar (2003); Being Julia (2004); and the Merchant- Ivory’s film, The White Countess (2005), which takes place in 1940s Shanghai and stars Ralph Fiennes, and Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave. More recently, Ron has performed on the television miniseries World Without End (2012) and Atom Egoyan’s Devil’s Knot (2013) by Golden Globe winning Mychael Danna, with stars Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon.

Ron Korb’s latest powerhouse CD, World Café, is the last in a trilogy that began with Europa, and was followed by his Grammy-nominated CD, Asia Beauty.

Ron’s 2014 album Europa, on the Humble Dragon label, won a 2012 Global Music Award for Excellence in Composition, as well as Best Instrumental Solo Performance, Album of the Year, and Best Album Design. With Europa, the listener journeys across Europe, as well as back in time, to an age of grace, sophistication, and romance.

The second CD in the trilogy, Asia Beauty (2015), received rave reviews when it was released. It contains a 36-page hard-cover digibook and features 19 tracks, plus 3 bonus selections. In 2016, Ron received a Grammy nomination for Asia Beauty in the 58th Grammy Awards in the Best New Age Album category. This CD received numerous other awards: Five Global Music Awards (including Best in Show), Best World Album in the 2016 Zone Music Reporter Awards, a world/global fusion award from the 2016 One World Music Awards, and an International Acoustic Music Award.

World Café is the third CD in the trilogy and is Latin in character. It is a Canadian CD release on the Humbledragon label. It contains 12 tracks of original compositions, with an emphasis on acoustic instruments, “inspired by Ron’s travels to the Latin world: sunny Spain, the island of Cuba, and the alluring lands of South America.” The World Café CD also comes with a stunning and lustrous 24-page hardcover digibook. Ron’s approach to all of his CDs, including World Café, illustrates a kaleidoscope of artistic diversity that is inherent in all of his musical endeavors.

Thus far, Ron’s World Café had garnered substantial reviews, features, and nominations. The CD had a full-length feature on One World Music Radio; a review in the “Pot Pourri” section of The Whole Note Magazine; it was featured on the Global Rhythms Playlist for October 10, 2018; the CD hit #5 on the CILU 102.7 FM International Chart on October 9, 2018; World Café received a brilliant review in New Age Reviews; it received a Global Music Award for Outstanding Achievement; it hit #7 on “Playlist Spins” on Zone Music Reporter; and it received a fine review by Lise Watson in the Zone Music Reporter, just to name a few. It is certain that World Café will collect many more accolades throughout this year and the next. Ron Korb is an accomplished flutist and an absolutely awe-inspiring musician, regardless of the style of music that he embraces. He is a superhero when it comes to playing diverse styles of music. In all of his recordings, his approach is authentic, fresh, and innovative. In addition, Ron is thoughtful in his musical approach, instinctively knowing when to relax and chill and when to shine through with his luscious tone and intuitive, masterful music sensibilities. His talent is bountiful and his musicality is sublime. On World Café, Ron is a master at creating a suave, seductive ambiance; although, at times, he exhibits flares of crazy virtuosic riffs that keep the listener from becoming too entrenched in the gentle flow of the groove.

The chemistry between Ron and his fellow musicians is mind-blowing. He has truly surrounded himself with richly talented musicians, each a virtuoso on his or her respective instrument. Throughout World Café, Ron melodically weaves enchantment and charm within the musical lines of the other musicians. There is an ease and intuitiveness between Ron and his fellow musicians that permeates every song and brings contentment to the listener.

Ron is a classically trained flutist, but he easily masters the Latin groove and ambiance of each musical vista within World Café. His delicate musical phrasing thoroughly enhances the style of each song, sublimely blending with the other acoustic instruments in such a way that the result is heartfelt and soulfully beautiful. He skillfully places his melodic lines within the intricacy of the various styles of Latin music. His tone is ideal for the musical styles heard on World Café. Ron exclusively plays Ellis-Korb flute headjoints that truly lend themselves to the relaxed Latin styles of music heard on this CD. Geoffrey Ellis of Ellis and Ron Korb have been collaborating on this new line of flute headjoints. The beauty and elegance of the timbre created by these headjoints is a mellow, chill sound that authentically showcases the Latin musical styles.

The classical flute is not the only aerophone that Ron plays on World Café. He plays other flutes that create a unique aural flavor, such as the 12- hole ocarina, the bass flute, the cuíca flute, the bamboo flute, and the Japanese shinobue. This instrumental variety adds interest and character to the CD.

The varied textures, both subtle and bold, heard on World Café are mesmerizing and seductive. It is always a pleasure to hear Ron’s flute mastery and his unique and distinct approach to diverse musical styles. As with his previous two successful CDs in this trilogy, World Café is an absolute hit!

To learn more about Ron Korb and his music, please visit: www.ronkorb.com