Primary Instrument: Guitar
The music of Domina Catrina Lee combines through composition practice with improvisation and creative innovation. Eschewing simple genre classification, this music is rooted in music's deepest past and aspires to being timeless, fashionless, trend-bucking, holistic, personal, and global. She rejects all labels as being contrived and political.
Singapore born and self-tutored in composition, Domina Catrina Lee, has studied jazz guitar briefly far back in ther personal past, and still considers it a primary instrument (and stylistic influence), of sorts, but she feels she is called to composition. She presently freely experiments in virtual instrumentation exclusively, due to social, economic, and musical constraints. She enjoys rendering her works in a variety of tunings, including 12tet hermode, 7 limit JI, Gamelan, and Chinese 4th Century. Inspired by the 'music that inspires', or the music that descends from the invisible and provokes in listeners the impulse to ascend out of limitation and conventional restraints, Domina Catrina Lee has interest in all things real, in other words, all things metaphysical, including the manner in which her transgendered name came to be (by way of Numerology). To be and to create “Beauty, Truth, and Goodness” is her personal artistic ideal, as it was Plato's.
“ Lee possesses a seemingly infinite musical imagination....her use of virtual-instruments--expertly and painstakingly programmed--allow her compositions to come to vivid life, what balances out all the electronics is Lee's quite stunning acoustic guitar improvisations.”
“Lee manages to fuse elements similar to those of Weather Report, Oregon and Metheny into a highly original scheme that's all her own.”
- Robert Bush, allaboutjazz, the Internet's definitive jazz and fusion site
“... swirling, probing mix of progressive jazz, classical, new age and ethnic fusion...the acoustic guitarist and composer Lee singlehandedly created...realistically sounding string quartet, tablas, sitar, electric bass, drums, flutes, woodwinds, whistles, synths,... ”...mind-expanding modal experimentations of John Coltrane, to the passionate fire of Mahavishnu Orchestra to the minimalist modern composition genius of Terry Riley and Steve Reich” ”...a clean, spacious recording...Her acoustic guitar approximates Oregon guitarist Ralph Towner's rich, harmonic quality...resourceful, out-the-box thinking from Domina Catrina Lee... really drives this record” ”... Adventurous music seekers should find plenty to like...to convince them to download a copy.” -Pico, SomethingElse http://www.somethingelsereviews.com/2010/10/domina- catrina-lee-songs-from.html
“I will listen, buy, re-listen, and review (when ProgArchives posts your group). I was just thinking how unrealistic and limited is the future of ELECTRONIC progressive music, that acoustic--even hand- made or instruments that are 'found' in nature--are the real future of musical expression for humans (should we survive the consequences of our ignorance and arrogance). Bravo to Domina Catrina Lee! “
“Loved the opening song! The Jaco P-like bass on “Fire Naked Boom” is really something. The use of acoustic guitar is also very welcomed here. Also loving the “Ballad of the Forgotten” suite. (Can't help but compare to the marvelous “As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls.”) Your “Scarborough Fair” is definitely one of the best I've ever heard. (I'm replaying it as I type.) “
“The Story so Far” reminds me of something familiar--like ALLAN HOLDWORTH playing with KOOP. Yes, very ECM. The “Shapeshifter Suite” begins with a very WILLIAM ACKERMAN/STEVE REICH feel to it. Very cool! Is that Jean-Luc Ponty/violin sound generated by a midi connection to the acoustic guitar? Love the SAMITE feel of the groovin' background rhythms! Excellent song/beautiful music!” ”On a more personal note, your album remains on my daily playlist. My eleven-year-old step daughter (a music lover who currently trains in voice, clarinet, and her true love, the double bass) asks to hear your CD every time we get in the car. She is mesmerized by it. I am continually awed and astounded by the sounds and music you were able to get out of a computer. Your compositional skill, attention to detail--including being able to recreate so well that jazz improvisational feel--is nothing short of miraculous. As 2010 rolls on and all of the albums I've accumulated gradually wear thin and move off of my “heavy rotation” playlist, yours is one of the two or three that remain. It gets better with every listening! Thank you so much for this gift of music you have brought to me and to the world. (You even got me going back to re-listen to all my favorite records from Oregon, Codona, Pat Metheny, John McLaughlin/Shakti, Weather Report, and all the ECM releases from the 70s and 80s that I collected. Yours is right up there with “the greats”!) (And your just one person!!!!!!! Amazing!) Keep thinking positively--I can't help but believe that your music will reach an enthusiastic audience soon. It's too good not to. “
-Drew Fisher, ProgArchives.
“Great Production! Great Music!” - Jean Marc Belkadi, Star Guitar Instructor, Guitar Institute Of Technology, CA
The Book Of Worlds
Self Produced
2009
Tracks: The High Road, The Middle Path, Dark Night I & II, Silver Winged Ones, Axis Mundi, My Song (Dancing), The High Road (Cycle), Sunshadows, The Higher Road
Domina Catrina Lee: all guitars, MIDI programming.
As a Leader
On The Practise Of Stopping Time
Self Produced
2010
Tracks: Observing the Motions of Everything (I,II,III)
Personnel: Domina Catrina Lee: all programming.
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