The Clearing is a collection of acoustic guitar pieces written and performed by Dan Lambert. James Sollis, author of The Guitar in Jazz and The Guitar Players states in the liner notes to The Clearing, “…some influences are obvious, others not. Robert Nighthawk still peeks out from time to time, as do Leo Kottke, Django, Don Rich, Keith Jarret, Bix and Trane, and the rock Dan grew up with. The most recent strong influence, evident in virtually every piece here, is Celtic music. Dan’s spent a lot of time of late in the UK, in Scotland, Northern England and Wales, and he’s been listening fulltilt to fiddle players, bagpipes, small pipes, accordians.”In discussing the pieces on The Clearing, Dan writes about “High Moors”, I’m fascinated by the high, open moorland of the UK. Walking by myself up on the hills, the springy feel of the heather underfoot – the isolation or aloneness is intensified in those high, craggy, rolling, sometimes featureless expanses. I feel at home, like I belong. The middle section of this song has a mid-Eastern, African, Moorish feel.”

“Like Lonnie Johnson, like Bix, Bird or Ornette Coleman, Dan Lambert exists to bring something into the world that’s not been there before. As with any serious artist, his reach forever exceeds his grasp – and we’re all the richer for it.” — James Sollis author of The Guitar in Jazz and The Guitar Players