"Devin Hoff isn’t tethered to a specific genre; his flair for never staying close to any vest is why he’s such a singular force on bass. He’s collaborated with punk icons, avant-jazz titans, and art-rockers alike—and that’s just a small sampling. On Voices from the Empty Moor (Songs of Anne Briggs), Hoff makes yet another left turn and the result is an arresting listening experience."
-Jazz Times
"...Hoff’s bass should command the most attention. It sets the scene majestically on opening track She Moved Through the Fair: layers of long, low, scraped notes creating shuddering, rumbling textures, suggesting a door to the underworld opening up (and perhaps the arrival of “the dead love” in Briggs’s version of the ballad). It’s similarly commanding on The Lowlands and Maa Bonny Lad (on which the saxophonist Howard Wiley provides fractious but fascinating accompaniment) but best on The Snow It Melts the Soonest/My Bonny Boy: simple and beautiful. Accompanied by oud player Alejandro Farha, Hoff unfurls the tunes in expansive new ways."
-The Guardian
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“Featuring a stellar cast of like-minded Briggs fans,Voices From the Empty Moor looks backwards for inspiration but is entirely contemporary in feel.”
-Folk Music UK
“...the tracks began to take on a life of their own. It’s the ability to counter the expected in unimaginable ways that always seem to work perfectly.They work because of the musical mastery that Hoff puts into the task. That an American from Colorado can translate these songs with such brilliance suggests that Hoff’s Voices from the Empty Moor (Songs of Anne Briggs) is the kind of radical reassessment that can bring these songs into the 21st century.”
-For Folk’s Sake
“Hoff is a double bass virtuoso....He graces this album with both jazz-flavored lyrical bass lines and emotive bowed soundscapes...and has in effect, uncovered the very essence of her music.The tracks on this album aren’t so much cover songs as they are sonic interpretations of Briggs’ entire world.This is perhaps the closest anyone has ever come to instrumentally portraying the raw emotions that this classic tune’s lyrics suggest...”
-Record Crates United
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