Andreas
Vollenweider
COSMOPOLY
(Sony Classical)
By departing from
the formulaic large-scale orchestrations which characterized so much
of his recent work, Vollenweider has delivered his best effort ever.
Enhanced by virtuoso vocals from Bobby McFerrin, Milton Nascimento and
Carly Simon as well as incredible instrumentals from legendary world
music players, these seventeen songs are intimate, expressive and positively
bursting with artistic inspiration. Instead of being forced to fit into
narrow niches, the guest artists were given a looser, more creative
role, with plenty of room to improvise. Thus, listeners get to savor
the bittersweet yearning tones of the clarinet-like duduk from maestro
Djivan Gasparyan on the utterly beautiful "Hush, My Heart, Be Still,"
and the delightfully effervescent froth of McFerrin simply having fun
on "Elle Chelle." Spain's spectacular Celtic flutist, Carlos
Nunez, plays ethnic whistles and pipes on the moving, moody ballad "At
the Forest Fountain," accompanied by lavish layers of slide guitar,
frame drum, acoustic bass, accordion and fiddle. But simpler duets like
"Morning Poem" and "Your Silver Key" -- which pairs
quotes from James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake as sung by Simon to Vollenweider's
Bavarian folk harp solo -- are pure magic. INSTRUMENTATION: (ethnic
& Western) harps, guitars, strings, woodwinds, percussion, drums,
horns, vocals..
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Stephen
Endelman
PASSPORT
TO THE UNIVERSE
(Engine Group)
Fans of Jonn Serrie,
David Parsons and Geodesium are going to love this deep space soundtrack
to the new Hayden Planetarium show, a virtual exploration of the universe
based on astronomical data gathered from the great observatories. Listening
to this transportive album without the dramatic accompanying visuals,
one can't help notice that the music itself carries visions in its notes;
that a delicate balance between subtle rhythm tracks and expanding,
evolving melody lines opens, allows and creates space through which
the imagination can take flight. While tracks like "Walk In"
and "Boot Up" feature stately galactic processions and languid,
ethereal textures, there is always a sense of forward motion, of gradual
momentum and development. When floating along with the atmospheric waves
of the contemplative "Orion Nebula," Endleman's synthesizer
strains are delicately accented with harps, violins and other organic
textures, gentle reminders of our literal origins in the stars. When,
finally, a "Return To Earth" is called for, the dynamic tension
builds slowly, but relentlessly, to a climactic peak then ends abruptly,
leaving one gasping for breath as feet touch the ground. INSTRUMENTATION:
keyboards, acoustic orchestra
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Tom
Taylor
THE
CROSSING
(Summit)
Critically acclaimed
guitarist Tom Taylor 's exciting new instrumental album features the
Kronos Quartet and mandolin virtuoso David Grisman playing fresh, accessible,
tonal music that crosses the boundary between acoustic, jazz and classical
styles. Using time-honored compositional techniques, Taylor creates
full orchestral arrangements that demonstrate his dual passions for
deeply emotive, finely articulated melodies and spontaneous improvisations
that thoroughly involve the imagination. For example, the award-winning
tune "Big Basin Breakdown" boasts a catchy blend of jazz,
bluegrass and baroque melodies inspired by a nightmare camping trip
that had a miraculous ending. The opening fugue, expressing Taylor's
reverence for nature, builds into a spellbinding ode to a lost sleeping
bag and dead car battery that magically manages to turn out right. Other
tunes, like the snazzy "Aubade" and catchy title track, are
timeless yet thoroughly contemporary and invite repeated listenings.
INSTRUMENTATION: guitars, vibes, marimba, percussion, bass, violin,
mandolin, drums, mando-cello, viola.
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Runestone
SWIRLING DREAMS
(New World Music)
Runestone combine
a paganistic love of nature with intriguing instruments arranged in
refreshing new ways for a trance-ambient aural excursion that celebrates
both goddess spirituality and deep ecology. British visionaries Chris
Green and Robert Fenner were drawn to create their alchemical music
because they are deeply immersed in a mutual study of archaic literature
and ritual; they also have a strong affinity for ancient earth mysteries,
sacred sites and nature worship. In fact, the inspiration for SWIRLING
DREAMS was taken from a line in their shared diary: "Their faces
were hidden by swirling clouds of light, and seven lamps of fire burned
before the throne, the fire of the earthly mother." This interest
in the arcane gives rise to spectacular, dramatic instrumentals like
"Fire Drums" as well as the more gentle, cocooning sounds
of "Evening Mist." Runestone's duality of personality makes
for much dynamic interplay on "Nature's Gift," an abundantly
melodic ode to the source of all; yet the entire album creates an unmatched
sense of pristine peacefulness that leaves the listener feeling refreshed
and renewed. INSTRUMENTATION: keyboards, acoustic guitars, wind chimes,
frame and handdrums, rainsticks, mandolin, Bolivian rattles, panpipe,
koto, basses, shakuhachi flute, gamelan and authentic environmental
textures (rain, water,thunderstorm).
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Chris
Spheeris
DANCING
WITH THE MUSE
(Higher Octave)
For his 17th recording,
Spheeris returns to the lushly arranged, highly romantic style that
characterizes the best of his solo work (1984's DESIRES OF THE HEART,
1993's CULTURE), as well as his most celebrated pairing with Paul Voudouris,
the best-selling New Age perennial, ENCHANTMENT. Fans can expect a festive
farrago of opulent string and keyboard atmospheres, pan-tribal grooves,
and hypnotic chant accents drawn from Greek, Spanish, East Indian and
Middle Eastern traditions. Typifying Spheeris' affection for passionate,
cross-cultural love songs is "Magaya," with its robust belly-dance
rhythms supported by delicate symphonic strings and soaring silver flute
solo. Also tasty is "Shahzada," a delicious daydream spiced
with Indian vocal percussion, tinkling finger cymbals, deeply booming
hand drums and a lovely little oboe riff that's so sweet it's almost
aromatic. The title track is equally intoxicating. A heady brew of sensuous
samba rhythms, flamenco guitar and emotive acoustic piano, it conjures
up vibrant images of a steamy night at the casbah. Other sumptuous serenades
include the multi-part suite "Invisible Hands" which conveys
such a deep sense of the spiritual that one simply melts into the music
and dissolves into ecstatic rapture. INSTRUMENTATION: guitars, piano,
bass, autoharp, bozouki, percussion, oud, ney, tablas, oboe, English
horn, cello/viola, violin, samples, vocals.
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Janie
Campbell
A
GIFT FROM JANIE
(Metaxy)
With over a hundred
piano recordings begging for attention, why should you bother with a
new artist like Janie Campbell when discs by the critically-acclaimed
George Winston, David Lanz, Michael Jones and Suzanne Ciani are abundantly
available? Because no one can touch her when it comes to establishing
a consistent ambience of pure, unadulterated spaciousness. Her keyboard
instrumentals are so pure, so transparently tranquil, that one can actually
disappear inside the music with no effort at all. By combining her gentle,
flowing melodies with the occasional environmental accent (seabirds,
wind, water), Campbell guides the listener towards a serene embrace
of the nature world. These crystalline textures are further enhanced
with tastefully restrained guest performances by cellist Joan (ex-Kronos
Quartet) Jeanrenaud, violinist Daniel Kobialka and guitarist Rick Ruskin,
resulting in a seamlessly smooth listening experience from the title
track to "Acceptance." This latter tune is a somber yet ultimately
sweet duet for piano and violin that evolves with much dynamic tension
on a microcosmic scale; its subtle ebbs and flows move like graceful
dancers through a misty landscape before disappearing from view like
wraiths. INSTRUMENTATION: piano, keyboards, guitar, violin, cello.
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Oberon
SONNET
(Koch)
Trammel Starks --
under the nom de musique, Taliesin Orchestra -- reinvented the realm
of crossover classical music during the last four years by invigorating
it with New Age themes. His tributes to the music of Enya (ORINOCO FLOW)
and George Winston (FORBIDDEN FOREST) are lavish orchestral visions
perfectly suited for sophisticated sensibilities. Always deeply romantic,
Starks' compositions seek to express the depths of human yearning in
epic style; so, it is not surprising that, during a visit to England,
Starks became beguiled by the Bard. The result is a new identity as
one-half of Oberon (his partner is film/TV songstress Felicia Sorensen)
and a debut that reflects the tender messages of Shakespeare's sonnets
through music. Joined by woodwind virtuoso Paul McCandless as well as
actors from the Globe Theatre, SONNET magically melds spoken word and
soprano stylings with world, ambient, and classical influences for a
completely contemporary take on troubadouric tales of love, loss and
longing. "Let me compare thee to a summer's day," intones
the intro to "Heaven Queen (Sonnet 18)," as the lilting song
unfurls like a pennant in a warm breeze, all stately Renaissance rhythms
and heavenly harmonic lines. Eleven other sonnets are given equally
Elizabethan treatments, balancing bitterness with soul-stirring hope
in accordance to the rules of courtly love. The overall effect is an
entrancing interpretation of the language of eternity, divinely dedicated
to the dean of desire. INSTRUMENTATION: vocals, keyboards, woodwinds,
whistles, guitars, mandolin, autoharp, bass, Uillean pipes, drums and
percussion.
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Méav
MÉAV
(Hearts of Space)
Gaelic lullabies,
Celtic traditional tunes and even a classical Norwegian legend are brilliantly
sung by Irish soprano Méav on her solo recording debut. Having
caught the public eye with her performances in the stage show Riverdance
-- as well as with Ireland's leading choral group, Anuna -- this young
songstress' crystalline timbre and impressive range draws favorable
comparison to Wales' sensational Charlotte Church. Backed by superb
orchestration, Méav wings through familiar compositions like
"I Wish My Love was a Red, Red Rose" and "She Moved Through
the Fair," giving them crisp, contemporary interpretations. But
it is on more rhythmic, poetic selections like the Appalachian "One
I Love" and "Si do Mhaimeo I" that she is fully able
to flex her considerable talents, her vocal gymnastics propelling the
words forward with both grace and deep emotion. Méav's eclectic
repertoire here reflects her diverse musical interests, no surprise
considering she has performed with musicians ranging from the Chieftains
to Elvis Costello. It will be interesting to see if this young talent
integrates recognizably current compositions into her follow-up effort,
since her pure and powerful voice is so elastic. INSTRUMENTATION: voice,
harp, keyboards, oboe, recorders, fiddle, viola, whistles, bass, guitars,
harpsichord, viola de gamba, lute, percussions, choral group.
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