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member reviews |
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Spiritual Haven by Russell Suereth |
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- posted by Steve Sheppard on 4/3/2015 |
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One World Music |
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Russell Suereth’s brand new album is called Spiritual Haven, and I’m sure it is something that you are going to enjoy. The album opens with A Magic Flight a piece with a global feel to the music.
We move on to Distant Voices, this opens with the sounds of nature, there is a mournful refrain and the crescendos and cymbals add a multi-cultural eastern feel.
Glimmer of Light bring us a piece that is very intricate and cleverly composed, with a very ambient element.
Night Dances is a perfect illustration of one of those moments when the day is done and all the creatures of the night come out to play, the tempo and melody of this composition creates a beautiful feeling of movement and gentle dance.
Swirling Spice has a mysterious feel, the music brings images of an eastern bazaar, vases filled with oils, merchants selling wares, this is a truly fantastically picturesque arrangement, that I am going to listen to again and one of my favourites off the album.
Nightingale Rushes, here we are treated not only with the bird song, but a sublime piece of keyboard mastery that creates a wonderful nature filled landscape for you to enjoy.
The piano and keyboards on Notions Astir lull us into the track, it has a real essence of the early morning, like watching first light, that sudden glimpse of watching from the side of a vast mountain, as the day begins to take shape, whilst behind you all the creatures of the jungle awaken.
The opening sounds and keyboards on Sudden Awareness seem to take you to another reality, like a beach of an inner world of thought, the sounds float around you like the working of the inner spiritual mind in a medative way, then the rhythm starts once more and it’s like were walking the path towards enlightenment again.
Two tracks now with a similar title, this one is called Red Moon Calling, this as a with some very neat guitar sounds, but the narrative of the music now, has more of a space feel, than that the previous arrangements, but only perhaps in the aspect of one looking up to our glorious moon and gazing at its stunning beauty, with a respectful wonder. We then move right into Red Moon Rising, the keyboard here portrays perfectly, a moon moment, as it begins to rise in the sky and I may well play this tomorrow night, a delightful piece indeed.
Realization is probably the most melodic track off the album, the vocals add a real depth of peace and contentment into its progression and overall we are gifted with a piece of beauty, the keyboards of Suereth have created here something idyllic and special and one can truly feel a sense of awakening or realization from the manifestation and construction of this composition.
The very beginning of the final track, The Village Breathes, is brilliant, the villagers are here again and this time the tone and overall feeling of the piece is light and happy, the natural sounds included in this arrangement, are perfectly placed as usual and one can feel a certain contentment at this point.
Spiritual Haven will be an album that will be of interest across the many genres of music, those that love a global fusion or world feel, will relate to this release, while those who like a defined narrative, of perhaps a spiritual quest through music, will adore the album, apart from that Spiritual Haven by Russell Suereth has got to be the most fresh and unique albums that you will have heard for a long while and total respect has to be paid to the musician, for the sheer amount of detail, attention and self he has placed within it, this is an album you will most certainly enjoy, time and time again.
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Rating: Excellent |
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Bloom Road by Dan Kennedy |
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- posted by Gena on 3/31/2015 |
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Top-Quality Piano Recording |
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DAN KENNEDY HAS CREATED A TOP-QUALITY PIANO-PLUS RECORDING
Pianist and keyboardist Dan Kennedy is back with BLOOM ROAD, a new album containing both solo piano music as well as ensemble tunes featuring saxophonist Charles Neville of The Neville Brothers and native wood flutist David Rose of Painted Raven. The previous album by Kennedy went Top 10 on the international 100-album Zone Music Reporter Chart.
Kennedy writes gorgeous melodies and crafts exquisite arrangements. This is simply lovely music. Kennedy plays equally well with both hands, always the mark of a very good pianist. He shines in the spotlight by himself on the pieces that just feature him on piano, but he also is adept at creating arrangements that feature him in conjunction with a handful of other musicians with each getting their turn to solo.
The album begins with a flute and synthesizer duet (“Moonrise”) followed by a solo piano number (“Prayer for Janet”) and then offers up another number with flute, but this time also with Dan’s piano plus drums, synth-bass, and the sounds of an old-fashioned phonograph needle dropping on a record plus rain in the background. This gives you an idea of the diversity on this recording. In the current batch of new age music instrumental recordings, this is one not to miss.
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Rating: Excellent |
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Heart Song by Elise Lebec |
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- posted by Gena on 3/31/2015 |
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NEW CD BY ELISE LEBEC |
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ELISE LEBEC ALBUM MORE VARIED THAN MOST MODERN PIANO ALBUMS
Elise Lebec is a pianist, composer, synthesist, occasional vocalist, arranger and producer who has a new album out, Heart Song, and the music is most definitely heartfelt. She touches on affairs of the heart with the instrumental tunes “It Was Always You” (a piano-cello duet), “Afternoon Kisses” (her piano joined with flugelhorn champ Jeff Oster and drummer-percussionist Michael Urbano) and “Heart Song” (a solo piano piece). Elise also was inspired by the sailing ships of yore and yesteryear -- “Pirates and Poets” (piano, synth drone, flugelhorn and cello), “Ghost Ships” (piano, synth strings, singing bowls and bells, and Elise on wordless background vocals) and “Away Into the Horizon” (forceful solo playing on the piano). Other highlights include “Lullaby” (an expressive piano and cello duet), “Moonlit Waters” (with Elise on piano and lead vocals singing “Where have you been?”), and “Heart Song Avec Cello” (a revisiting of the title tune but with well-known new age cellist David Darling sitting in).
This is a classic-sounding new age album with beautiful melodies, strong playing, and a sense of intimate performance as if you were sitting in a parlor sometime in the past being entertained.
This is simply enchanting music. It probably falls into the new age music category as well as anywhere. But an argument could be made that it is more neo-classical since the bulk of it is either solo piano or piano-cello pieces. Lebec mostly has a light touch, but she can bear-down on occasion. The important thing is that she plays with deep feeling. While there are definite melodies here, it sounds as if she also leaves room for some improvisational soloing (for herself and others) within the framework. This is an outstanding new album worth checking out.
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Rating: Excellent |
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