New Age

20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection *

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Secret Garden: Rolf Lovland, Fionnuala Sherry.

The Rose

Mediaeval Baebes: Katharine Blake (leader, vocals, autoharp, zither, violin, harmonium, keyboards, glockenspiel); Teresa Casella (vocals, acoustic guitar, mandolin, bass); Ruth Galloway (vocals, acoustic guitar, autoharp, zither, recorder); Cylindra Sapphire (vocals, keyboards, astrowheel); Audrey Evans (vocals, keyboards, percussion); Marie Findley, Claire Ravel, Carmen Schneider, Rachel Van Asch (vocals).
Mediaeval Bloakes Choir: Nick Marsh (vocals, acoustic guitar); Christian Hayes (vocals, electric guitar); Pike Galloway (vocals, ebow zither); Matt Fisher, Mick Bevan, David Ryder-Prangley (vocals).
Additional personnel: Dorothy Carter (autoharp, dulcimer, hurdy gurdy, zither); Gavin Wright, Boguslav Kostecki (violin); Bruce White (viola); David Daniels (cello); Mike Servent (harmonium, piano); Trevor Sharpe (percussion).
While continuing the Mediaeval Baebes' tradition of reprising anonymous medieval compositions, THE ROSE branches out to include material from Chaucer ("Slay Me Suddenly"), Dante ("The Circle of the Lustful"), and Gwerful Mechain, a 15th-century Welshman whose racy poem "The Sour Grove" had long been suppressed.
The album is also notable for its elaborate instrumentation. "Byrd One Brere" is a beautifully arranged ballad, while the bawdy "Dringo Bell" is unusual for its inclusion of a male chorus. Perhaps the most surprising track is "L'Amour De Moi," a 14th-century French composition arranged and sung with tremulous grace by 67-year-old Dorothy Carter.

Live At The Acropolis

LIVE AT THE ACROPOLIS is available in CD and DVD versions in the boxed set YANNI: THE PRIVATE YEARS, which also includes the CDs IN MY TIME, REFLECTIONS OF PASSION, IN CELEBRATION OF LIFE and DARE TO DREAM.
Personnel includes: Yanni (piano, keyboards); Shardad Rohani (conductor, violin); Karen Briggs (violin); Julie Homi, Bradley Joseph (keyboards); Ric Fierabracci (bass); Charlie Adams (drums); Michael "Kalani" Bruno (percussion).
Recorded live at the Herod Atticus Theatre, Athens, Greece on September 25, 1993.
Personnel: Yanni (vocals, guitar); Karen Briggs, Shardad Rohani (violin); Julie Homi, Bradley Joseph (keyboards); Ric Fierabracci (bass guitar); Charlie Adam (drums); Michael "Kalani" Bruno (percussion).
Recording information: The Acropolis, Greece (09/25/1993).
Yanni has enjoyed sensational success over the past several years with his lush, densely layered, new age orchestrations. But the Greek keyboardist/composer's overtly romantic musings achieve a bold new dimension when augmented by a full symphony orchestra, and some of the more rhythmic elements in his music, previously masked under a wall of synthesizers, come to the fore--and the resulting music is much closer to progressive rock (and his own native roots) than new age.
Thus we have distinctly Greek rhythmic cycles (in seven) keying the variations on the opening "Santorini" and "Keys To The Imagination," richly colored by percussion fanfares and instrumental breaks--demonstrating that the breadth of Yanni's music and his interest in popular forms is greater than many of his diehard fans have grown to expect. And on an arrangement like "The Rain Must Fall," Yanni frames his boleroesque piano shadings against a mysterious backbeat and fretless bass, which soon develops into--of all things--an R&B-styled slap bass groove.
But those fans drawn to the purely lyric side of Yanni's art won't be disappointed by the composer's programming on YANNI LIVE AT THE ACROPOLIS. Such keyboard-inflected fantasias as "Reflections Of Passion," "One Man's Dream" and "Until The Last Moment" illustrate Yanni's sentimental yearnings, while the Oriental flourishes of "Swept Away" demonstrate why he's achieved such an immense following among adult contemporary listeners.

Pachelbel: Forever By The Sea

 

 

Michael Maxwell wonderfully performs the music of composer Johann Pachelbel on this outstanding recording from the Solitudes label. Set to the soothing sounds of the ocean, Pachelbel: Forever by the Sea features a wonderful array of tracks including "Ancient Harbor," "In A Protected Cove," "The Beckoning Sea" and "The Canon Stirs." With nearly an hour of beautiful music and soothing nautical sounds, this Solitudes release is a perfect addition to anyone's home CD library.

Gravity

Personnel: Jesse Cook (guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, timbales, shaker, sicus, palmas, darbouka); Mev Berman (oboe); Denis Keldie (accordion); Tony Levin, Scott Alexander, Andres Morales (bass); Blake Manning (drums, timbales, darbouka, triangle); Mario Melo (congas, bongos, surdo, repique, shaker, pandeiro, quicka, chimes, chekere, cowbell). Recorded at Coach House Music, Canada.

Cafe Tropical *

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Personnel include: Johannes Linstead (guitar, percussion); Alexis Baro (trumpet); Hari Pal (tabla); Alex Godinez (percussion).

Phonograph Record

Personnel: Mason Williams (vocals, guitar); David Bennett Cohen, Mike Deasy Sr. , James Burton, Al Casey (guitar); Gayle Levant (harp); Bobby Korda, Jack Gootkin, Jerome Reisler, James Getzoff, George Kast, Johnny Vidor Strings, Tibor Zelig, Jimmy Getsoff, David Burk, Emanuel Moss, Stanley Plummer, Sid Sharp, Robert Sushel, Sidney Sharp, Israel Baker, Ralph Schaeffer, Harry Bluestone, William Kurash (violin); Joseph Ditullio, Jerome Kessler, Armand Karpoff, Jesse Ehrlich (cello); Carl Fortina (accordion); Jim Horn, Tommy Scott (woodwinds); David Duke, William Hinshaw (French horn); Richard Leith, Richard Hyde, Hoyt Bohannon, Lew McCreary (trombone); Larry Knechtel (piano, electric bass); Michael Melvoin (piano); Lyle Ritz (upright bass, electric bass); Bob West (electric bass); Jim Gordon (drums); Gene Estes, Gary Coleman (percussion); Phil Kaye (sound effects).
Liner Note Author: Stan Cornyn.
Photographer: Jerry White.
Arrangers: Al Capps; Mike Post; Mason Williams.
Producer Mike Post and composer Mason Williams packed all sorts of experiments into this half-hour listening experience called The Mason Williams Phonograph Record, and though there are some interesting moments from the clever singer, it is the instrumental masterpiece "Classical Gas" that displays the highest level of creativity. The 45 rpm was a number one adult contemporary hit in the summer of 1968 while the award-winning artist was writing for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. It became so successful that Williams has a separate website with everything one could want to know about the tune linked to his own http://www.masonwilliams-online.com. It won Grammys in 1968 for composition, performance, and Mike Post's arrangement, and maybe because of its huge popularity, it feels out of place in the context of this concept disc. The 27 seconds of folksy banter that make up "Life Song" or the "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" riff that is all 30 seconds of "Dylan Thomas" are disposable bridges between musical elements that matter, the closing instrumental "Sunflower" -- part of a film project where the songwriter "set up cameras in the desert" to capture "the largest flower ever done" -- a skywriting airplane drawing underneath the rising sun. Stan Cornyn's always difficult liner notes explain it, but not as well as the photo of the plane on the back cover. "Wanderlove" emulates Simon & Garfunkel's "Hazy Shade of Winter" without the flamenco guitar -- the artist saved that for "Classical Gas" -- and it appears the folksinging duo was a major inspiration to him in the development of this project. Al Capps' arrangement of "Baroque-a-Nova" is noteworthy --- sounding like the Bob Crewe Generation on speed, and a candidate for a much better segue after the hit than the downer that is "Long Time Blues." A politically incorrect "The Prince's Panties" is another excessive track, showing that Warner Brothers Seven Arts allowed the team many indulgences. It paid off as there are a couple of gems and one diamond found when sifting through The Mason Williams Phonograph Record's rough. ~ Joe Viglione

Deva Premal & Miten In Concert [Digipak]

Personnel: Deva Premal (vocals, keyboards); Miten (vocals, guitar); Jalalo (vocals); Kamal M. Engels (keyboards).
Audio Mixer: Kamal M. Engels.
Liner Note Authors: Deva Premal; Miten.
Recording information: Art Of Audio, Australia; Byron Bay, Australia (02/23/2008-02/24/2008).
Photographers: Raj Naik; Melinda Andreas.

Wings Over Water [7/18]

Personnel includes: Stephan Micus (vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion).