Jeff Stockton - Sacred Ground

 

[Music review by Michael Woodhead for Synchronicity magazine]

Jeff Oster - At Last

 AT LAST

Jeff Oster
Retso
2004

Although produced by Will Ackerman and features backup work by some notable New Age musicians (Philip Aaberg, for example), At Last disappointingly contains only four songs and runs a total time of just under twenty minutes.

Nevertheless, the music is quite beautiful and, along with synthesizers, guitars and drums, the sounds of the flugelhorn and trumpet have been blended into some nice mixes. Jeff is a talented composer and arranger.

Since I'm originally from England, Matt's Mood envisioned in my mind a walk along the beach in Liverpool, listening to the seaside bands who play for the gathering crowds. Rather a nostalgic tune for me.

Then it's across the world to California's Big Sur with soft, flowing strains of repetitive trumpet and horns riffs, the whole rhythm and feel reminiscent of the swelling and surging of the ocean waves.

Haleakala brings an indigenous drum rhythm and a backing female voice to create a tropical mood, enhanced by Jeff's subdued flugelhorn. Very pretty and hypnotic.

Quiet and reflective, the title tune At Last brings to a close this all-too-brief taste of some of the nicest horn and trumpet music I've heard in a long time.

"This music has been inside and a part of me ever since I started playing the trumpet at the age of eight...These songs are a beginning. After four decades of horn playing, it's about time. I love what we've created here. As you listen, imagine what's possible if you ask for what you want."

Jeff asked. The world responded.

TRACKLIST:
1. Matt's Mood
2. Big Sur
3. Haleakala
4. At Last

Jasmin Poon - Jasmin's Spiral Travel : A Journey With Crystal Bowls

 

[Music review by Michael Woodhead for Synchronicity magazine]

Jane Siberry - Shushan the Palace

[Music review by Michael Woodhead for Synchronicity magazine]

James Johnson - Minimum

[Music review by Michael Woodhead for Synchronicity magazine]

James Asher - Shaman Drums

 

[Music review by Michael Woodhead for Synchronicity magazine]

From my journals: 29 December 2018

      ■  When you’re having a dream, what is the secret to realizing that you are having a dream? Oftentimes, dreams seem so real, and sometimes you wake up from a dream to find yourself in another dream and only realize it when you wake up from that one.

From my journals: 29 December 2018

 Idea:

        ■  What if our lives were like a choose-your-own-adventure story? We could be reborn two or more times to live the same life, but at certain points we make alternate choices to see how things turn out, either differently or similar or even the same.

James Asher - Lotus Path

 

LOTUS PATH

James Asher
New Earth Records
2004

This is one very beautiful and relaxing album, from beginning to end. Bringing together a combination of the eight-stringed bazouki with the thirty-six stringed dulcimer combined with natural sounds and the occasional light vocal, Lotus Path is ideal for meditation, massage, and love-making, particularly the thirty-two minute title track, the only extended work that Asher had done since—as of this review—1988's, The Great Wheel.

Unlike the high-energy compositions of Asher's previous Drums on Fire, this CD is laid back, less intense, and more reflective, with some incidental chanting done by Sivamani, who also performed on the previous album. 

Gently rhythmic, and rippling along like a musical stream of virtual water, Lotus Path washes over the listener with hypnotic sounds, carrying one along to the distant inward shores of the Self, there to discover one's connection to Nature and the Divine.

Seven other shorter selections also bring a similar contentment and peacefulness. Occasionally Oriental in style, then Celtic, then Native American; sometimes sweet, like Ocean of Dreams, and at other times symphonic, like Silver—all an eclectic, but varied and pleasing selection of meditative compositions which Asher wrote and put together on this album.

All guaranteed to bring tranquility and comfort to the listener.

My Favourite: Lotus Path

TRACKLIST:
1. Lotus Path
2. Violet
3. Ocean Of Dreams
4. Green
5. Cedar Tree
6. Silver
7. Earthsong
8. Far Over The Hill

James Asher & Sivamani - Drums On Fire

[Music review by Michael Woodhead for Synchronicity magazine]

From my journals:- 28 May 2015

28 MAY 2015
Thursday
Had a dream last night in which I was a zombie. After looking it up on the internet, to dream of being a zombie means ‘one who feels dead inside, detached from other people and life’. That pretty much describes how I feel, I guess.

 

Jamie Craig - The Lost Dream

 

THE LOST DREAM

Jamie Craig
Craig Sound Productions
2007

As Jamie has said, this is "new-age rock with a bit more bite than you normally hear".

There's an eclectic mix of music, here, some light and lyrical, others with a more driving beat to them.

The listener will certainly be aware of the drums and bass-lines influenced by progressive-rock prevalent on all the selections, along with some subtle, and yet not-to-subtle, jumps in chord arrangements which don't flow from one to another like they normally do in many songs.

There's also a mix of instruments and styles that gives the ear something different to listen to as it moves from one composition to the next.

This isn't 'new age music' like listeners would be used to.

"I realized there were plenty of people doing the softer, more meditative stuff. I decided to follow my instincts and add more edge, more energy, more backbeat..."

Not softer. Not meditative. But still a pleasure to listen to any day of the week.

TRACKLIST:
1. The Lost Dream (Radio Mix)
2. The Steel Wheel
3. Stereo Five
4. The Power and The Glory
5. Movement Z
6. Contemplate All
7. One Thirty
8. The Lost Dream
9. Did You Have to Ask?
10. Our Lost Dreams
11. Take the High Road

Infamis - Upiór: Qualis Rex, Talis Grex

UPIÓR: Qualis Rex, Talis Grex

Infamis
Beast of Prey
2005

If Richard Wagner could be termed 'heavy' as far as classical music is concerned, then 'heavy' is what this album could be termed in the dark atmospheric ambient realm.

Now, by 'heavy', I don't mean metal music; rather, the atmosphere and the complete sound are rather overwhelming, although not exactly depressing. There is a majesty and grandeur in a dark way, created by full orchestral scores, choirs, and myriad instruments.

Some tracks, like Babilon and Upiór II do tend to become quite tedious at times because they begin to sound like a stuck record after awhile. However, I do realize that's done for effect—perhaps a musical metaphor for the occasional tediousness of life. But, overall, Upiór is quite a dramatic departure from a lot of the music we're used to hearing. Take a chance on it; I'm sure it'll interest you.

TRACKLIST:
1.Upiór
2.Adoratorzy Bezmocy
3.Iluzjonista Krwi
4.Melodia Z Ostatniej Epoki
5.Czarci Róg
6.Babilon
7.Upiór II
8.Batailles Nocturnes

Ian Melrose - A Scottish Legacy

 

[Music review by Michael Woodhead for Synchronicity magazine]

Herb Ernst - The Dreamflight Trilogy

 

[Music review by Michael Woodhead for Synchronicity magazine]

Harvey Summers - Reiki: Invisible Healing

 

REIKI : Invisible Healing

Harvey Summers
Disky
2000

Flowing like a healing river, and at times sounding very much like Kitaro's music, Harvey Summers' ambient melodies are quite soothing, but also much more dramatic.

Drawing on Oriental influences, musical notes are often punctuated rather than melded together, so that, as in Just for Today, one minute we are drawn down a slow-moving stream, the next through massaging rapids. And, unlike many other healing albums, this one contains quite over-emphasized rhythmic beats.

Very nice. Very different. Quite mesmerizing.

TRACKLIST:
1 Just for Today
2 Heavenly Ki
3 Pranayama
4 Pure Peace
5 Invisible Healing

Gary Stadler - Fairy Heart Magic

[Music review by Michael Woodhead for Synchronicity magazine]

Ganga Giri - Tribe Vibe

[Music review by Michael Woodhead for Synchronicity magazine]

Gandalf - Sacred River

 SACRED RIVER

Gandalf
Real Music
2006

This is, by far, the nicest Gandalf recording I've heard, a gentle and relaxing musical voyage down the sacred Yamuna River in India, a place that has had quite an impact on Gandalf's life.

Earlier in his life, "Flowing water has inspired me since I was a child, when my favorite playground was at a small creek behind my parents' house. The sound of the rippling water stimulated my fantasy and made my mind go wandering to imaginary places."

Musically, Gandalf has captured the rippling, flowing, and healing effects of the water through the use of guitar, keyboards, bells and percussion, all blending together to create a relaxing atmosphere with the title track being my favourite.

TRACKLIST:
1. Morning At The River Bench
2. Sacred River
3. Blossoms Falling Like Snow
4. Silent Joy
5. The Ferryman's Tale
6. Take Me Gently Across The Water
7. Confidently Flowing Seawards
8. A Visionary Passage
9. Flow, Water, Flow
10. Where the River Joins the Ocean

Gandalf - Into the Light

[Music review by Michael Woodhead for Synchronicity magazine]

Gandalf - Colors Of a New Dawn

 

[Music review by Michael Woodhead for Synchronicity magazine]

From my journals:- 4 June 2008

 4 JUNE 2008
Wednesday
I've been reading Annamaria Hemingway’s book, Practicing Conscious Living and Dying, and it has raised some questions in my mind:
    ■  Does everyone have a Calling or are some of us meant to be ‘fodder’ for those who receive and follow the Call?
    ■  What happens to those who miss, don't recognize, or choose to ignore the Call?
    ■  How do we discern between our own talents and abilities, and those required for the Call?

Did I miss, ignore, or not recognize a Call on my life? If so, when did it occur? What were the circumstances surrounding it? Is there a way to re-hear that Call?

Galalisa Star - Galalisa Star

 

[Music review by Michael Woodhead for Synchronicity magazine]

Galalisa Star - Euphoria: Heaven on Earth

 

[Music review by Michael Woodhead for Synchronicity magazine]

Galactic Agents - Human Contact

[Music review by Michael Woodhead for Synchronicity magazine]

Freud - Time Passangers / The Journey

TIME PASSENGERS / THE JOURNEY

Freud
Tantajo Records
1998 / 2006

If one could choose a theme running through Freud's recording from 1998, Time Passengers, and The Journey from 2006, it would indeed be their evocative track World of Wonders, which they revisit as a bonus track on both albums.

Songwriter and producer Ingo Hauss' first project featured the haunting vocals of Cora O'Donovan, and now, on this follow-up, she's joined by Maria Sanchez whose voice complements Cora's and who does an admirable job, but, in my opinion, she doesn't seem totally comfortable with some of the music, with the exception of Garden of Love and El Jardin del Amor—she's made those hers..

Nevertheless, The Journey contains some very beautiful songs, some with a more Celtic sound to them than Time Passengers. Also melded into some numbers are electronic sounds, voices, and exotic instruments that give the whole album a cosmopolitan feel to it.

Overall, both albums are a 'good listen'; pick up both and play them back-to-back to get the full effect that the producer desires.

TIME PASSENGERS
TRACK LIST:
1. World of Wonders
2. Skies Above Loveland
3. Euphoria
4. The Miracle of Moona
5. Eternal
6. Fairyland
7. History of the Sandman
8. Time Passengers
9. Sleep
10. Rain Temple
11. Minuit
12. World of Wonders

THE JOURNEY
TRACK LIST:
1. Deja Vu
2. The River
3. Eden
4. Mystery Moon
5. The Avebury Circle
6. Garden of Love
7. The Journey
8. Phantasmagoria
9. The Great Crossing
10. El Jardin del Amor
11. World of Wonders