Auralscapes: Episode 004

A refreshing 2-hour episode of contemporary instrumental, world, classical & new age music from across the globe.

TIME / ARTIST / TRACK TITLE / ALBUM-EP-SINGLE
0:00:00 / Lis Addison / Horizon Line / Elements
0:05:44 / Roman Nagel / Mireya / Late Bloomers
0:08:29 / Elizabeth Naccarato / Sacred Land / A Southwest Story
0:13:22 / David Arkenstone / Daughter of the River / Music Inspired by Middle Earth, Vol. II
0:17:51 / Kevin Keller / Shimmer / Shimmer
0:27:31 / Carl Lord / Heaven’s Shores / Tranquil Horizon
0:31:28 / Darlene Koldenhoven / Cheerful Mohana / Traveling the Blissful Highway
0:35:35 / Victor Towle / Days Gone By / Days Gone By
0:40:51 / Vicente Avella / Where Light and Shadow Meet / Physics of Light
0:44:32 / Trine Opsahl / Return of the Light / The Moon Stays Bright
0:47:52 / Randal Meek / Mo’ollo Place / Longings
0:53:08 / Dan Chadburn / Uncharted Waters / Always
0:56:17 / Peter Phippen, Rahbi Crawford & Ivar Lunde Jr. / Triangulum (radio edit) / Galaxies
01:01:34 / Jacquelyn G. Kleine / Vesica Piscis / Glass Timeline
01:05:55 / Chad Lawson / To Hold the Stars in the Palm of Your Hand / Breathe
01:09:48 / Tim Sadow & Mike Kopp / As the River Runs / Out of the Mist
01:13:38 / Brooks & Day / Transcendence / Awakening
01:17:26 / Shambhu / Because of You / Life Passage
01:23:44 / Christopher Boscole / Romance Sans Paroles Op. 17 No. 3 - Gabriel Faure / Isle of Shadows
01:26:59 / Jill Haley / Fog On Blueberry Hill / The Forests and Shores of Acadia
01:30:58 / Peter Kater / The Path is Clear / Soul Story
01:34:38 / David De Michele / Ripples in Time / Beyond
01:41:36 / Orchestra Indigo / Twilight Falls / Farewell to Memories
01:45:25 / Fiona Joy Hawkins / Falling (Twin Peaks Theme) / Falling (Twin Peaks Theme)
01:48:41 / Paul Adams & Elizabeth Geyer / Through the Tree Tops / Sanctuary

Album Review: Life Passage by Shambhu

Review by Abdul Yamani 

The music of acclaimed jazz guitarist and composer Shambhu seems to transport me to a quieter world, where perception and intuition seem clearer. The guitar in his hands always seems to turn into a soothing elixir. Shambhu’s latest EP titled Life Passage is no exception and in my opinion is one of the most inspiring albums that he has released to date.

Comprised of five songs all written, arranged, and produced by Shambhu, with exception of the last track “Shambhu,” co-written with his guru, Sri Chinmoy, the album offers expressive tunes of beauty, serenity and nature canvassed in new age, jazz/fusion and Indian styles. The compositions are accented by an impressive ensemble of accomplished new age, jazz, and world musicians such as bassist Michael Manring, pianist Frank Martin, flutist Premik Russell Tubbs, violinist Nathaniel Wolkstein, and percussionist Nelson Myers-Daly.

The songs on the album are a mélange of contemplation as in the first track “Because of You,” and the beautiful slow waltz “Gentle Flower” in which the guitar talks with the piano; melancholia as in the title track, “Life Passage” featuring Shambhu on acoustic guitar reflecting on the passing of the late jazz pianist and composer Chick Corea who Shambhu studied with online during the pandemic and who passed quite unexpectedly, as well as imaginative and mysterious with “Mars Dawn” taking the listener on a musical journey to the ever intriguing red planet in a backdrop of lush, orchestral strings set by Nathaniel Wolkstein, and a haunting French horn played by the multi-talented Premik Russell Tubbs.

The song titled “Shambhu” changes the pace a little and concludes the album. It is an Indian temple-beat fusion based on a melody by Sri Chinmoy. Shambhu masterfully merges the contemporary with the sacred and traditional in this joy-exuding and centering melody. He plays guitar, e-sitar and e-pads, accompanied by New Zealand world percussionist Nelson Myers-Daly, a member of the meditative music duo, Monk Party, as Premik Russell Tubbs contributes bansuri flute.

Life Passage is a blissful aural retreat you will want to return to time and time again.

Shambhu recorded Life Passage at his Hamptons Sanctuary Studios in Westhampton, NY. The EP was mixed and mastered by Todd Boston at Spatial Sound Studios in Portland, OR.

~Abdul Yamani for Auralscapes 

For more information, please visit Shambhu's website. Life Passage is also available at Amazon, Apple Music and more.

Album Review: Farewell to Memories by Orchestra Indigo

Review by Candice Michelle

Rick Randlett is a multi-talented singer/songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist who has released several recordings in the blues/rock genre. But with his latest album titled Farewell to Memories, Rick reached back to his college studies in composition, orchestration and electronic music to create a more “new age” type of album, released under the fitting project name Orchestra Indigo to distinguish the music from his previous works.

Comprised of 12 compositions spanning approximately 54 minutes, Farewell to Memories was crafted using Rick’s home studio setup that includes a Mac Book Pro, Studio One for DAW, Roland Juno synthesizer and a Modal Cobalt 8 synthesizer. The result is a serene and contemplative excursion into neoclassical electronic minimalism that seemingly evokes scenery in real-time of changing seasons and solitary environments, particularly between the hours of dusk and dawn. Tranquil images of passing clouds, dancing snowflakes, morning mists and leaves in the wind variably come to mind while listening to these thoughtful passages.

The opening title track, "Farewell to Memories," introduces drifting piano notes amid a pillowy synthesized backdrop that soon gives way to a minimalist ensemble of accompanying brass and string textures. “Distant Worlds” follows with a repeating, subtle melody permeated by a pensive mood that characterizes much of the album.

Highlights such as “Twilight Falls” evokes images of an evening fog descending upon forested mountains, while the intriguing “Mysteries” paints a starlit sky on a cold winter’s night with its twinkling timbers and shimmery tones. Towards the close of the album, crystalline notes and silvery synth-strings signal the hallmark of winter on the aptly-named “First Snow” before concluding with the somewhat wistful yet gently hopeful “One Last Look”.

Imbued with a profound sense of nostalgia throughout, Farewell to Memories recalls the classic style of “new age” synthesizer music that rose to prominence in the 80s and 90s, making it an ideal album for seasonal reflection and contemplating in nature.  

~Candice Michelle for Auralscapes 

For more information please visit the artist's website. Farewell to Memories is also available at Amazon, Apple Music and more.

Album Review: Traveling the Blissful Highway by Darlene Koldenhoven

Review by Lissette Cascante

Acclaimed soprano soloist and classically-trained pianist Darlene Koldenhoven boasts one of the most diverse portfolios a musician could ask for. Hailing from Chicago’s south side, and raised in a musical family, the GRAMMY® Winner and three-time GRAMMY® Nominee, with her radiant smile and her powerful 5-octave range voice, has traveled the world performing solo as well as with top industry names such as Yanni and many others in concerts and events, conducting workshops, teaching music, even appearing in blockbuster movies (both Sister Act films with Whoopi Goldberg.) Additionally, Darlene gives of her time and talents not just as an entertainer but as an advocate contributing her efforts to charities and worthy causes dear to her heart, such as her Music Matrix Foundation, to help make the world a better place.

Having already produced and recorded twelve albums on her label TimeArt® Recordings, one of which I had the pleasure of reviewing in 2021, an exquisite production for solo piano titled The Grand Piano Spa, Darlene returns with yet another masterful creation to add to our collection, this time in the New Age category with an all instrumental album of twelve tracks titled Traveling the Blissful Highway.

Darlene’s experience and exposure to varied cultures, countries and traditions have contributed positively to her broad and diverse vision of humanity and our world which comes through in her musical compositions, and especially shines on this album. She performs on keyboard synths, background vocals, singing bowls, Australian rainstick, Native drum and shaker. Four of the tracks are accented with Darlene’s vocalese which adds a subtle ambience to the pieces. She also surpasses herself in this project as producer, engineer, composer, and arranger. Collaborating on the album is an impressive ensemble of accomplished and award-winning musicians, detailed on the liner notes – such as GRAMMY® Nominated multi-flautist Ron Korb and GRAMMY® Winning violinist Charlie Bisharat, among others – incorporating a fantastic variety of instrumentation throughout the album.

A lover of travel myself, I was excitedly drawn to the theme of the album. As a long, expansive highway stretches before our musical horizon, we can sit back, relax, and embark on a scenic “auralscape” allowing our imagination to take us to our desired escapade. An uplifting melody, “Cheerful Mohana” opens the album, inviting us to leave our cares behind and embrace a more spontaneous, bohemian side of life. The album offers a nice combination of lively and soft, meditative songs which keep the listener actively engaged in the process but also promotes a carefree and calm state of being. As we glide alongside the musical notes, sounds of birds and nature, native flutes and drums, and a vast array of exotic instruments add to the wonder of our sensory cruise.

“Jade Dreams” the third track for example, transported me to balmy beaches and tucked-away coves in remote places, Bali comes to mind; while “Tropical Chill” with its ocean wave sounds, flugelhorn and breezy rhythm presented for me a relaxing beach sunset view somewhere in the Caribbean enjoying a favorite tropical beverage. “Dot Calm” took me to the rainforests of Costa Rica, reminding me of my late father’s beautiful birth country. Along the way there are ancient stars to gaze at as in “Native Star” the tenth track with its haunting flute melody, and Irish green misty mornings to savor as in “Highland Mist.” My favorite track on the album, “Osmium Glow,” is as rare and precious a melody as the precious metal it’s named after. There is indeed a glowing quality and mystique to this lovely tune. “Blissful Highway,” another favorite with its transitory feel, ends the album, but the blissful sensation endures as we return from our musical excursion refreshed and renewed, ready for the next adventure. It’s only another listen away.

Traveling the Blissful Highway is an album you will want as your musical companion, to help make your life journey a more enjoyable and beautiful discovery.  

~Lissette Cascante for Auralscapes 

For more information please visit the artist's website. Traveling the Blissful Highway is also available at Amazon, Apple Music and more.

Album Review: Physics of Light by Vicente Avella

Review by Marilyn Torres

Vicente Avella has crafted a deep and sensitive musical homage to light in his latest CD Physics of Light. The compilation, which Avella recorded himself at his home, features pieces to highlight the variables found in light as interpreted from his personal view and experiences. Even so, each piece offers something to the listener that goes beyond the limits of our experiences or perceptions of light.

As I listened to the first two pieces, “Light Particles” and “Radiance,” I imagined black space and suddenly the appearance of dots of light one by one until the light fills the dark. I felt it was a reassuring start to the journey. 

“Where Light and Shadow Meet” is a more subdued and measured piece, as if one were examining the appearance of dark upon the light. In contrast, “Ultraviolet” brings us to a dance-like state with airy keys surrounding the field. Later in the lineup, “Reflection,” gave a similar dance aspect but ending with a surprise, as if the dancer i.e. the reflection, was abruptly stopped.

The minor chords and slightly off key element in “Oscuro,” infused it with an ominous dark (which is the translation for the Spanish title “oscuro”) character and a feeling of impending doom. Such a feeling is also present further down in “Umbra,” as well as another sudden but expectant ending.

A more hopeful and airy quality emerges from “Claro” as each key takes its spot to shine on its own, giving a forward movement and decisive tone to the piece. “Color Spectrum” and “Intermezzo” both have a calm and serene presence with layers of wishful thinking. 

Towards the end of the CD, “Infrared” has a more urgent feel with Avella playing fast and furious towards the climax. “Antumbra” and “Visible Light” complete the collection with respective soft flow and march-like chords indicating change and growth

Avella has beautifully merged his masterful piano skills and genuine affection for his craft with his curiosity about the properties of light and how it behaves, in a way that enriches not only our listening experience but also invites us to follow our inquisitive nature and see where the light leads.    

~Marilyn Torres for Auralscapes 

For more information please visit the artist's website. Physics of Light is also available at Amazon, Apple Music and more.

Album Review: Sapphire Oak by Sharon Fendrich

Review by Marilyn Torres

In her newest CD, Sapphire Oak, Sharon Fendrich utilizes her love of the natural world and her gift of composition, and invites us to explore the diverse nature and function of the oak and its landscape. 

In the first minute and a half of Sea of Oaks, we hear the cascading piano followed by the Irish whistle and then the fiddle and again the piano, giving the piece a circular motion as a soothing choir emerges and we again make our way to the individual instruments one by one as the circle closes in a dance like the falling leaves of an oak tree.

Leaves of Glory and The Grove at Dodona both begin with a similar morning dawn feel which rises into a full orchestral stretch before coming to rest on solid ground. Runic Roots and Call of the Ruins incorporate windswept sound, however while the former felt playful, with its picking of the string instruments like tiptoeing through a valley, Fendrich’s vocals in the latter, Call of the Ruins, lend it a celestial and emotional grasp.  

Fendrich’s creative composition produces another lively dance between the harp, the flute and the fiddle in The Oaken Door, while in Dryad’s Rejoice the harp sets the stage for the contemplative piano and Irish whistle.

The somewhat ominous opening in Of Badges and Crowns frames the piece as a call for reverence and honor. In contrast, Under Her Canopy gives the listener a fairy garden aura as Fendrich and her daughter Talia Valdes join in harmonious vocals taking us deep into the forest. 

To further showcase the artistic and intellectual virtuosity of Sharon Fendrich, the title piece, Sapphire Oak, features Fendrich singing her lyrics in the language of Ta’ek which Fendrich herself developed! 

In the final piece, Carry the Oak, the Irish whistle, the fiddle, and the piano collaborate once more to direct the flow of the piece as it gently carries the listener towards the powerful yet tender finale.

With grace and intelligence, Sharon Fendrich has produced a work encompassing the qualities of the beloved oak tree; strong, warm, expansive and serene.   

~Marilyn Torres for Auralscapes 

For more information please visit the artist's website. Sapphire Oak is also available at Amazon, Apple Music and more.

Album Review: Music Inspired by Middle Earth Vol. II by David Arkenstone

Review by Candice Michelle

I have long been fascinated by the life of J.R.R. Tolkien and his best-selling classic epic fantasy novel series The Lord of the Rings. If there is one composer who can most perfectly pay musical homage to the enduring legacy of Tolkien’s greatest works, it’s the creatively prolific David Arkenstone. A musical novelist in his own right, as well as multi-Grammy Award nominated recording artist and Billboard New Age chart-topper whose career spans more than three decades, Arkenstone is certainly no stranger to the fantasy genre. Having mastered a diversity of musical styles – including Ambient/Chill, Celtic, World and Classical Crossover/Pop – Arkenstone frequently draws creative inspiration from ancient folklore, mythology and natural places of wonder across the globe.

The second companion to Arkenstone’s 2001 album Music Inspired by Middle Earth, Tolkien’s epic story is sonically re-imagined once again on Arkenstone’s Music Inspired by Middle Earth Vol. II – a 14-track album spanning approximately 63 minutes – whereby the listener is invited along for another enthrallingly magical adventure.

Atmospheric symphony and haunting choral figures open “The Shadow of the Past” wherein the veil between our world and the enchanting one depicted in the novels is once again lifted for a time. “The Green Dragon” follows with a festive arrangement of Celtic rhythms and violin (courtesy of Luanne Homzy) as one might imagine themselves joining the lovely hobbits for some dancing, drinking and playfulness among the green hills and pastures. Subsequently, Jillian Aversa provides ethereal wordless vocals on the mesmerizing “Daughter of the River”, a delicate and flowing piece that feels like sailing down a sparkling river in a paradisiacal elven forest.

Other outstanding pieces like “Servant of The Secret Fire” and “Minas Morgul” make use of darkly dramatic orchestration, shadowy gothic choirs and thunderously cinematic drumming, recalling the darker neoclassical mood of Arkenstone’s 2016 album Beneath a Darkening Sky.

Two other notable favorites include the back-to-back compositions “Caras Galadhon” and “Fangorn Forest”. On the watery and crystal-like “Caras Galadhon”, gently whirling minor-key orchestration conveys a bewitching suspense that feels reminiscent of "Lothlórien" or “The Palantír” from the first Music Inspired by Middle Earth album. In gentle contrast, “Fangorn Forest” recalls some of Arkenstone’s more world-tinged albums (plus the classical symphonic touch) with its native flute, rhythmic shakers and clicking percussion.

For those who enjoyed the accompanying film scores by Howard Shore to Peter Jackson’s cinematographically gorgeous and otherworldly movie adaption of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, David Arkenstone’s Music Inspired by Middle Earth Vol. II is an absolute must-have for any L.O.T.R. novel, movie, music or memorabilia fan. Variably moving along its course from dramatic to dreamy, and suspenseful to serene, Music Inspired by Middle Earth Vol. II is another poetically magnificent musical journey that could be described as ‘atmospheric classical fantasy music’ – and sure to be a top contender in the genre for this year’s best album.  

~Candice Michelle for Auralscapes 

For more information please visit the artist's website. Music Inspired by Middle Earth Vol. II is also available at Amazon, Apple Music and more.