You won't believe how the players demonstrate their smooth fluidity, blending jazz, Latin, swing and flamenco for a passionately romantic listening experience. Listen, and savor how they put new twists on old repertoire, including classics by Reinhardt, Duke Ellington and the Gershwin brothers. Folk songwriter Humphrey pens tunes with the skill of Buffy St. Marie and sings with all the earth mother sweetness of Paula Cole. Addressing the human condition from beyond an Ojibwe reservation perspective, co-writer Carson Gardner's and Humphrey's lyrics provide insight and healing for the rainbow coalition. Humphrey's vocals are supported by excellent arrangements for guitars, piano, drums, percussion, violin, bass and cedar flute, making this record one you can enjoy time and time again.
Some albums deserve dedicated, repeated listening, uninterrupted from beginning to end.
This is one of them. The lush velvet of Khadem's pipes is a perfect match for the tinny ney, sonorous sympathetic strings and percussion patter that hold hypnotic sway over this innovative album. Musical director Loga Ramin Torkian is to be congratulated on gathering such a fine palette of source sounds and players and dramatically combining them into one of the best albums of the year. Betasso Road, Boulder, CO 80302-9606.