Offering
With a natural talent reminiscent ofR. Carlos Nakai, Mary Youngblood spins a wondrous ancient music from her cedar, redwood, and birch flutes onThe Offering. This special album was recorded in the heart of Moaning Cavern in California, and the result is a collection of beautiful, ethereal dreams rich with melancholy colors and diverse wooden tones. The composition "Echoes" sings with its chamber dual flute as if Youngblood is playing a duet with herself, droning and fluttering against the moist cavern walls. In several tunes an occasional cadence from water hitting the cave floor is heard, and this spontaneous, subterranean interaction enhances the earthy purity of the music. This was Youngblood's debut, a masterful work full of tradition and spiritual grace, topped only by Youngblood herself on the folksy follow-up,Heart of the World.--Karen K. Hugg