Spirit
Imagine Pink Floyd'sDark Side of the Moonwith a Native American motif and you have a fair gauge of Peter Buffett's intentions onSpirit, a live recording of a 1998 stage production involving more than 80 drummers, dancers, and musicians. (Originally aired on public television,Spiritis now on video.) Most of Buffett's keyboard-driven, percussion-fueled compositions are live renderings of works from his intriguing 1997 release,Spirit Dance, his most recent ode to Native culture. The energized live setting (at times involving a female youth choir, Native American singers, Native American flutistRobert Mirabal, and, impressively, guitarist Peter Maunu) serves Buffett's atmospheric work well as it traces a theme of personal transformation guided by Native spirits.Spiritmay not fully match the sustained sensory impact of Pink Floyd's opus, but it offers several riveting moments--the percussion-heavy reworking of "Firedance," his brief contribution to Kevin Costner's filmDances with Wolves, the exultant "Passage," and a lost gem from Buffett's catalog, the plaintive, piano-based "New West."--Terry Wood