A Winter's Solstice: Silver Anniversary Edition
Since the Windham Hill imprint'sWinter Solsticeseries was born in 1985, the concept has gone through some changes, bottoming out with 1999's abysmally kitschyWinter Solstice on Ice. With thisSilver Anniversary Edition, Dawn Atkinson, who produced the firstWinter Solsticedisc, has gone back to her original concept of nontraditional seasonal music and novel arrangements of Christmas classics. She's also brought in some old standbys, soliciting works fromPaul McCandless, Barbara Higbie,Will Ackerman, Philip Aaberg, andLiz Story.Much of this newWinter Solsticeturns on classical themes. Ex-Kronos Quartetcellist Joan Jeanrenaud teams with guitarist Steve Erquiaga on an airy Handel piece, and McCandless adapts Orlando Gibbons's "The Silver Swan." Others explore traditional carols, including Erquiaga's double-guitar filigree on "Greensleeves." As with past titles in this series, the best compositions are usually the originals.KeyboardistTim Story, aWinter Solsticestalwart, unfolds another gorgeously melodic ambient chamber piece called "What Comes December." Tracy Silverman and Thea Suits turn in a wistful duet for electric violin and flute, and TV composer W.G. Snuffy Walden goes soft focus on "Moon Lake." While "Beneath the Trees," by Ackerman and Aaberg, seems born in the snow-covered trees of Ackerman's Vermont home, Hawaiian Ozzie Kotani's "Queen's Prayer" seems to have nothing to do with the season. Yet, it somehow fits the mood.--John Diliberto