Dear Mom - Letters to Heaven

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Ascension by Phoenix Rising - Music Review


From out by the Pacific coast comes Ascension by Phoenix Rising a calm, ethereal album of meditative music that combines piano and flute along with several other instruments including cello, tabla, hang drum, guitar, goat hooves (shakers from Bolivia), voice and something called a guzheng a Chinese dulcimer of sorts.

Ascension creates an ambient, relaxing, peaceful listening experience. Think of Sunday morning with a fresh brew of coffee and the morning paper or good book. With song titles like seed, creation, nourishment, heartstrings, unspoken, insight and ascension you get the idea that we are reaching here for another place in time and space. It is always nice when performers reach for something beyond self and deliver to the audience something that lifts them out of their immediate concerns.

Ascension has a real sense of poetry and melancholy. Listening to this CD on a quiet, rainy day like this morning has enhanced that feeling. It's soft pace reminded me of the quieter offerings from the band "Ancient Future". The Cello is a nice touch and overall this is a calm, thoughtful, meditative, and harmonious listening experience. There are definitely Native American influences throughout and I look forward to adding Ascension to my music collection.

Relax, enjoy and support independent music. You can visit their web sites by clicking on the link above or the ones below. Congratulations on a fine effort.

Paul
Author-Journey Home

Wendy Loomis - Piano
Monica Williams - Flute

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