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Paul Winter's holiday recording transcends boundaries
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Cleveland Plain Dealer, Paul Winter's holiday recording transcends boundaries >>
The Paul Winter Consort & Friends “Silver Solstice” (Living Music)
No recording can reproduce the thrilling experience of sitting in the center of the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and being enveloped in beautifully performed music from around the globe. But Winter’s celebration comes close. The three-disc boxed set includes a bonus DVD with multichannel surround sound. Even in old-fashioned stereo, however, the album gives a sense of the magnificent sacred space and reverberant acoustics of New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
The live recording of Winter’s 25th annual solstice celebration opens with the renowned jazz artist intoning an unaccompanied melody from far away in a high balcony. The sweet timbre of his soprano sax segues seamlessly into the raw voices of Russian women from the Dmitry Pokrovsky Ensemble. Then, the calls inviting the congregation to worship the Earth pass to the rich cello of Eugene Friessen, the keening Uilleann pipes of Davy Spillane and the thundering timpani of Gordon Gottlieb in dialogue with the crackling tambourine of Glen Velez. And this is only the first track!
In the following 138 minutes, these musicians alternate with the dramatically different styles and sonorities of gospel singer Theresa Thomason, Armenian singer-percussionist Arto Tuncboyaciyan, Celtic vocalist Noirin Ni Riain and numerous other artists from diverse musical traditions. The playing of bells, gongs and chimes represents a ritual of passage from darkness to light. Recordings of humpback whales, rain forest birds, a timber wolf and a spotted owl are also integrated into the festivities. Although energy sometimes flags, the performance overall draws listeners into a holiday tradition that transcends boundaries of culture and religion. A- 12/11/05 >> go there
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