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Fire and Air
Peter Kater
In ancient meatball wisdom it is said that “It doesn't take a lot of meatballs to make a great sandwich.” When I was first blessed with this wisdom, I completely ignored the full impact of its relevance and depth. I don't even eat meat. But as I explored the possibilities, it occurred to me that it is a metaphor for miracles.
If you haven't already destroyed your taste buds with the “one handed food” cuisine which we Americans are famous for, i.e. hot dogs/ hamburgers/ pizza, then you are still open to the subtle tastes that a well prepared meal or morsel can bring. In other words, if you are still listening for the almost silent stirrings of your heart and soul in the middle of the chaos we call lifestyle, you will hear incredible things. It doesn't take an enormous miracle for any of us to feel a little magic in everything we do.
I loved Peter Kater's CD's Earth and Water (reviewed in the December ‘05/Janurary '06 issue). When our editor, Karen Newton, sent me the other 2 to review, Fire and Water, I felt the magic, like really good meatball sandwich. Thank you Karen.
Fire, the 3 rd CD in the collection of 4, is a peaceful reminiscence of fire from the moment it was discovered. The awe and impact that it had on us as survivors was another tool in winning or loosing the battle of existence. We think of fire as destructive, and it can be, we have all felt the burn from flame. But it is also a call to gather. Sitting around an outdoor fire pit under a cold starry sky with good friends and something hot to drink. It is inside around the warmth of the hearth, a safe place of family. A bonfire on the beach, barefoot in the cool sand and the warm sea air. These are the places this CD will take you. Comforting piano solos accompanied by flute, oboe, a soprano saxophone, and English horn, moving through the landscape conjuring up these gathering places that we should all take more time to share.
Air is the most peaceful of all 4 CDs. An offering to the sky, floating and weightless, clear and life giving. Peter Kater on piano, and his regulars, Paul McCandless on oboe, whistle and saxophone, and Richard Hardy on flute, are once again guiding us into the depths of another element.
Earth, Water, Fire , and Air create a powerful collection of 4 CD's each carrying the promise of a journey. I encourage you to listen and hear what the elements of this collection have to say to you.
Bon Appetite.
~ Reviewed by Laura Silvestri
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The Emerald Way
2oo2
www.realmusic.com
www.2002music.com
There is no shortage of angelic sounding music designed to bring peace and love to the listener. If we don't recognize our "need for help" in experiencing love and simply relaxing deeply, we may find music such as "The Emerald Way" overly contrived, unrelated to life, wimpy, spineless, and sounding the same as music in it's genre. Well, as the Elvis Costello's song goes: "What's so funny 'bout peace, love, and understanding? Sure there may be a lot of healing music that sounds similar when compared, and you may have a big collection yourself, yet, there's always room for more "peace, love, and understanding." And that is what I find in 2oo2's ninth collection called "The Emerald Way".
Soulful flutes, silky guitar and piano, lush strings, harp, and chimes, are played on the ten tracks by the duo of Pamela and Randy Copus, known as 2oo2. You will also hear soaring vocals on a couple of tracks. This album is inspired by a tale from Sri Aurobindo. The story "refers to that moment in life when a pivotal choice must be made - to choose the way that is customary and expected of us - or to head down the overgrown path leading to the unknown" (from the insert).
Listen to "The Emerald Way" and you too may find inspiration for making an important decision or realizing there may be only one real choice to be made. Another statement on the album insert gives us a healing purpose for music: "Within each of us is a loving, magical, powerful being..... a Real Self. Music, friend that it is, cocoons us from our worries, enabling that hidden self to emerge." If we are to rationalize that "cocooning" is a cop-out, escape from reality, then we miss the benefit of meditation and surrender. We can persist in our efforts to be the sole authorizer of our experience, divorced from our Real Self, or we can loosen our hold on our definitions of life, and move with the sound of silence (silent ego), the music of the moment. Eventually, the cocoon is not needed. And music go beyond definition.
As a reviewer, there is a temptation to compare and rate the music. or to give a "grammy" to the best. Healing music encourages us to recognize, then release this need to judge by comparison in order to make our decisions. Once we can appreciate where the healing lies, we can turn our attention fully to what is at hand and heart.
"The Emerald Way" is great for all healing practice, meditation, background applications. Thank you Pamela and Randy Copus and the Source you communicate through your music. You can hear samples at their web site, www.2002music.com.
~ Reviewed by Ron Rudin
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