Weingarten, Carl - Blue Faith


Year of Release: 2000
Label: Multiphase
Catalog Number: 9212
Format: CD
Total Time: 59:00:00

I've always been someone that enjoys traveling and learning from new cultures and musical traditions, trying to find that certain something that grafts itself to one's heart as soon as it is finally understood and fully absorbed. It is, for lack of a better expression, a joyous process of enlightenment and, in a sense, a spiritual elevation. Unfortunately, however, I don't exactly have the funds necessary to travel all over the world and see places that fly around in my mind like distant tempting ghosts, like, for instance, China.

That is why composers such as Carl Weingarten are to be so effusively thanked, as they bring what is inevitably unreachable at the moment to our very doorsteps or, better put, ears. With a musical environment that is cinematically textured and designed to evoke a sense of exoticism within the listener, Weingarten has discovered precious drops of Oriental music essence and sprinkled his latest album, Blue Faith, with what is a moving comprehension of light, space, and dynamics. This is the soundtrack of the Orient and a reasonable encounter with Western traditions, in sharp contrast to the clash of cultures that took place when Japan was forcibly opened up to foreigners or China flooded with opium by the British.

Forget about riff-driven progressive rock though, because this is an entirely different approach, and one that in fact has, if anything, very little to do with rock at all. Blue Faith is literally close to being the perfect soundtrack for a movie such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or, if I may be so bold, Akira Kurosawa's classic Ran. The album isn't confined to such distant Oriental traditions only, however, and other elements of world music, Asian in their vast majority, are adorned with Weingarten's unique use of dobro and electric and slide guitars.

Even then, however, the Western nature that is inherent to Weingarten keeps appearing throughout the album's course, whether it is in the bizarre and ghostly guitar sounds of "Spirits Of The Id" or the sweetness of "Come With Me." It must be added, however, that Blue Faith is also a result of a stellar cast of musicians who accompany Weingarten throughout the regal proceedings, including bassist Michael Manring, erhu virtuoso Jie-Bing Chen, celloist Dan Reiter, flutist Kat Epple, and a number of other artists which I unfortunately cannot mention for the sake of brevity, but who are just as important as their counterparts.

Up to this very day I still wish to see the Chinese fields, intense Indian/Moroccan rites, and the sober exquisiteness of Ancient Japan. It is something that will hopefully not elude me forever, and maybe I'll even let you know when I actually do it. In the meantime, I can share something else with you, and that is the profound sentimental effect that Blue Faith has on its listener. As time passes by, it becomes harder to find music that soothes one's troubled mind and flows dreamily with honesty and true identity. You just found it. Don't let it go.

Similar artists: Rhea's Obsession, Dead Can Dance, The Journey Within


Tracklisting:
Illumina Suite (7:19) / Spirits of the ID (4:10) / China March (4:14) / Shanghaiway (4:02) / A Sacred Sleep (0:37) / Red Night (5:54) / Descend to Light (0:49) / The Dream Unfurled (3:26) / Harvest (3:25) / The Old Stone Path (4:12) / Pedro's Lament (1:22) / The Shadow Returns (5:33) / Pandora's Children (3:29) / Come With Me (4:49) / Angel's Fever (2:26) / Blue Faith (4:30)

Musicians:
Carl Weingarten - guitars, dobro, ebow, sound design, keyboard, fx
Barry Cleveland - guitar, percussion
Kat Epple - flute
Mark Epstein - basses
Forrest Fang - violin
Sukhawat Ali Khan - vocals
Michael Manring - bass
Bill Ortiz - trumpet
Robert Powell - pedal steel banjo
Dan Reiter - cello
Joe Venegoni - percussion,hammered dulcimer

Discography:
Submergings (1981) (w/Gale Ormiston & Phil Neon)
Delay Tactics - Out-Pop Options (1982)
Windfalls (1983) (guest app.)
Delay Tactics - Any Questions? (1984)
Living In The Distant Present (1985)
Delay Tactics - Dreaming In Colors (1986)
Laughing At Paradise (1988)
Primitive Earth (w/Walter Whitney) (1989)
Critical Path (w/Walter Whitney) (1991)
Slide Of Hand (1991)
Pandora's Garage (1992)
The Court Musicians - At The Court Of The Chera King (1993)
Redwood Melodies (1995)
The Acoustic Shadow (1995)
Silent Night (w/Kavi Alexander) (1998)
Blue Faith (2000)
Escapesilence (2002)
Hand In The Sand - A Collection 1990-2004 (2004)
Local Journeys (2005)
Invisibility (w/Forrest Fang) (2006)
Lost In The Air (2008)

Genre: Other

Origin US

Added: August 25th 2002
Reviewer: Marcelo Silveyra
Score:
Artist website: carlweingarten.blogspot.com
Hits: 2766
Language: english

  

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