Paul Horn
Traveler
Golden-Flute Records (US) 1985
OW 40717 (LP) Promotional copy
sleeve : EX-(DJS, SOC, one wrinkle)
media : EX-/EX-(some light noise)
A 1987 album by flutist Paul Horn, who had been active at the forefront of the American jazz scene since the late 1950s, notably as a member of the Chico Hamilton Quintet. From the 1970s onward, Horn gradually moved toward new age music, leaving behind numerous highly atmospheric solo flute recordings that made use of the natural reverberation of historic architecture and natural environments. This album was released on his own Golden Flute label. Around Horn’s various flutes, Christopher Hedge layers Yamaha DX-7 and other synthesizers, LinnDrum, guitar, mandolin, and percussion, along with sitar, tabla, electric violin, and other instruments played by additional musicians. The music shifts between deeply meditative passages and more rhythmic sections, unfolding into a beautiful sound world that feels almost like a hymn to nature. Among Paul Horn’s many recordings, this is one of his most organically oriented ethno-new age / ambient works. The closing track B4, featuring the celestial voices of a children’s choir, is especially soothing.
A3: A Journey
B2: Metropolis
B4: Earth Song