Posts Tagged ‘ New Age ’

Ryan Judd – Echoes Of Peace

echoes-of-peaceThe American Ryan Judd is an Award winning musician, who has already reached the top of the Billboard charts. He is also internationally known as a music therapist.

His recordings have already been streamed more than 320 million times. Ryan is an accomplished fingerstyle guitarist and is committed to making music that inspires well-being.

His unique musical style on the nylon string guitar creates a warm and soft soundscape for the listener. Ryan has been influenced by guitarists Michael Hedges and Will Ackerman. He donates a percentage of his winnings to a non-profit called Lucy’s Love Bus, which offers free music therapy to pediatric cancer patients.

Read more …

Sean O’Bryan Smith – Musing Of An Occasional Somebody

musingofanoccasionalsomebodyInternationally acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Sean ‘O’Bryan Smith has released his first full production New Age project.

For that he composed all the tracks, produced them, recorded them, mixed and mastered them. Sean has collaborated with top New Age artists such as John Gregorius, Brannan Lane, John Fluker, Chinmaya Dunster, Dieter Spears and Keith Medley.

Sean spent the majority of his musical career as a professional bass player, working with over 100 major and independent artists from around the world, including Kenny Rogers, Keith Urban, Vince Gill, George Clinton and Larry Carlton.

Read more …

Bennett B – Yin

yin20record20coverBerklee graduated guitarist Bennett Brandeis is known in the smooth jazz scene by his solo projects Jazz Guitar (1995),  The View From Above (2001), Storytelling (2006), Groove Time (2014) and Midnight Passion (2016). His newest album is entitled YIN (2022).

Bennett has written, performed and produced the complete EP. Further musicians are not involved. The term Yin comes from Chinese philosophy. Yin and Yang are two forces that are polar opposites and at the same time complement each other. In transcendental meditation, Yin as a form of yoga is one of the many variants.

The cover picture and title already give the attentive reader an idea of the style direction in which Bennett’s new album tends. We know it as meditative music or New Age. Thus, the individual tracks with long drawn-out slowly played sounds radiate inner peace and serenity, as it is often used in the field of transcendental music.

Read more …

Victor Towle – The Space In Between

thespaceinbetweenDuring the day, the American Victor Towle works as a social worker. He is also active as a songwriter and musician. He has already released 6 albums, and this is his third in the New Age genre.

However, his first musical influences were The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens, Jeff Beck, and The Grateful Dead. Victor played a mixture of jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, soul, gospel, and R&B with his guitar and harmonica.

He was compared to John Hyatt and Jackson Brown. But his acoustic New Age music is devoted to yoga, mindfulness and meditation. It should lead the listener to a relaxed state of well-being.

Read more …

David W. Donner – Timeless

a4198856529_16Guitarist and multi-instrumental composer David W. Donner feels at home in the New Age genre, although his music has a relationship to smooth jazz. In earlier time he performed with some indie-rock bands before he started his solo career.

His first album was Eterna (2016). David comments: “Yet after trudging through the minutia related to those efforts, I realized my guitar work was the one thing—musically at least—that was most authentically my own.  It was also the one constant in my life, throughout those years.  In the end, it became apparent that no matter what else I did, an original solo guitar album needed to become a priority.”

His newest project is entitled Timeless (2022). The title comes from the fact that the first song on the album Grounded was also the first song he recorded when he started recording decades ago. David has composed and performed all songs. Let’s get back to the album’s opener, which David has perfected based on the experience he has gained in the meantime as a musician and producer. Grounded is based on the acoustic guitar which meanders in two complementary melodies.

Read more …

David W. Donner – Timeless

a4198856529_16David W Donner is a guitarist and multi-instrumental composer of New Age style music. He was shaped by all styles of music, bringing a unique blend of influences to his compositions. His arrangements usually center around guitar parts, layered with synth and percussive elements, but sometimes feature other instruments, such as piano or strings. David’s studies included classical, acoustic (modern fingerstyle) and electric guitar, as well as piano. Before focusing on composition as a solo artist, he played with a number of indie-rock bands.

David’s newest release Timeless brings together a collection of acoustic/electric guitar and piano tracks with contemporary instrumentals bringing the listener an enjoyable world and chill flair that is unique to David W. Donner. Music has helped David to heal after dealing with a lot of hard times. His hope is that others will find peace and healing through the music which he creates.

Timeless is available at bandcamp.

Don Latarski – The Measure of Silence

ALBUM ART Don Latarski - The Measure of SilenceGuitarist and composer Don Latarski is an American institution. His seasoned bandmates declare that nobody plays like him and with a reputation in finger style guitar circles cemented in the image of his guitar picks glued onto his fingernails—they are on to something.  

A collection of songs composed during the pandemic, these songs capture the feeling of solitude and yearning for better times, along with hope, introspection, and contemplation. Each tune will envelop the listener with a pure melodic hug, and are singable, lingering in the mind’s ear long after the music stops.

The Measure of Silence is a follow-up to Don’s previous two releases on Heart Dance Records – River and Frozen Moments, both of which received numerous nominations, reviews by Vintage Guitar Magazine, and airplay on Echoes, SXM, and hundreds of acoustic and New Age radio stations around the globe.

The Measure of Silence is available on CD as well as streaming platforms, iTunes, Amazon Music, and Bandcamp.

Jeff Oster, Will Ackerman, Tom Eaton – Brothers

a2849930055_16A quiet acoustic album that will remind you of the finest of the Windham Hill releases. It comes by its pedigree rightly, as Will Ackerman is the founder of Windham Hill Records. It combines Will Ackerman’s Grammy® Award winning acoustic guitar, Jeff Oster’s signature and soulful flugelhorn and trumpet, with Tom Eaton’s textural artistry on piano, keyboards, percussion and electric, acoustic and bass guitars.

A perfect addition to your acoustic, New Age, and early morning and late evening chill personal playlists.

Buy the album at bandcamp.

Brian Culbertson – Soundscapes

In Brian’s own words: “This project is a journey into film music, something I’ve always been fascinated with. It is also meant to calm and help reconnect with nature.

NOTE: Total length is exactly 25 minutes. However, the last track (“Silence”) is 2:19 of nothing, total silence. This is of course on purpose. After listening to the first 5 tracks (which all meld into one another), I did not want it to either immediately start over from the beginning, nor did I want another random song to start playing as that would have ruined the ‘total relaxation’ that you’re feeling. I find it similar to the end of a yoga session when you’re lying in corpse pose for a few minutes before getting up.”

Get the album here.

Rob Mullins – Winter Dreams III

Rob Mullins is a versatile keyboardist capable of playing both crossover and bop. Born in Enid, OK, Mullins spent time in Ontario, CA, before moving with his family to Denver when he was 14. He began playing drums when he was 11, but three years later when his leg was broken in a car accident, Mullins began playing piano. Mullins’ parents loved jazz, so he was well acquainted with the music when at 16 he formed a jazz combo. He attended the University of Northern Colorado for a period, studied with George Russell in New York, and in Denver started his own record company (RMC Records), cutting four albums that sold very well in the region.

In time, Mullins moved to Los Angeles, became a fixture in local clubs, and recorded one best-selling CD after another, primarily for Nova, RME, and most recently for Zebra. Rob Mullins has worked with Branford Marsalis, Kirk Whalum, Ronnie Laws, Spike Robinson, Brian Bromberg, the Crusaders (touring in Joe Sample’s former spot for three years), the Rippingtons, Diane Schuur, Dave Grusin, and many others, including his own band of local all-stars.

His newest offer is the album Winter Dreams III, a solo piano album with dreamy melodies. You can buy this album here.