Deep Listening

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
One of New Music's most fascinating achievements has been the importation of music performance to physical places where performance hasn't yet happened. Iannis Xenakis, for example, scripted large works for musicians spread throughout an audience. Trombonist Stuart Dempster and accordionist Pauline Oliveros ventured into unexplored territory more definitively with Deep Listening, a CD that took them into the massive, 14-foot deep Fort Worden Cistern to record their performance. As a concept, deep listening involves vastly elongated tonalities that draw cavernous echoes into the music. Dempster's trombone sails like the largest hull tanker to make music, and Oliveros's accordion plays magical tones that barely seem from the real world. Panaiotis, who performed as the third member of the Deep Listening Band after this CD, provides stretched voice, whistling, and found sounds. Meditative with all the urgency of avant-garde music, Deep Listening is an entrancing, seamless wonder. --Andrew Bartlett

Tracks:

A Smile Will Go A Long, Long Way
The Petite Waltz
Die Regimentskinder
With The Wind and Rain In Your Hair
Nights Of Gladness
Espanita Waltz
Three Little Fishes
Scatter Brain
Beer Barrel Polka
Over The Top
Royal Trumpeters
Say It Again
Georgia On My mind
After the Ball
Unter Dem Siegesbanner
Just A Gigolo
The Sidewalks of New York
Deep Purple
Liberty Bell
Trisch-Trasch
The Kings Horses and The Kings Men
Sweet Rosie O' Grady
The Carousel Waltz (Recorded on Moving Carousel)

Album Description

More marches, waltzes, and fox trots in this recording of the New Verbeeck Band Organ at Seabreeze Park in Upstate New York. On a hill above scenic Lake Ontario, the music of the band organ can be heard on the breezes drifting over the blue water. Twenty-three tunes bring back the sounds of summer from Seabreeze Park - the whirling carousel and prancing horses spin around to the music of childhood, and this fabulous recording captures the wonderful memories. Grab the popcorn, and come for a ride! This completely digital recording is crystal clear and an oversized insert includes pictures and fond memories of Merrick Price - to whom the album is dedicated. The last song was recorded on the carousel while it was moving - an innovative idea that captures the sensation of really being on the ride is enhanced by wearing headphones. This piece of Americana in music - a must for the audio collector, carousel enthusiast, or fan of mechanical music, is a one-of-a-kind gift item.

Customer Reviews:

carousel.......2007-01-03

Carousel Memories does not have the luster that I had expected. The music is not as clear as I would have liked, however, it does have some good qualities that make it worth while to listen.

The Ideal Merry-Go-Round.......2005-07-18

This is a recording by and for merry-go-round lovers. It assembles 23 tracks of mostly characteristic carousel music, played upon a newly constructed band organ handmade by Belgian Johnny Verbeeck to replicate the old Wurlitzer 165 destroyed by a fire around 1995. The fire also claimed most of the carousel itself, which was rebuilt using some restored parts from the original (PTC#36). The recording site is Seabreeze Park on Lake Ontario in upper New York.

In another review I mentioned that that CD offered a partial and rather idealized carousel experience, for it could only provide the sound, and that sound was much more refined and free of ambient noise than would be encountered during an actual carousel ride. That comment applies as well to this recording, and perhaps more so, for the band organ in a typical operating carousel never sounded so good as the one here. This instrument has a remarkably lovely, sweet tone and, being brand new, is in perfect condition. The rolls used were obtained from no less a source than the Library of Congress, and represent a very choice selection.

The music itself includes mostly waltzes, marches, polkas, and one-time popular songs, such as Beer Barrel Polka, Sweet Rosie O'Grady, Liberty Bell, and Scatter-Brain. Less to be expected, but supremely apt, is the fine waltz from Richard Rodger's overture to the musical show Carousel. This last was experimentally recorded on the moving carousel, and thus provides an especially realistic auditory image.

For merry-go-round and band organ enthusiasts this recording might well occupy a place of honor in their CD collection. For those who desire a more realistic, though less ideal, recording I would recommend the old 1973 Takoma Records release "Last Chance on the Merry-Go-Round" (# A 1038), which I believe is no longer in the catalog. (Takoma Records was acquired in 1995 by Fantasy Records.) My personal copy of A 1038 is an LP, and I suspect no CD version was ever released. That recording was made at the carousel on the pier at Santa Monica, California, shortly before the pier was to be demolished. (Thus the title of the recording.) Since it was made while the carousel was actually in operation, the sounds of bystanders and children, along with the carousel drive motor are included. I don't know what ever became of that carousel or its band organ, but would guess they were moved to some collection somewhere. In any case, I have fond memories of wandering along the pier on a fine Saturday afternoon and watching and listening to the carousel and its excited young customers.

Average customer rating:

Oil and Water...
a little too wobbly for me
A replacement for Robert Shaw
The Best Recording by One of our Finest Choral Ensembles
Wonderful Ensemble

Deep River
Adam Reinwald , Alan Dunbar , Kelvin Chan , Timothy Takach , Harry T. (Henry) Burleigh , William Levi Dawson , Jester Hairston , John W. II Work , Albert Jordan , Brad Erbes , Brian Arreola , Michael Hanawalt , Peter Zvanovec , and Cantus Male Ensemble
Manufacturer: Cantus
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Let Your Voice Be Heard
...Against the Dying of the Light
The Spirituals Of William L. Dawson (#2159)
Comfort & Joy: Volume Two
Comfort and Joy: Volume One

ASIN: B0000V8G1O
Release Date: 2003-10-01

Tracks:

Ezekiel Saw the Wheel: Harry T. Burleigh
Heaven, Heaven: Harry T. Burleigh
Poor Man Lazrus: Jester Hairston
King Jesus Is A-Listening: William Dawson
In His Care-O: William Dawson
This Ol' Hammer: John W. Work III
Great God A'mighty: Jester Hairston
Were You There?: Harry T. Burleigh
There is a Balm in Gilead: William Dawson
Deep River: Harry T. Burleigh
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot: William Dawson
My Lord, What a Morning: Harry T. Burleigh
Steal Away: William Dawson
Soon ah-Will Be Done: William Dawson
Ain't a That Good News: William Dawson
Ev'ry Time I Feel The Spirit: William Dawson
In That Great Getting' Up Morning: Jester Hairston

Album Description

Cantus proudly announces the release of "Deep River," a treasury of African-American Spirituals. The Spiritual represents the musical melting pot of America like no other type of song by at once revealing its African roots while reflecting the American experience with music that speaks of both hardship and hope. The album features some of the most beloved American folk songs such as "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel", "Were You There", "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" and "Soon-ah Will Be Done." "Deep River" also delves into the roots of American roots music by exclusively featuring music by the preeminent first and second generation African-American composers - Harry T. Burleigh, William Dawson, John W. Work and Jester Hairston - in both well known and long forgotten arrangements of these immortal songs. Recorded by Stereophile Magazine editor John Atkinson in 24 bit sound, "Deep River" is a treat for the ears and a balm for the soul.

Customer Reviews:

Oil and Water..........2005-10-05

Don't Get me wrong... Cantus is one of the finest male chamber choirs around right now. They do marvelous work and cover a wide variety. Unfortunately, spirituals are not exactly Cantus's strongest suit. The biggest hindrance to this recording is that Cantus does not effectively capture the "spirit" of a spiritual. The music almost sounds funny because the spirituals are sung with very traditional, very trained classical voices. I love hearing people sing who were trained very meticulously to sing well, but I don't want to hear someone sing "Ezekiel Saw de Wheel" like Pavoratti. It sounds really funny and doen't capture the character of the music.
Another issue that I have with this recording (and most of Cantus's other recordings at that) is that it was recorded so softly. I don't like to have to feel like I am cranking my speakers to hear the music effectively. Being an active listener, I like to listen to music loud just because I can hear more layers when its loud. The low recording volume on the CD really hinders the active listening experience, leaving the CD to lend itself to the purpose of background music and passive listening.
Also, the first 5 arrangements on the disc are fairly bland. They are lack variety and musicality. Only until "Great God Almighty" comes around does the listener truly become exposed to really good choral writing. Other standing out arrangements are "Where You There?" which is absolutely moving, "There Is A Balm In Gilead" which is very well written, "Deep River" which is so tranquil and relaxing, and "Soon Ah Will Be Done" and "In His Care-O" are great bouncy arrangements.
Essentially, Cantus and Spirituals are just oil and water: they don't mix so well. Aside from a hand full of bland arrangements and a very low mixing job the CD only has one real hindrance of a problem: Cantus doesn't make the distinction between Spirituals and Brahms.

a little too wobbly for me.......2005-03-03

I am familiar with this group and their origins with the world famous St. Olaf Choir of Northfield, MN. While the singers are obviously talented, I felt like I was listening to 11 "solo" singers, rather than a tight ensemble. Way too much individual vibrato even considering the free-flowing genre of the music. I don't want them to be as "tight" as San Francisco's "Chanticleer", but holy smoke, there has got to be something in the middle. Maybe an association with Dale Warland would help, because they obviously have great potential.

A replacement for Robert Shaw.......2004-12-03

Many years ago I had a vinyl record by the Robert Shaw Chorale the title of which was "Deep River." I've been waiting for it to be reissued on cd and have purchased many recordings of negro spirituals on cd hoping to find one where the performance could be compared favorably with the Robert Shaw recording. All of the tries were busts until I found this one. Wow!!! This is a super recoridng of those spirituals. The only thing it lacks is the female voices but thi group of males needs to make no apologies. I love this cd.

The Best Recording by One of our Finest Choral Ensembles.......2004-10-24

"Take this Hammer,' "Steal Away," and "My Lord What a Morning" are just three of the acappella treasures recorded in a warm, natural accoustic by these nine superb singers from Minnesota. The arrangements they've chosen are as complex and moving as their source lyrics and melodies, and the the 24-bit recording by John Atkinson is as good as you get.

It's not easy to make spirituals sound fresh, dynamic and viscerally affecting. But that's exactly what Cantus has done. This is choral singing of the highest order recorded by a master of recorded sound.

I do hope Cantus continues to record on this or another independent label. A big music conglomerate would just glitz it up.

These young men have accomplished so many splendid things on their own over the past nine years, and this release is their best by far.

Wonderful Ensemble.......2004-04-15

I bought "let Your Voice Be Heard" some time ago and really loved the interpretations, the virtuosity of the singing and the clarity of the recording. I'm a Stereophile subscriber and read the articles by Atkinson regarding the recording sessions - they take great care to do a good job and it shows.

This CD is compelling, if you like choral music you will love this disc. Listen to it a few times and you will go away singing.

Tracks:

Will You Remember?
Song of Love
Golden Days
Drinking Song (Drink, Drink, Drink)
Deep in My Heart, Dear
Serenade (Overhead the Moon Is Beaming...)
Riff Song (Ho!)
Desert Song
One Alone
Stout-Hearted Men
One Kiss
Wanting You
Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise
Lover, Come Back to Me
You Will Remember Vienna
Dance, My Darlings
Night Is Young
When I Grow Too Old to Dream
Lordy, What a Sweet World!
Close as Pages in a Book
Your Land and My Land
My Heart Won't Say Goodbye

Album Details

One of the Most Valuable and Successful Sections of the Living Era Catalogue is the Wonderful Songs of Series, Demonstrating the Achievements of the Great Songwriters of the First Half of the 20th Century. So Far There have Been an Extraordinary 23 Releases Covering Such Familiar Names as Gershwin, Berlin, Porter, Kern and Rodgers, as Well as Lesserknown Figures Like Ahlert, Schwartz, Rainger and Woods. Number 24 is Among the Best, Spotlighting the Immortal Songs of Hungarian-born American Composer Sigmund Romberg (1887-1951). He was the Last Giant of American Operetta, but to Whatever Style Or Mood He Turned, Romberg was Able to Bring a Charm Uniquely His. Deep in My Heart (Also the Title of Romberg's 1954 Biopic) Presents Arguably his 25 Finest Songs. Romberg Created a Long String of Musicals, the Most Memorable Being his Operettas of the 20s, the Student Prince, the Desert Song and the New Moon.

Customer Reviews:

Romberg The Magnificent.......2007-01-04

If you don't appreciate Sigmund Romberg, you have no soul.

I wish the CD would have included his "Shadows on the Moon" (from "The Girl of the Golden West")sung by the devine, Perfect Ingenue, Jeanette Mac Donald. That musical oater was based on a Puccini Opera & play and included brilliant performances by Nelson Eddy who was trim and in excellent voice.

Average customer rating:

Very expansive music
stunning natural reverberations
and furthermore...
Lovely - Music to Sleep By
Groundbreaking (Literally--They're Way Down, in a Cistern)

Deep Listening

Manufacturer: New Albion Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Release Date: 1994-04-05

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Lear
Suiren
Ione
Nike

Amazon.com

One of New Music's most fascinating achievements has been the importation of music performance to physical places where performance hasn't yet happened. Iannis Xenakis, for example, scripted large works for musicians spread throughout an audience. Trombonist Stuart Dempster and accordionist Pauline Oliveros ventured into unexplored territory more definitively with Deep Listening, a CD that took them into the massive, 14-foot deep Fort Worden Cistern to record their performance. As a concept, deep listening involves vastly elongated tonalities that draw cavernous echoes into the music. Dempster's trombone sails like the largest hull tanker to make music, and Oliveros's accordion plays magical tones that barely seem from the real world. Panaiotis, who performed as the third member of the Deep Listening Band after this CD, provides stretched voice, whistling, and found sounds. Meditative with all the urgency of avant-garde music, Deep Listening is an entrancing, seamless wonder. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

Very expansive music.......2007-02-09

My only complaint is that the fourth track is so very different from the others. If you intend to space out and meditate to this music (entirely possible) then DO NOT let the last track play. The scratches, squeaks, echoes, clangs, etc. are not conducive to relaxation. If the last track was omitted or replaced by another that continued the expansive sounds of the beginning, I would rate it 5 stars.

stunning natural reverberations .......2006-02-28

If you enjoy ethereal drones, sparse and unexpected instrumentation, and hypnotic exploration of sound with a minimum of modern electronics, you will love adding this to your music library. It is truely unique. If you don't like that sort of thing, you will be very bored and wonder what all the fuss is about

and furthermore..........2003-07-21

This is a great CD - the samples provided
for listening give a solid idea as to what
the full disc sounds like, which is expansive,
trancey, and full of sonic nuances. I can
listen to this and Stuart Dempster's
Underground Overlays - a similar effort - for
days on end. I think this will appeal to those
into extended 'ambient' works most of all, despite
the fact that the music is unprocessed and
acoustic.

Lovely - Music to Sleep By.......2002-08-28

I am only being partially facetious in the title to my review. This is lovely and it is music to sleep by. It is deeply relaxing, and yet rewards careful listening. This is not some somulent ambient experiment by Stephen Halpern. The three musicians on the disc have impeccable credentials. Oliverios has been involved in experimental music since the late 60s, often with spiritual overtones. Stuart Dempster is an expert trombonist, perhaps the best in avant-garde circles. Panaiotis is new to me, but adds a percussive edge that keeps the music going.

The disc was recorded in a cistern in Washington State. Using the 45 second echo natural to the space, the three musicians improvise four lovely pieces based on drones. Oliverios plays a specially designed accordian, tuned in just intonation. The sound is deeply meditative and lovely. Weaving in and out of the accordian drone is more melodic music from Dempster, and percussive and vocal sounds from Panaiotis. This is ambient music. You can use it as sonic wall-paper if you want. But it also repays deep listening...repays it well.

Thanks as always to New Albion for it's interest in documenting unexplored areas of the music scene. And for it's lovely and spacious sound engineering.

Groundbreaking (Literally--They're Way Down, in a Cistern).......2002-07-29

These are way weird people. Not garden variety weird. Genuinely out there. Pauline Oliveros is dumpy. Not chic, by any stretch of the imagination. But can she play? You betcha. Stuart dempster looks like a real Christopher Lloyd character. Panaiotis (Why the single name; he's not a Brazilian soccer player?)--What's his deal, man?

Who cares? This is the granddaddy of ambient music. Their concept is unique: Hunker down in this, this, cistern?!?!, play a bunch of super long tones, let the aural bizarreness take over, and see what we've got.

Tracks:

Night Is Young and You're So Beautiful
It Might as Well Be Spring
I'll Remember April
Paris in the Spring
Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year
April in Paris
Spring Is Here
Spring Romance
Stars Fell on Alabama
Moonlight in Vermont
Poinciana
Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise
Stella by Starlight
Summer Serenade
Summertime
Heat Wave
By the Sleepy Lagoon
In the Still of the Night
June in January
So Deep Is the Night (Tristesse)

Album Details

20 Beautiful Melodies, Produced, Arranged and Conducted by the Legendary Camarata.

Average customer rating:

One of the First!

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Deep Purple
Manufacturer: Wea Japan
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000CSUUKK
Release Date: 2006-03-06

Album Description

Limited edition exclusive Japanese pressing has been digitally remastered and comes packaged in a miniature LP sleeve. Warner. 2006.

Album Details

Japanese Limited Edition Issue of the Album Classic in a Deluxe, Miniaturized LP Sleeve Replica of the Original Vinyl Album Artwork.

Customer Reviews:

One of the First!.......2007-07-09

This recording was the first in its kind, to meld Rock with Symphony. It is a masterpiece and I was grateful to find it on CD, as my phono album got ruined. I've shared it with others and they love it as well. No one would ever think Symphony and Rock would ever marry, but Deep Purple proved otherwise, and collaborations have been made ever since. For Deep Purple or rock history enthusiasts, this is a must in every collection. Give it a chance if you ignored it... you will be quite surprised!

Average customer rating:

Calm as the Night
Tami Briggs
Manufacturer: Musical Reflections
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Tracks:

Calm as the Night
Lullaby
Sincerity
Dream Waves
Cradle Song

Album Description

Calm as the Night is a solo harp CD for deep relaxation and sleep. Each of the five 10-minute songs starts slow and continually gets slower and s-l-o-w-e-r. This is the musical principle of entrainment: our bodies synchronize with the music's rhythm and gently move through four stages:
1. Pain Distraction/Focus on the Music
2. Reflection
3. Meditation
4. Sleep

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The Music of Irving Berlin

Manufacturer: Collectables
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Top Hat: Top Hat, White Tie And Tails/How Deep Is The Ocean (How High Is The Sky)
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Annie Get Your Gun: The Girl That I Marry/Say It Isn't So/Ziegfeld Follies: Mandy
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Average customer rating:

Hm...Roosters?

Deep Woods
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Platinum Disc
ProductGroup: Music
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Tracks:

Deep Wood

Customer Reviews:

Hm...Roosters?.......2006-02-22

I have a couple of tracks from this company...some good, some not so good. I wouldn't recommend this one. There is a large section of it that has a sort of hollow feedback that's quite distracting, but the most jarring thing for me is this...what on earth are roosters doing crowing in 'the Deep Woods?'

How Deep Is Your Love: The Bee Gees Story

Average customer rating:

NICE

How Deep Is Your Love: The Bee Gees Story
The Gary Tesca Orchestra
Manufacturer: Mirage Instrumental
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00005YGJ9
Release Date: 1995-08-01

Tracks:

To Love Somebody
Massachussets
Words
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Jive Talkin'
How Deep Is Your Love
Staying Alive
Too Much Heaven
Heartbreaker

Customer Reviews:

NICE.......2004-07-09

A very great album with the orchestra band playing the classics of the Bee Gees. Although there aren't any vocals, but its surely a great "modern" orchestra performance!

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