Serene, strange, magical a wonderful collection performed by the Swedish experimental band of newly discovered sheet music of instrumentals and songs by the composer best known for Nature Boy, written for Nat King Cole, a previous Song of the Day on this site. The work by Ahbez, real name, The performances, with instruments, particularly bamboo flute, other woodwind, marimba, vibes, Hammond organ, and of course piano, offer ghostly, evocative sounds, retaining other words of Ahbez’s Eden Island – Latino exotica echoing at least in part the style delivered by Martin Denny or Yma Sumac, and employing those distinctively unusual chord changes and melodies stemming from the harmonic minor and Phrygian dominant scales, strangely cinematic but also mixing in jazz and bossa nova as well as the odd hissing snake and other animal sound. The added vocal and other performances, such as Joe Romersa on Fire Of The Soul, or Eve Zanni and John Harris on The Sandal-Maker, have echoes of the deep poetic resonance of Leonard Cohen, and the exotic, otherworldly voices of Anne Rainwater and Xenia Kriisin on The Lion And The Fox and the sensual non-verbal vocalisations of Kadhja Bonet on Manna. Other standout tracks include The King and Queen of Waters, New Anthem, Dharma Man, and Scenes I-III. Guaranteed to transport you to another magical time and place. Out on Subliminal Sounds.
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