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Index Page |
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Index Page |
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Scott August
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Ambient Visions' Focus on Lost Canyons
Native American Music Award winner, and three time nominee, Scott August is a nationally acclaimed composer, producer, keyboardist and Native American flute player know for his forays into World Music. His music has been featured on the nationally syndicated radio shows “Hearts of Space” and “Echoes” as well as receiving airplay on the the digital networks XM, Sirius and DirecTV. One of the nation’s most influential Native American flute players, August was a headline performer at the 2006 and 2007 Zion Canyon Flute Festival and the 2007 Central Coast Flute Festival. He is known for both his award winning music and knowledge of the Native American flute. In July 2005 he opened for Dr. Wayne Dyer at the International New Age Trade Show and he was a musical guest at the 2005 TED conference. Click here for the rest of our CD Focus on Lost Canyons by Scott August |
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Jim Cole
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Ambient Visions' Focus on Innertones
Jim Cole began
practicing harmonic overtone singing in 1991, initially inspired by the
Harmonic Choir's Hearing Solar Winds. He
founded Spectral Voices and then, intrigued by the reverberant cistern
recording of Pauline Oliveros' Deep Listening, they found home in an empty
water tower. In 1996 he received an
artist fellowship award from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts for work in
overtone singing, which supported the production and release of Spectral
Voices' debut CD Coalescence. Jim has
collaborated with Steve Roach, Mathias
Grassow, vidnaObmana, Alpha Wave Movement, Mike Hovancsek and Pointless
Orchestra, Kevin Makarewicz, Mawwal, Paranoise, and Amir Baghiri. Jim is a member of the group Leland Burr and Expansion Project. His music and singing have been featured on several episodes of the TV program "The Sacred Journey" hosted by Joyce St. Germaine. Click here for the rest of our CD Focus on Innertones by Jim Cole and Spectral Voices |
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David Helpling
Jon Jenkins |
Ambient Visions' Focus on Treasure
A self-taught musician, David’s ability to "feel" the music has resulted in two captivating albums that showcase his atmospheric depth as well as his rhythmic sensibility. David's debut release, Between Green And Blue, was a finalist for the 1997 INDIE Album-Of-The-Year award, and is already considered a favorite among listeners to this genre. As a recording artist, Jon Jenkins sees it as his
responsibility to reach out, grab the listeners by the ears, drag them into
another world and show them around a little bit. "I've always been
fascinated by the ability of a good piece of music to stimulate the imagination
and transport the listener to another place in their mind without ever leaving
their chair." Click here for the rest of our CD Focus on Treasure by David Helpling and Jon Jenkins |
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Michele Ippolito |
Ambient Visions' Focus on
Michele is classically trained on piano. Her music is
influenced by classical, new age and contemporary. Using various keyboard
techniques, she composes full time and works on various studio projects with
husband Vince, musician/producer at their commercial studio in "I like to create music that is picturesque with unusual effects giving attention to detail, that prepares the listener's mind for the full meditative experience". Click here for the rest of our CD Focus on Mystic Moods by Michele Ippolito |
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Lorrie Sarafin |
Ambient Visions' Focus on Lorrie Sarafin first heard the haunting sound of the Native American Flute
in 1993 and was instantly captivated by its beauty Sarafin has performed throughout the Phoenix, Arizona metro area, including the Arizona Mills Mall at Virgin Records (1999), the Chandler Center for the Arts (as part of the Intel 2000 and 2001 Benefit Talent Shows), Camelback Inn (as part of the 47th Annual NCCJ Humanitarian Awards Dinner - 2001) Click here for the rest of our CD Focus on Second Wind by Lorrie Sarafin |
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Terry Oldfield |
Ambient Visions' Focus on
From the depths of the ocean to the vastness of space are places only select groups of people have had the opportunity to experience. For those who are looking for the feelings of awe and wonder these encounters convey there is the music of Terry Oldfield. Terry’s gifts translate the enormity and complexity of these emotions to the rest of us through beautifully woven melodies. In 2001, Terry moved to Australia and has been busy setting up his new life. Now that he is settled in and has his new studio up and running, he is keen to get back into film music. He has recently completed the score for "The Falcon That Flew with Man" and is currently working on "Project Cobra", music for the pilot to a TV series featuring some of the original "Thunderbirds" team. His most recent CD releases are "Celt" on MG Music and "Yoga Harmony" and "De Profundis | Out of the Depths II" on New Earth Records. Also, recently released on New World Music is a breathtaking DVD "Terry Oldfield's Underwater World". Click here for the rest of our CD Focus on Yoga Harmony by Terry Oldfield |
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Ryan Farish |
Ambient Visions' Focus on
Billboard Charting artist Ryan Farish knows the ‘sky is the limit’ when it comes to his sophomore release “From the Sky” which hit retail shelves June 21st, 2005. Already establishing his name as one of the highest downloaded artists on mp3.com, Ryan raked in close to 2 million downloads by the time his debut “Beautiful” hit shelves. By the end of 2004, “Beautiful” moved on to # 1 on the Music Choice ‘Soundscapes Channel’, broke into the Top 10 Billboard New Age Charts, Echoes.org ‘Top 25 Albums’ monthly chart and “Sunshine in the Rain” was used for Innovative Stone’s documentary on the first granite building block for the new World Trade Center site. (www.innovativestone.com) Currently, his music can be heard just about everywhere on a daily basis. The Weather Channel has been a dedicated fan and programmer of Ryan’s music from day one. Currently 6 songs from the new album “From the Sky” are in rotation on The Weather Channel’s ‘Local on the 8’s’ forecast; as well as the themed intro song on “Storm Stories” which airs nightly. We also have dedicated support from the top satellite & digital cable radio stations including Sirius Satellite Radio and DMX Radio and terrestrial radio programs including Echoes and New World Buzz. Click here for the rest of our CD Focus on From the Sky by Ryan Farish |
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Jeff Pearce |
Ambient Visions' Focus on
Since his first cd release in 1993, Jeff Pearce has been at the forefront of guitar based ambient music. And over the course of eight solo releases, Jeff has refined his art and his approach to the electric guitar. Jeff's music has been featured on such syndicated radio programs as "Echoes" and "Music from the Hearts of Space", as well as numerous regional radio shows. Jeff's music has also been featured in special projects for Mercedez-Benz. Reviews of Jeff Pearce's music have appeared in such magazines as Billboard, Downbeat, Alternative Press, Guitar Player, Tower Pulse! and New Age Voice. In the year 2000, Jeff's cd "To the Shores of Heaven" was voted the favorite ambient cd of the year by New Age Voice magazine, as well as by the listeners of the "Echoes" radio program. Jeff is an active live performer, having played everything from house concerts to all day festivals. Jeff's 2002 cd "Bleed" was debuted at a Gathering concert in Philadelphia. In early 2004, Jeff scored the soundtrack to the "Luminous Dimensions" DVD by "ambient animator" Michael DuBois. Jeff's most recent cd is "Lingering Light" on the Jeff Pearce Music label. Click here for the rest of our CD Focus on Lingering Light by Jeff Pearce |
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Kit Watkins |
Ambient Visions' Focus on Kit's solo career began in 1980 with the self-produced album Labyrinth, released on his own Azimuth Records label. The album won him 5th place in Keyboard magazine's Annual Readers' Poll Awards for keyboard album. He recorded and performed with drummer/percussionist Coco Roussel during this period. During the 80s, Kit continued to produce solo and collaborative albums, some released on his own label, while others were picked up by larger independent labels. In the early 90s, Kit formed a new label, Linden Music, which released a number of his new recordings, as well as CDs by Robert Rich, Jeff Greinke, and David Borden. His music style has changed focus from album to album, and has gradually veered away from the progressive rock of his youth into more subtle and mysterious forms of expression, such as ambient-jazz and world-fusion. His influences include artists such as Brian Eno, Mickey Hart, Mark Isham, Joe Zawinul, Harold Budd, Wayne Shorter, Steve Reich, Joni Mitchell, Jon Hassell, Eberhard Weber, Jeff Greinke, Robert Rich, Jan Garbarek, Steve Roach, Wendy Carlos. Click here for the rest
of our CD Focus on World Fiction and The Gathering DVD by Kit Watkins |
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Byron Metcalf |
Ambient Visions' Focus on Byron Metcalf is a drummer, percussionist, recording artist, and record producer. With over 30 years as a professional musician, he has performed on gold and platinum albums in the pop and country fields and in recent years has been experimenting with the use of drums, percussion, and other sounds to induce nonordinary (altered) states of consciousness in both ceremonial and therapeutic contexts. Byron's 1998 CD release HELPERS, GUIDES & ALLIES continues to receive enthusiastic reviews in the shamanic, trance dance, and therapeutic communities, and was rated #4 in Backroads Music's 1998 Best of Year Selections in the World Music category. Byron collaborated with award winning recording artist and sonic innovator Steve Roach on the critically acclaimed 2-disc epic THE SERPENT'S LAIR (Projekt Records, Sept. 2000). NOT WITHOUT RISK was Byron's second solo project. WACHUMA'S WAVE (Spotted Peccary, 2003), a collaboration with German artist Mark Seelig (with Steve Roach), was chosen by Backroads Music as the #1 Release of 2003 in all categories. Click here for the rest
of our CD Focus on The Shaman's Heart by Byron Metcalf |
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Kevin Dooley |
Ambient Visions' Focus on
zerO One (aka Kevin Dooley) first came to public
attention in 1998 with the release of his first (self-titled) CD on the Waveform label. A student of electronic music since the 70s (Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Jean Michel Jarre, et al),
Kevin has been composing and recording various genres of music for over 20 years. In addition to his ongoing solo projects, Kevin has
played in several electronic groups, recorded and mastered numerous CDs ranging in style from
rock to hip hop and for a short period played the Howitzer cannon with the Kansas City
Symphony. The zerO One project marked a significant change in
Kevin's musical philosophy. "zerO One was my attempt to strip the music of all but the bare
neccessities," reflects the artist. "Up until this time my music had been far more lush and layered. My
goal with this music is that each individual part be capable of standing on it own, with no
extraneous details left." Kevin continued to develop his new musical approach and, two years later, in 2000, released his second Waveform CD, "protOtype2." It would be over three years before the release of the third zerO One CD, "psy-fi," on the Spiralight label. Click here for the rest
of our CD Focus on pSy-fI by zerO One |
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Laura Sullivan |
Ambient Visions' Focus on
Laura grew up on a farm with spectacular views of both Mt. Lassen and Mt Shasta in the Northern California Ishi Wilderness. Raised in a musical family, Laura began learning to play the piano through her mother’s teaching at the age of 4 years old. At age 8 she was composing her first compositions and by the time she was 18 she had composed a body of work, including 6 feature length musicals. Laura then founded a children’s musical theater company called “Star Company” through which she composed and directed her own shows, receiving rave reviews in local Northern California press. Laura’s appreciation for our environment blossomed in the wilderness setting where she grew up and continues to influence and inspire her compositions to this day. Her 2003 release, Pianoscapes for the Trails of North America, included a song inspired by each of the National Scenic Trails, such as the Appalachian, Continental Divide and the Pacific Crest. Pianoscapes continues to be well received in retail sales, featured programs and radio airplay and debuted at #5 on Apple Itunes, sustaining a rank in the Top Ten downloaded NEW AGE CD’s for over 3 months. RJ Lannan of the New Age Reporter writes of this release: “Laura Sullivan’s music shimmers with an effervescent vitality.” A portion of the proceeds of this CD are currently benefiting the National Arbor Day Foundation’s tree planting programs. In the spirit of this effort, included within each CD jewel case are tree seeds of the Blue Spruce which the listeners can plant in Laura’s unique program called “Buy a CD & Plant a Tree.” Click here for the rest
of our CD Focus on Mystical America by Laura Sullivan |
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David Wright |
Ambient Visions' Focus on
David Wright's music was first brought to public attention in 1989 on release of his first cassette album Reflections. It also drew the attention of Klaus D. Mueller, long time manager of Berlin school legends Klaus Schulze and Manuel Gottsching, whose POEM Musikverlag company published all of David's output to 1994. Writing in the magazine 'Dreamsword', Mueller said of 'Reflections' that, "Of all the demos I have received, this was the first and only one I liked and still like". David also found the time for involvement in the album 'Phase One' by Enterphase. Subsequently, the USA duo of Jeff Filbert and Fred Becker joined the AD Music label. This sowed the seeds for the future and the forming of AD Music Ltd. Although all of this would have easily counted as one years output for most people, a second album, Albania - The Korce Project was also released. This was planned as part of a fund raising drive for the impoverished children of Albania. However, circumstances beyond the control of the artist led to the cancellation of the project. Click here for the rest
of our CD Focus on Continuum by David Wright |
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Gregory Kyryluk |
Ambient Visions' Focus on
AV:
Before we get down to questions about
your latest CD, could you tell our readers a little bit about yourself and how
you got started creating the style of music that you do now? None or very little of what any of these guys recorded in
the late 1970s and 80s sounds remotely dated Click here for the rest
of our CD Focus on Ephemeral Highways by Gregory Kyryluk |
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Mark Seelig |
Ambient Visions' Focus on
Mark was born in 1957. From early on he has been fascinated by the world's spiritual traditions. His interests have taken him to India, the USA, and Germany. After many years of therapeutic and academic training Mark left the scholarly world behind. The influence of Asian mysticism and spirituality, along with the musical traditions of India have turned his life around. After receiving classical training on the violin from age 8 through 14, followed by guitar playing and singing, his musical focus has shifted again at age 42: During a deep vision quest, Mark felt encouraged to take up the North Indian bamboo flute 'Bansuri' at a rather late age for picking up a new instrument. He is now studying with the Indian Bansuri Maestro R.K. Bikramjit Singh. Mark's music and work is offered hoping to make a small contribution to raising consciousness: May we all learn to face our shadows, honor our skills, and live in harmony with each other and the universe. Click here for the rest
of our CD Focus on Disciple by Mark Seelig |
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Thom Brennan |
Ambient Visions' Focus on
Thom Brennan began his brand of electronic music in the
early 1980's. Inspired by the landscapes he lived with in the American
Southwest and In addition to an ongoing series of solo works,
collaborations with ambient composer Steve Roach appeared on the 1988 Fortuna
release "Western Spaces", and the Projekt compilation
"Amplexus". Recordings have been released on Rubicon Records (Canada), Phonogram (France), IC Records (Germany), Amplexus / Arya (Italy), Projekt, Fortuna, Space For Music, AtmoWorks, and his own RainGarden Music. Click here for the rest
of our CD Focus on Silver by Thom Brennan |
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DAC Crowell
Kurt Doles |
Ambient Visions' Focus on
It's no easy feat.
Much of what I do still falls into the realm of 'art music', so there's no
funding for it in the USA and there's very few venues for performing it here as
well. But thanks to labels such as Suilven and Magnatune and the like who feel
that this sort of work is important and appealing, I'm able to get my work
heard. And with the final bits of learning which I've gotten from studies under
the pioneering German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, I feel even more certain
that I'm on the right track. Click here for the rest of our CD Focus on Mercury by DAC Crowell and Kurt Doles |
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Chuck Wild |
Ambient Visions' Focus on Liquid Mind is the name used by Los Angeles composer and producer Chuck Wild. There are few composers with as much love for slowness in their music as Wild. Chuck draws from classical and pop influences as varying as Beethoven and Brian Eno, Bartok and Rachmaninoff, Bach, Chopin and Fauré, Duruflé and Brahms. Early live and studio experience with the Capitol Records’ group “Missing Persons”, and studio work with Frank Zappa, Michael Jackson and many others have helped Chuck to develop high production values. Spending many studio hours over the years with five time Grammy winning engineer Bruce Swedien and famed producer Ken Scott has inspired Chuck to explore unique and subtle gradations of sound and feeling in his music. Click here for the rest of our CD Focus on Liquid Mind VII: Reflection by Liquid Mind |
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Pete Kelly |
Ambient Visions' Focus on Under the pseudonym ‘Igneous Flame’, I have released three
critically acclaimed ambient albums, ‘Tolmon’ (2003), ‘Intox’ (2003) and
‘OXANA’ (2004) I live in Click here for the rest of our CD Focus on 8 Shades of Sound by Pete Kelly |
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Jamie Bonk |
Ambient Visions' Focus on Like most musicians
today, I'm heavily hyphenated. I'm a guitarist- Click here for the rest of our CD Focus on My World by Jamie Bonk |
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Erik Wollo |
Ambient Visions' Focus on
Erik Wøllo has been composing and performing music for films,
theatre, Click here for the rest of our CD Focus on Blue Sky, Red Guitars |
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Richard Bone |
Ambient Visions' Focus on
Recent projects include Richard's latest rhythmic recording
entitled The Reality Temples released June 30, 2004 on the Spiralight label.
This disc debuted at the #6 position on the New Age Reporter Top 100 chart for
August airplay and has been nominated for the 2004 NAR Lifestyle Music Awards'
Best Electronic Album. Orlandomaniac Music released Untold Tales on April 15th
-- a CD of nineteen previously unheard vocal demo tracks Richard recorded
during his early Survival years of 1979 - 85. Other 2004 projects included a
various artist compilation CD from Spiralight Recordings called Ambienism Vol.
One featuring a new track of Richard's entitled "Stillness Repeating"
that was released March 15, 04. Click here for the rest of our CD Focus on The Reality Temples |
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Robert Rich |
Ambient Visions' Focus on
Rich has performed in caves, cathedrals, planetaria, art galleries and concert halls throughout Europe and North America. His all-night Sleep Concerts, first performed in 1982, became legendary in the San Francisco area. In 1996 he revived his all-night concert format, playing Sleep Concerts for live and radio audiences across the U.S. during a three month tour. In 2001 Rich released the 7 hour DVD Somnium, a studio distillation of the Sleep Concert experience, possibly the longest continuous piece of music ever released. Rich has designed sounds for television and film scores, including the films Pitch Black , Crazy Beautiful, and others. He also works closely with electronic instrument manufacturers, and his sound design has graced the preset libraries of Emu's Proteus 3 and Morpheus, Seer Systems' Reality, sampling disks Things that Go Bump in the Night and ACID Loop Library Liquid Planet. Rich has written software for composers who work in just intonation, and he helped develop the MIDI microtuning specification, which was accepted as an industry standard. As a mastering engineer, he has applied his ear to numerous albums in recent years, and his studio was featured in the September '99 issue of Keyboard Magazine. |
