Search - Al Petteway & Amy White :: Acoustic Journey

A trip one loves to take

K. R. Vrieze | Silver Spring, MD USA | 08/19/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is billed as a collection/collaboration...for a much weaker album one might be tempted to say 'greatest hits'. This set of tunes may indeed have appeared in previous work by Amy and Al, but what they have done here is make them new and exciting. If the songs were people one would say they are not 'good looking', they are 'beautiful'. To be sure the original soul and heart of these songs still beats. In this CD they have taken on a complexity or maturity that is uncommon in all but the greatest musical works. One can listen to this CD many times under many different circumstances and still have it work. It is one to treasure.



Desert Dance begins the journey of this album with a great fusion of Celtic, Central American, and Mediterranean (in an earlier time I might have called it Galician or North African). It still retains that 'silk roads' lure that would make Yo Yo Ma jealous.

Caledon Wood has been one of my favourites for many years. The version here adds levels of breadth and depth I'd not imagined. In six listenings it still comes up with new themes. The drum and percussion for example could be very early Celtic of the type around the mythic fire...it could also be East Indian or a variety of other places in the world. Makes it a whole new song.

Sundog creates the meeting of faery time and human time when the sea, the sun, the winds, and our friends gather at a miraculous moment. Red-Haired Boy is another of the tunes that has matured wonderfully and taken on a complexity that is delightful. Listening to it I'm more reminded of the line by the poet: "My Love is Wood Fire Burning". I think of friends of all types with this one. Perhaps the most surprising tune on the CD is Baker's Dozen. On the one hand very much a folk tune. On the other it is a VERY progressive up-town jazz piece that may well be a sleeper. I first heard this shortly after they wrote it. It is as exciting now as the first time with lots of new stuff in it.

Amy and Al are great musicians. They have produced excellent work on their own. Together they produce music that transcends the individual efforts. It is worth listening to anything and everything they have done. That being said, this is their best work yet.

Like those we love, each time we see them we experience both the familiar and a magic something that is new. The same can be said for this album.

For passing time, time passing, and times to remember, this is an album you should run not walk to buy. Like great art, you'll wonder how you lived without it.

Enjoy!"

Great CD

Fan from Arlington VA | 11/19/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The previous review goes into great detail about the CD, so there is no need to duplicate that here. I do want to add that this CD like all of Al and Amy's CDs provides an enormous amount of pleasure. It is not a greatest hits CD, although it has some of their best songs. It is, instead, a compilation of new, old and remixed songs, all of which sound great. I have listened to this CD over and over again. I highly recommend it."