Search - Andreas Vollenweider :: Magical Journeys of Andreas Vollenweider

It seems a bit soon for Andreas Vollenweider to be releasing still another collection of his music. Less than a year ago, he released Magic Harp, a compilation of studio recordings and unreleased live tracks. And lo and behold, The Magical Journeys of Andreas Vollenweider has a few of the same tracks. It's really a companion to the PBS special of the same name that's been making the rounds of pledge drives. Magical Journeys does focus more on live performances, including all-too-short orchestral segments like "Passionata." There's also a duet between Vollenweider and his father, Hans, an organist and concertmaster, in which a very young Andreas plays bamboo whistle, improvising with his father on pipe organ. (If you want to see where Andreas got that hair, check out the DVD.) While Magic Harp suffered from a slapdash approach, on Magical Journeys they've at least tried to retain the flow that Vollenweider brings to his studio releases, segueing tracks together, making seamless runs between performances spanning the 1980s to the 2000s. The Magical Journeys of Andreas Vollenweider is a pu-pu platter of the innovative artist that whets the appetite, but doesn't quite satisfy. --John Diliberto