Search - Peter Maunu :: Warm Sound in a Gray Area

Excellent instrumentals

Jonathan Foulkes | Atlanta, GA | 10/10/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a milestone record. One of my all time favorites in my collection. I got this when it had just come out, and ever since have looked for more music by Peter, but alas, he just does session work with friends.

This all instrumental collection is great to either use for background, or to seriously listent to. The textures and depth in this ablum are awsome.



Trully ahead of its time. Highly recommended if you like music that:

- Engages the mind and the emotions

- Non-repetitive, well thought out progressions throught a piece and album

- Deeply textured and nuanced sounds"

Pre Ambient Style Released Too Early For Most

Richard W. Abrams | Middle of Nowhere, OK USA | 03/05/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Peter Maunu's only solo release for the Narada label is one of those overlooked gems. Honestly, it took me by surprise when I purchased it over ten years ago on the strength of Whirling Dervish which was included on a Narada Sampler. The rest of the CD is nothing like this piece and I retired the CD for several months. During a really stressful time, I put it on again and found the music brought peace and a centering of my troubled spirit. The guitar work of Peter is very smooth and relaxing but not so much as to put you to sleep. Many of the songs are in a minor key and very open which gives the tunes a mystical feeling about them. He also plays several other instruments and mixed them together into what I would call pre ambient music. Patrick O'Hearn and Mark Isham provide their touches to a couple of songs. The difference here is that you can actually hum many of the songs which isn't normally possible with most ambient music.Peter creates musical sound scapes with broad, sweeping chords and harmonies that he bends and slides from one note to the next in an electric guitar style that sounds vaguely influenced by Alan Parsons and Pink Floyd. Unfortunately, the 1990 release has been out of print for close to eight years and one of the more interesting pieces, Corridors and Cathedrals, isn't sampled here. This song has a slight African influenced percussion line and very impressive use of three splash cymbals to start the "chorus" of the song. Each song has its own unique style but Peter holds them all together with his guitar. Like most other 30 second samples of New Age Music, there just isn't enough time allowed to hear how the song will finally evolve. Of all of the samples provided here, Three Spirals is probably the better example of how the rest of his CD sounds. I really feel that Peter Maunu released this CD about eight years before the public was ready to receive it. It sounds as fresh today as it did in 1990. If you can get a copy of "Warm Sound In A Gray Field", I recommend you either skip over Whirling Dervish or play it first and get it out of the way as it really distracts from the air about the rest of the tracks. For that reason, I can only bring myself to rate this four stars.Peter is now doing studio musician work and hasn't released any other solo projects, to my knowledge. If you like guitar music in this style, you may want to explore "The Wind In The Wheat" by Phil Keaggy from several years ago. It is closer to lite jazz with some fantastic guitar work. Phil Keaggy is a Contemporary Christian artist more widely known for his McCartney sounding voice and rock styles but this is one of his three or four totally instrumental releases."