Search - Jeffrey Lams, Frank Martin, Kenneth Nash :: A Time for Peace: Ivory Sessions

Windham Hill-ish treatment of some familiar Christian themes

roika | Southern United States | 09/02/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Just as Christianity borrowed and bastardized concepts of pre-existing religions, so has the Christian pop music industry often tried to mimic successful non-Christian artists and styles.



Here we have a collection of both original and traditional Christian songs offered in the genre of early Windham Hill artists -- yet, most of them done amazingly well, even to the extent that some of the melodies escape instant recognition due to clever chord substitution and rhythmic variation. Even "Amazing Grace" -- which has to be one of the worst hymns ever composed -- has been salvaged and given an "On Golden Pond" treatment so that the melody is liberated from the lyrics' oppressive theology. "Be Still, My Soul" (whose melody originated in Sibelius' "Finlandia") receives a lovely reworking as well. Fans of the film "Chariots of Fire" will recognize Vangelis' composition, "Abraham's Theme" -- stated here more sweetly, more simply. Only "Sweet Hour of Prayer" could have used a bit more revision.



For the most part, these instrumentals have received such a tasteful treatment by artists Jeffrey Lams and Frank Martin, and producer Kenneth Nash (the latter whose own "Music from a Far Away Place" I've long-enjoyed), that perhaps U.S. non-Christians such as myself will even want to include them during Thanksgiving and harvest meals in recalling a certain aspect of Pilgrim life, even as the early Pilgrims were both liberated and oppressed by their own faith -- if one chooses to introduce historical themes into one's Thanksgiving celebration -- which I usually do, for if we forget the past, we just have to learn the same hard lessons over again.



Instrumentation includes piano, synthesizer, and percussion -- all combined in peaceful arrangements that do the CD's title justice.



I'd love to hear more original instrumental tunes from these musicians, in this same musical vein.



Although this CD has been long out of print, some company needs to pick it up and put it back into circulation. Recommended for Christians and non-Christians alike."