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review by Bill Binkelman The Legend of the Canyon People is not the first recording which combines new age style keyboards, percussion, and Native American flute, but it is one of the successful hybrids. Keyboardist Rob Wallace uses a relatively small (but very well executed) assortment of traditional/classic new age sounds (notably, plucked strings, bell tones, chimes, and smooth gentle washes) while Bobby Jimenez, a Huichol Indian, plays his cedar flute with grace and beauty, usually in a laid-back plaintive style. The album's few faults are quite minor and don't detract from the overall high quality and peaceful feeling elicited by these compositions. There are sixteen songs in all, and with the exception of a few missteps (notably, the totally out of character attempt at a lounge/jazz song, "Canyon Paradise," which has to be heard to be believed), this is soothing music, sometimes with the electronic keyboards taking the lead and other times the wooden flute. As when I reviewed Wallace's solo effort, Serenity Now, his trademark bell tones and his choice of other "retro" new age keyboard sounds are a big hit with me. There is an unadorned simplicity to them, recalling the earlier days of new age music when it was okay to make music that was not over-produced or especially "slick." My recommendation of this album has a lot to do with this factor. The album opens strong with "Storm" and "Spirit Maiden," both songs showcasing each artists' strengths. The songs are cloud-drifting in feel, even though the former uses slow tempo percussion effects. "Feather in the Canyon" features some Native drumming and chanting before keyboard washes, tones, and flute combine later in the song. The remaining tracks offer variations of the first two songs, but since Wallace mixes up the dominant keyboard sound now and then, there is enough variety to hold a listener's interest throughout the CD. I wish Jimenez would have played the bass flute (heard on "Refugio") more often, as the break from the higher-pitched cedar wood instrument was refreshing and the lower tones of this flute impart a particularly somber and haunting quality to the track (matched by Wallace's understated swells of synths and strings). "Dream Chaser" carries a faint air of Latin America to it, evoking a certain festivity that is absent from most of the rest of the CD; this is partly the result of Wallace's plucked guitar-like string synths and also in how Jimenez plays his flute as if it were pan pipes, blowing quick bursts of melody rather than sustained tones. I think that Wallace and Jimenez have achieved a certain symmetry on this recording, playing against each other with ease and grace. While this is not as unified a Native fusion musical statement as, for example, Michael Dulin and Chuck Offutt's Balance of Nature, I found it to be a most pleasant and enjoyable CD to listen to repeatedly. Program the annoying "Canyon Paradise" out of the playback sequence and you'll hear a warm, accessible and unpretentious combination of soulful Native wooden flute and classic new age music keyboards. Recommended. |
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