In the Presence of the Light

In the Presence of the Light

Track Listings

1. Drawing Down the Moon

2. Reception

3. Cool Touch

4. In the Presence of the Light

5. Kalalau

6. Escape Velocity

7. Waiting for Your Luck to Change

8. Mango Mouth

9. Leaves of Grass: Press Close, Bare Bosom'd Night

10. Leaves of Grass: I Bequeath Myself to the Dirt

11. Leaves of Grass: You Lingering Sparse Leaves

12. Leaves of Grass: Allons, The Road Is Before Us

In the Presence of the Light,Linda Waterfall,Liquid City,Folk,Folk & Traditional,Pop,Singer/Songwriter

Shall We Gather - American Hymns and Spirituals
Average customer rating:

Excellent

Brilliant

Shall We Gather - American Hymns and Spirituals

Manufacturer: Albany Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music
Live Recordings | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music
General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
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Wade In The Water, Vol.1:African American Spirituals:The Concert Tradition

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The Shapenote Album

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Wintersong

ASIN: B00005QK6L
Release Date: 2001-09-25

Tracks:

Libert Hall (Lord, In Thy Presence)
Rise, Shine, For Thy Light Is A-Comin'
Welwyn (O Brother Man)
Pisgah (The Lord's My Shepherd)
Poor Rosy
I've Just Come From The Fountain
Let Us Cheer The Weary Traveler
Nettleton (Come, Thou Fount Of Every Blessing)
Wondrous Love (What Wondrous Love Is This)
Gospel Train
Shining Shore (My Days Are Gliding By Swiftly)
More Love
In Mercy, Lord (In Mercy, Lord, Incline Thine Ear)
Beautiful River (Shall We Gather At The River)
Some Of These Days
The Old Ship Of Zion
St. Peter (In Christ There Is No East Or West)
Missionary Chant (Awake, Our Souls)
Old Ship Of Zion (What Ship Is This?)
Inching Along
Watchman (Watchman, Tell Us Of The Night)
Hurry, On My Weary Soul
Morning Trumpet (O When Shall I See Jesus)
He's A Mighty Good Leader
Hold On
Resignation (My Shepherd Will Supply My Need)
We Shall Walk Through The Valley

Customer Reviews:

Excellent.......2007-05-09

The best "Sacred Harp" or "Shape Note" type singing that I've heard. The various renditons are clear and harmonious.
None of that tuning up, barking, la-la's or other cacophonous sounds here.

Brilliant.......2003-09-22

I couldn't recommend a CD more highly. As a musician I was amazed at the variety of the music here and the truly exceptional performances. It's seems we can always rely on Albany to put out the most interesting and highest quality recordings.

Average customer rating:

Synthesis of Folk Music and Wisdom with an Eastern Outlook

In the Presence of the Light
Linda Waterfall
Manufacturer: Liquid City
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00000DHIG
Release Date: 1998-06-23

Tracks:

Drawing Down the Moon
Reception
Cool Touch
In the Presence of the Light
Kalalau
Escape Velocity
Waiting for Your Luck to Change
Mango Mouth
Leaves of Grass: Press Close, Bare Bosom'd Night
Leaves of Grass: I Bequeath Myself to the Dirt
Leaves of Grass: You Lingering Sparse Leaves
Leaves of Grass: Allons, The Road Is Before Us

Customer Reviews:

Synthesis of Folk Music and Wisdom with an Eastern Outlook.......2003-11-28

Ever since I heard this artist's song "Love Out of Nowhere" (from her preceding Flying Time album) her music has been an important part of my life. She is a masterful (I mean simply the best that I have heard) acoustic guitar player, and an even better singer and composer. Better still, her virtuosity is never exhibited for its own sake, but always in the service of an artistic vision that ranges far beyond this place and time and yet never ceases to be personal and totally from the heart.

This album is the second of two completely revolutionary albums that blend U.S. folk, blues and pop with Eastern philosophical and musical influences. While Linda Waterfall has released six albums prior to these two, with many excellent songs, these two albums represent such a flowering of her talent that for me the main importance of those earlier works is that they have led to these two (so far) extraordinary creations. This is truly an artist at the very peak of her creative abilities, and you feel that with every word and with every note.

The breakthrough album was Flying Time, which explored the universe's incomprehensible powers of creation with gratitude and wonder, both directly and also in its manifestations within a mother's love, the differences between men and women that create the tension that makes relationships live, individual freedom, the importance of the ephemeral in our finite existence, the integrity of Nature ("Tree," written and sung in collaboration with a class of 5th graders), the artist's struggle to touch and express universal qualities ("Climbing to the High Country," my favorite song of all time), praise of the forces of destruction that make creation possible, and the constant loss of and regaining of balance that allows growth to occur.

Some of the songs on "In the Presence of the Light" continue to develop those themes. This is particularly true of the title track, an astonishing feat of guitar and vocal blending (the instrument and the voice play off one another as if the artist contained two separate identities living in constant and perfect appreciation of one another). While this interplay is occurring, the lyric paints a picture of human potential suffering and repressed but nonetheless ever-connected to a greater power:

Bargains of power and transactions of envy
Human promise wasting in prisons and factories
Body unraveling and energy failing
Still the branch is twisting, still the leaves are lifting
To the Light

"Reception" deals on a more personal level with tapping in to that same universal consciousness.

The clouds are drawing together
There is power at hand, an open place to stand
Potential reaching from above and below
With a spark, the current flows
Reach up and make it flow

Clearing a path for reception...

This song features the artist's keyboard skills, which are only exceeded by her abilities as a guitarist.

On her Web site (lindawaterfall.com) Waterfall mentions a recent struggle with cancer, from which she is now recovering, and to me (I'm only guessing) that seems to have created the kind of intense engagement with the beauty of this world that a mortal threat can sometimes bring. Particularly notable in that regard is "Cool Touch," in which a trio of unbelievably sweet voices (Linda and two of her friends) harmonize in as irresistable an expression of pure joy as I've ever heard on a recording.

I like the love sky
So blue, so tender
The beauty of this world makes me surrender
I like soft rainfall
I like to watch the people
When their sweet sleep makes them look like angels

I got a cool touch
I really do joylife so much
I like to take a happy breath of air

"Mango Mouth" expresses a similar love for the sweetness of the here and now.

"Waiting for Your Luck to Change" to me is the most poignant and direct expression of this confrontation with illness, and once again while acknowledging the down side of the situation it remains heartbreakingly positive and life-affirming while looking with both grieving and acceptance at the possibility that death is waiting (as it always is).

You've done your best
Someone else will have to do the rest now, rest now
You gave it your heart and soul
Some things you can't control

Waiting for your luck to change
Sometimes that's all you can do
Find a way to laugh today
Waiting for your luck to change
You know your luck is bound to change

The last four songs move in a radically different direction - setting poems from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass to music. They are beautiful, but in a completely different way from the other eight songs. According to the liner notes, they were commissioned by the Seattle Arts Commission and completed around the time of the artist's illness. By the time of this album the artist had recovered and was able to perform them herself, which she does on these tracks. I think that by including such diverse material she was showing a lot of faith in her audience, and I only hope that we can be worthy of that trust!

Tracks:

Entering
Opening
Wonder
Surrender
Space
Presence
Longing
Freedom
Flight
Return

Album Details

Digitally Remastered. All Tracks on this Album were Composed and Performed by Terry and the Music was Originally Recorded in 1986. Since the Quality of Sounds Available for Keyboard Use Has Improved Beyond all Bounds.