Shadowfax

Track Listings

1. Angel's Flight

2. Vajra

3. Wheel of Dreams

4. Oriental Eyes

5. Move the Clouds

6. Thousand Teardrops

7. Ariki (Hummingbird Spirit)

8. Marie

Shadowfax,Shadowfax,Windham Hill Records,Adult Alternative,Chamber Jazz,Ethnic Fusion,Jazz Music,New Age / Meditation,Pop

Shadowfax

Tracks:

Angle's Flight
Vajra
Wheel Of Dreams
Oriental Eyes
Move The Clouds
A Thousand Teardrops
Ariki (Hummingbird Spirit)
Marie

Customer Reviews:

Oh please...........2006-09-05

This is why new age gets such a bad rap. This is so ponderous. If you like the music used for 1960's and 1970's educational science movies that you saw in high school then you will be pumped up for this The band has a cool sounding name but the music is very boring and lame.

"Unbelievably boring and lacking any drama" would have been a better name that appropriately desribes their sound.

Great music.......2005-12-02

This album is pleasant instrumental music. 'Varja' and especially 'Wheel of dreams' are moody acoustic guitar driven pieces which wouldn't sound too out of place somewhere on an early Genesis album. Ariki (hummingbird spirit) has a tirbal rhtyhm to it. Their music is quite vivid but on this album they stay with acoustic instrumentation, though the epic album closer, Marie, has some synthesised guitar.

The feeling of the album is relaxed and spiritual. There is no singing on the album. The songs, however, have some hooks. There'll be a particular riff, on piano or guitar for example, thet you hear a lot through the song, and usually the saxapone (or lyricon) does a solo. It's fine album. 9/10

timeless class jazz with oriental tone.......2005-10-23

If you check out the bins at your favorite store, you probably won't find this outstanding bands' pieces. These guys are tight, pleasing and masters of putting an oriental flavor to jazz, like no other. Their music is hard to get tired of with nice variety in their vein. This album is a must, even though it is short, just over thirty minutes. Just listen to that tasty interplay with those modern jazz instruments. Beautiful and non boring listening. This piece and 'Dreams Of Children' are simply outstanding!

Still best.......2004-12-05

Shadowfax self-titled is a superb album. Songs like Angel's Flight and Thousand Teardrops with that haunting stone flute were remarkable to hear, as they still are. The second song, Vajra, remains in my thinking as one of the best the band ever put on vinyl. Oriental Eyes is another trick piece of work. It's all great stuff. To give this anything less than five stars would be to have not even listened to the music.

Third album-later albums are better.......2001-06-16

This is Shadowfax's third album, but the first for the Windham Hill record label. The two earlier albums were on an independent label but were later rereleased by Windham Hill.

It is a very nice, but short album (34 minutes long). The tracks are short and relatively simplistic, by Shadowfax standards. As the group matured so did the music. The later albums have more depth and are better. Shadowdance is my favorite CD.

Shadowfax was one of the pioneers in New Age Jazz. They were also one of the best. They took the boring "Sunday Brunch" jazz from that time period (spyro Gyra) and merged it with new influences (especially Eastern) and injected new life into it. Shadowfax had a lot of inferior imitators that eventually made new age jazz a dirty word. I liked to call it Yuppie Muzak.

Pure Shadowfax
Average customer rating:

Great CD - but if possible find the original albums

+ 1/2 stars...Wonderful Blend of Jazz, New Age and World Music

Good collection of songs, Very good sound!

Pure Shadowfax
Shadowfax
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Pure Nightnoise

A Windham Hill Retrospective/What Goes Around

Pure Will Ackerman

Shadowdance

Pure Mark Isham

ASIN: B000F8O4C2
Release Date: 2006-05-23

Tracks:

Another Country
Road To Hanna
Angel's Flight
Oasis
Snowline
The Orangutan Gang (Strikes Back)
The Dreams Of Children
Shadowdance
Shaman Song
Kindred Spirits
Tsunami
New Electric India
Changing Of The Guard
Move the Clouds

Customer Reviews:

Great CD - but if possible find the original albums.......2007-04-03

This is, on one level, a great sampler CD of a group that dis-banded in the mid 90's due to the untimely death of the band leader.

Considering that BMG has done nothing new with the new Windham Hill label, except to continue to re-issue much earlier albums and various compilation CDs, I can't recommend this CD exactly as BMG doesn't support any new New Age artists.

However, I would recommend searching and buying the original LPs and CDs of this group, Shadowfax, if possible.

Barring that, I can understand, and would suggest that people unable to find the original albums, buy this one before it goes out of print as well.

+ 1/2 stars...Wonderful Blend of Jazz, New Age and World Music.......2007-01-15

Shadowfax recorded four albums for Windham Hill during the first half of the Eighties and they are all sampled here (along with two tracks--"Oasis" and "Changing of the Guard"--from their 1990 album THE ODD GET EVEN recorded for Private Music).

Shadowfax (named for Gandalf's horse from "The Lord of the Rings") incorporate jazz and world music into their ensemble playing with the key sound of the group provided primarily by Chuck Greenberg and G.E. Stinson. Listen to Greenberg's lyrical playing on "Angel's Flight" and "The Dreams of Children" where he employs lyricon and sax. Likewise, Stinson plays fluid guitar on tracks like "Kindred Spirits" and understated piano on "Move the Clouds."

By the release of 1983's SHADOWDANCE, they expanded to a quintet with the addition of a keyboardist and a violinist. Jamil Szmadzinski's violin and Stinson's electric guitar add to the raga-influenced "New Electric India."

[Note: Shadowfax released their debut, WATERCOURSE WAY, on ABC/Passport and was later reissued by Windham Hill, but it is not sampled here. Neither are the three other albums Shadowfax recorded after leaving Windham Hill. The group disbanded following founding member Chuck Greenberg's untimely death of a heart attack at age 45 in 1995.]

PURE SHADOWFAX duplicates eight tracks from 1991's equally excellent WHAT GOES AROUND: THE BEST OF SHADOWFAX. But for the uninitiated, this is an excellent place to start [Running Time - 62:15] HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Good collection of songs, Very good sound!.......2006-09-28

This CD has a good sampling of Shadowfax songs and better yet the sound is excellent! Unlike most recently released CD's the sound on this CD actually has good dynamic range and is pleasant to listen to.

Average customer rating:

No, NOT a compilation -- their 3rd real album.
A Compilation
A long time ago...
shadowdance
shadowdance

Shadowdance
Shadowfax
Manufacturer: Windham Hill Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Shadowfax
Too Far to Whisper
The Dreams of Children
Folksongs for a Nuclear Village
Pure Shadowfax

ASIN: B000000NFQ
Release Date: 1997-04-29

Tracks:

New Electric India
Watercorse Way
Ghost Bird
Shadowdance
Brown Rice/Karmapa Chenno
Distant Voices
A Song For MyA Song For My Brother

Customer Reviews:

No, NOT a compilation -- their 3rd real album........2005-02-25

Sorry, the first thing I must do is correct Mr. Jerome Scott. "Shadowdance", the second Shadowfax release on Windham Hill and their third overall, consists of all new 1983 recordings. Where the confusion lies is that Chuck Greenberg, disatisfied with the sound quality of the band's debut album, "Watercourse Way", had the group redo two of its songs for this release.

Now that that's out of the way, I will say that the band was really hitting its stride here. On signing to Windham Hill, the band wisely decided to cut down on the electric sounds of "WW" and go more acoustic for its second album. While they still retained much of that sound for "Shadowdance", they begin to sneak more electricity back in.

The songwriting is more or less split evenly between Greenberg and guitarist G.E. Stinson. The band adds a keyboardist and violinist to the sessions, broadining the reach of the group. Stinson likes the power of his electric, obvious on the opener, "New Electric India" and the one cover tune, Don Cherry's "Brown Rice". Also featuring a scat vocal from G.E., this would prove to be a barn-burner in concert. Another popular track would be the Greenberg's title track. "Distant Voices" and the remake of "Watercourse Way" show off the quieter, more "New Ageish" sound which brought may new fans in. The two remakes do have a fuller, richer production, but I don't quite enjoy the remake of "Song of My Brother" as much. I prefer the orchestration by the Chamberlain on the original as opposed to the solo violin here. But that's just a nitpick on my part. It's a sweeping, soaring composition with a killer guitar part.

The band was moving through is peak period here and getting more popular, too -- the album even made the Billboard pop charts. Possibly the best starting point for new fans, and great for anybody.

A Compilation.......2005-02-09

I too remember the first time I heard Watercourse Way. I was a teenager working in a record store and my boss through it on the turntable. I was already into the progressive rock sound and this just seemed an extension of that. I've been delighted with their music ever since. What I also remember is that that vinyl release was not on Windham Hill, but ABC/Passport. Now, what happened when the band went with WH I don't really know, but I do know that this release contains songs from that album. Also from Watercourse Way, the song Petite Aubade appears on A Winter's Solstice. Not that it makes any difference, but I think it is interesting to note that this is a collection made up in part of previously recorded material versus a traditionally concieved project. What's cool about it is that it serves as a primer to their music. So if you've never heard Shadowfax and are wondering where to start this is a great place.

A long time ago..........2005-01-29

Shadowfax were the pioneers of New Age music. In 1983 they released this album which I come to think it was one of the first compact discs to be issued.

It's more than 20 years they did this marvellous album. An album which is the peak of this group and was reference to many artists who liked to explore in new ways of making music.

Shadowfax was the first new age group, as soloists were mostly common like Ackermann, Winston, and all the people at Windham Hill (oh, what would have been music without this label?). They were even more remembered a few years after the releasing of their first recordings as their style was becoming too eclectic.

Nowadays, it is very pleasant to listen to Shadowdance, but it has been losing some charm. It sounds a little bit old, but it has freshness. It sounds a little bit naïve, but it has strength. It's a recording to take in mind and to discover. But you can feel somewhat disappointed if you don't put it into the time it was made.

shadowdance.......2002-12-02

the first time i heard this music,i was on fl myers beach, florida.there was an outdoor disc jockey and this album was playing, so i asked who it was. the music has a mystical quality, it's very unique. i've had a hard time tracking it down in the music stores, but i just got a laptop,so now i found it,thank god!!

shadowdance.......2002-12-02

Average customer rating:

INSPIRATIONAL, PASSIONATE, ROMANTIC & SOOTHING
Incredibly Passionate, Richly textured, Inspiring CD
Simply stunning
Simply a masterpiece
Imaginary Musical Journey

Ceremonies
Armen Chakmakian
Manufacturer: Truart Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Caravans
Buddha-Bar, Vol. V

ASIN: B000006BZU
Release Date: 1998-03-17

Tracks:

Gypsy Rain
Kiss And A Sigh, A
Ceremonies
Time To Heal, A
Imaginings
Enchantress
Distant Lands
Rain, Rain Go Away
Echoes Of A Prayer
Moonlight In Your Eyes

Album Description

Armen Chakmakian, pianist/keyboardist from the Grammy-Award winning band Shadowfax, creates a tapestry of captivating and vibrant sounds on his debut solo release, "Ceremonies". This album is a celebration of music that crosses genres and cultural boundaries striking a common chord within each of us. His signature sound is a masterful weave of passionate piano, with Armenian and Middle-Eastern flavors, exotic world rhythms, and jazz textures. To create this rich and rhythmic synergy, he has assembled an array of stellar instrumentalists including Djivan Gasparyan, Alex de Grassi, Greg Ellis (Vas), John Bilezikjian and members of Shadowfax.

Customer Reviews:

INSPIRATIONAL, PASSIONATE, ROMANTIC & SOOTHING.......2003-12-10

This cd is one of my favorites to put on in the evening when I'm having dinner with my girlfriend. It is definately a classic that never gets old. The piano melodies are truly passionate, like a dance that inspires you. Other songs are more soothing and inspirational but always with a sense of passion dwelling underneath. Trust me, you'll enjoy this wonderful cd, from a truly talented and award winning artist.

Incredibly Passionate, Richly textured, Inspiring CD.......2003-05-29

Just listen to the samples! This is a incrediblly Inspiring and passionate work of art. My favorite song is #2 Kiss And A Sigh. The passionate piano playing and the ryhthms make your spirits fly. Check out this CD from one of the most talented composer/musicians around. Enjoy!

Simply stunning.......2003-05-17

I can't begin to describe how the music on this cd made me feel. I was moved beyond words. The beautiful melodies and tasteful blending of the instruments makes this album one to last all time. I will listen to it time after time, over and over again. And will feel incredibly moved every time, by every song. The artist is very gifted and has a remarkable ear for incredible music! Definitely a must have by anyone that enjoys this kind of music! Bravo Armen, bravo!

Simply a masterpiece.......2003-05-17

This CD touched me in many ways, on many levels. Just the variety and quality of the music on this album is enough to make anyone want to buy it and listen to it again and again, time after time. The artist is so gifted and has such an ear for beautiful melodic tones. The songs on this album will stand the test of time, and will be known around the world, for decades to come. A brilliant work of art! Simply stunning, and incredibly moving.

Imaginary Musical Journey.......2002-04-04

I just love music that inspires my imagination!Music that's enchanting!Music I can feel!Music that paints a hundred scenes! I close my eyes and the music takes me to a far away place, A Distant Land! The musicians on this CD are magical. The percussions excellant! The hand claps!The Finger Cymbals! The most beautiful piano I have ever heard! This is the best CD I've bought in a long time! It's a MUST HAVE CD!

Average customer rating:

Too Far to Whisper
Shadowfax
Manufacturer: © 1986 Windham Hill Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Shadowdance
Shadowfax
The Dreams of Children
Magic Theater
Folksongs for a Nuclear Village

ASIN: B000000NGP
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Too Far To Whisper
What Goes Around
China Blue
The Orangutan Gang (Strikes Back)
Road To Hanna
Streetnoise
Slim Limbs Akimbo
Tsunami
Maceo
Ritual

A Windham Hill Retrospective/What Goes Around

Average customer rating:

a representative sample
Incredibly Motivating and Moving!
Solid collection, Great for new fans
Best Of Shadowfax on Windham Hill ONLY
Very good compilation

A Windham Hill Retrospective/What Goes Around
Shadowfax
Manufacturer: Windham Hill Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | International | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Styles | Music

Meditation | New Age | Styles | Music

Adult Alternative | Pop | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Indie Music | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Pure Shadowfax
Shadowdance
Shadowfax
The Dreams of Children
Folksongs for a Nuclear Village

ASIN: B000000NI7
Release Date: 1991-02-05

Tracks:

Angel's Flight
Vajra
A Thousand Teardrops
New Electric India
Shadowdance
Brown Rice/Karmapa Chenno
Another Country
The Dreams Of Children
Shaman Song
What Goes Around
The Orangutan Gang (Strikes Back)
Road To Hanna

Customer Reviews:

a representative sample.......2007-03-01

The CD really does give a (favorable) reflection of Shadowfax's work. Even if t wasn't, it's still a great album.

Incredibly Motivating and Moving!.......2007-01-19

This CD spikes my creativity, motivates to expand the mind to be more open and is purely a "feel good" medicine for a heavy heart. I thank the artists for generously sharing their talent for others to benefit in many ways.

Solid collection, Great for new fans.......2006-01-09

four and 1/2 stars. I love this band and grew up listening to Shadowdance. No other band sounds like this band. You would never confuse Shadowfax with anyone else, they are that distinctive. It's a whole new headspace. Chuck's death in 1995 was heartbreaking to me as I was hoping to see them play live but never got the chance. This is a solid collection with great tracks from their earlier work. As the previous reviewer noted, it does not contain important material from their later releases (this album used to be called "Shadowfax A Windham Hill Retrospective") but even so all the tracks on it are solid. If you like this I'd recommend picking up Shadowdance and The Dreams of Children.

Best Of Shadowfax on Windham Hill ONLY.......2002-08-06

The title implies that this is the best of Shadowfax. And indeed it is a good collection from their earlier years on the Windham Hill label. As always, there are tracks that I would like to see (like "Above the Wailing Wall" from "Dreams of Children")that are left off, but still the tracks chosen represent a sampling of one of the best Fusion/Jazz/World/Rock bands to come along. Unfortunately, their best work in my opinion was on other labels. Even sadder that it looks like the amazing "Folksongs for a Nuclear Village" and "The Odd Get Even" are out of print! By all means, find them if you can. The harder World Beat/Jazz Fusion edge on these releases and the strong interplay between G.E.(Stinson), Charlie Bisharat and Chuck Greenberg are stellar, not to mention the excellent world percussion, bass and keyboard work. Nice of Windham Hill to provide us with their "Best Of", but a true best of will include tracks from their entire career. Even so, the music on this one still gets 4 stars.

Very good compilation.......2001-02-24

This is a great "best of" CD in that it gives you a really good indication of what ShadowFax is all about. This was my first introduction to them and I was not disappointed!

Average customer rating:

I LOVE "The Spirit Door"
One final hoorah
Their last studio album

Magic Theater
Shadowfax
Manufacturer: Warner Bros / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Esperanto
Folksongs for a Nuclear Village
The Odd Get Even
Shadowdance
Live

ASIN: B000002M6L
Release Date: 1994-02-01

Tracks:

Imaginary Islands
Hey! Your Hat's On Backwards
Secret Gathering
Ebony Wind
Castaneda's Boogie
Baker's Dozen
Night Passage
Remembrance
How Much Does Zimbabwe?
The Spirit Door

Customer Reviews:

I LOVE "The Spirit Door".......2007-04-12

What an EXCELLENT album this is! I love to sit in my dark living room with nothing but the lights from the stereo glowing while I listen to "The Spirit Door," the last track on the album. I have most albums by Shadowfax. Unfortunately, the founding member has passed on through "The Spirit Door," Chuck Greenberg, and thanks, Chuck (if you can hear me) for bringing so much enjoyment to the living while you were here! We miss you much! A devoted Shadowfax fax, Jon Remy

One final hoorah.......2007-01-28

Magic Theater is the last studio album to be released by Shadowfax. The founder of the band, Chuck Greenburg, died the year after its release thus ending the legacy of some of the most unique and original music I have ever heard. Magic Theater is a fitting end to the legacy of Greenburg & company. Thank you, Chuck, for the beautiful music you have given to me. It has touched my heart forever and always.

Their last studio album.......2004-10-03

This album would become their last studio album. Chuck Greenberg (flute/saxaphone/lyricon pioneer) died of a heart attack barely a year after its release, and the band disbanded.

This album shows them changing with the times, shedding the last vestige of their 80's new age roots and producing straight-up fusion. This is most polished they've ever sounded, and features some of the musicians' best solos.

"Hey Your Hat's On Backwards" is the farthest departure from their old formula, with a funky ambient beat and a great minimalist sax solo in the tradition of Miles Davis. "Imaginary Islands" and "How Much Does Zimbabwe" are very melodic and catchy, achieving that balance of mellow and uplifting difficult to achieve without sounding dull.

It's a shame nothing else came after this. It's an even greater shame their record label has dropped all but two of their (earliest) albums.

Even now, electronic musicians and soundtrack composers could learn a thing or two from these guys!

Average customer rating:

The Dreams of Children
Shadowfax
Manufacturer: Windham Hill Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Styles | Music

Meditation | New Age | Styles | Music

Adult Alternative | Pop | Styles | Music
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Shadowdance
Shadowfax
Too Far to Whisper
Folksongs for a Nuclear Village
The Odd Get Even

ASIN: B000000NG5
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Another Country
Snowline
The Big Song
The Dreams Of Children
Word From The Village
Kindred Spirits
Shaman Song
Above The Wailing Wall

Average customer rating:

Jack of All Trades Prog, Heavy Influence of Mahavishnu and Oregon
A rare gem!
No doubt about it
Debut proves to be finest hour.

Watercourse Way
Shadowfax
Manufacturer: Windham Hill Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | International | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Styles | Music

Meditation | New Age | Styles | Music

Adult Alternative | Pop | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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Shadowdance
Esperanto
Live
Magic Theater
Too Far to Whisper

ASIN: B000000NDS
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

The Shape Of A Word
Linear Dance
Petite Aubade
Book Of Hours
Watercourse Way
Song For My Brother

Customer Reviews:

Jack of All Trades Prog, Heavy Influence of Mahavishnu and Oregon.......2005-07-28

From the 'burbs of Chicago came Shadowfax, weilding a virtual warehouse of instruments and a love of many styles of music. While not terribly original, this album does contain many very worthwhile and intriguing musical moments. The overall flavor of this album for me seems to be, "Look, we can cover a LOT of stylistic ground!" Yes, they definitely do, but somehow, one senses a lack of clear direction, something of course that changed when they regrouped in the early 80's and went the New-Age/World Music path. Here, they lay some of the groundwork for what would become their ticket to getting signed with Windham Hill.

1. Shape of a Word - Definitely takes its cues from the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Relayer-period Yes in a huge way, the ominous arpeggiated edgy guitars, spacey keyboards, jarring time and meter changes etc. What the tune lacks though is a strong melodic thread to tie it together, giving it a very fragmented feel, though it does feature some very beautiful piano work by Doug Maluchnik.

2. Linear Dance - I wasn't sure whether to laugh at this or groan, a rather disjointed patchwork of herky-jerky rhythms, groaning synths and guitars plus some of the most ridculous over-the-top pseudo-cosmic wanky lyrics I've ever heard! And the vocals, VERRRRY BAAAAAAAAD IDEA!!! Songs like this were why some people got turned off to prog. But just as things look grim there's an unexpected segue into-----

3. Petite Aubade - If you didn't know, somene hearing this would think, "IS THIS THE SAME BAND?" Yup, it is, as the guys unplug most of the way into a beautiful and complex acoustic piece that jumps through 3 very distinct and unrelated musical genres. They start off with a very brief ominouw modern classical sort of thing (with stern bass clarinet and dissonant Chamberlin strings) then leaping into Romantic period musings with flute, rippling piano and nylon-string guitar (this section flows together quite beautifully) and then, going back a few hundred years for some stately Renaissance-period ruminating, the highlight here is woodwind maestro Chuck Greenberg's multiple recorders weaving their melodious magic, quite a charming section, with guitarist Greg E Stinson providing passionate counterpoint on his classical guitar with Maluchnik's harpsichord adding the necessary punctuations.

4. Book of Hours - For my money, the best electric piece on the album, starting off with shimmering layers of synths, guitars and percussion, the band then kicks into a bass clarinet-led strident groove, building up a frenetic pace and then, segueing into an emotionally charged soprano sax soliloquy backed by sitar and piano. Chuck Greenberg plays his heart out here and practically blows out his sax reed and lungs in the process, then the band roars back in for a dramatic close.

5. Watercourse Way - Someone's been listening to A LOT of Oregon here!! The complex interweaving 12-string guitar, the forlorn oboe, exotic percussion and acoustic bass are all here. The tune does have a fairly strong melodic thread but the obvious cop of Oregon's style can be a bit much, afterall, Oregon were doing this a few years before Shadowfax appeared. Very well played without question but disappointing in the respect it lacks originality.

6. Song for My Brother - A strong closer, a passionate rock ballad with guitarist Greg E Stinson playing his heart out and weaving compelling melodies as his bandmates paint in the colors.

Not groundbreaking but still has many good moments that a prog fan can sink their teeth into and enjoy, just skip "Linear Dance".

A rare gem!.......2003-06-26

I believe this album originally came out before Windham Hill was even in existence (circa 1975). Windham Hill reissued the album on their label (mid-1980's) and portions of it were remixed and re-recorded. The 2 opening tracks sound more like jazz-rock fusion in the mold of Jeff Beck, Yes (Relayer era particularly on "The Shape of a Word"), Jan Hammer and Gentle Giant. The 2nd track "Linear Dance" is the only song with lyrics (which are barely audible). Much of the rest of the album features a variety of instrumentation more "typical" of the Windham Hill artists, particularly on "Watercourse Way" and "Petite Aubade" (woodwinds, keyboards, guitars, a sitar and percussion). "Song for my Brother" is a moving jazz piece in the key of A minour. Shadowfax were ahead of their time. Their music here is relaxing (doesn't that sound cliched nowadays?) and it's complexly melodious at the same time. This CD is hard to find so you may have to special order it through this website. Sorry, but like another reviewer said in his review, I'm not selling my copy (unless Windham Hill reissues it with bonus tracks!)!

No doubt about it.......2003-03-22

Before the "New Age" hype came along, Shadowfax were that rarity among American rock bands--a bona fide progressive rock band that was mostly instrumental. They aren't funky enough in this release to be termed "fusion"--theirs was more an electric guitar sound with sax player Chuck Greenberg adding an early woodwind synthesizer called the Lyricon to the mix. They hadn't yet added violin to broaden the sound even further as in later releases. This is a re-release of an indie release they did before they were discovered by Winham Hill. Much of the material here was re-done with a more acoustic sound than what you'll hear here on those later releases, consistent with Windham Hill's overall New Age image. In this album, you get the original Shadowfax. It's unfortunate that this album is out of print, subject to the appearance of a used copy on Amazon[.com] Marketplace. Here's a clue--I'm not selling you mine.

Debut proves to be finest hour........2000-05-29

Watercourse Way, Shadowfax's debut recording, proved to be their most impressive effort. This disc owes more to prog-rock than it does new-age. There is a more electric focus here with some competent vocals to add to the mix. The most impressive cut is, by far, Song For My Brother which has some remarkably passionate electric guitar work. If you can find it, it is well worth purchasing...Simon

Average customer rating:

Another nice Shadowfax CD
Earned them a grammy, for good reason

Folksongs for a Nuclear Village
Shadowfax
Manufacturer: Capitol
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | International | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Jazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Styles | Music

Meditation | New Age | Styles | Music

Adult Alternative | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Magic Theater
The Odd Get Even
Esperanto
Shadowdance
The Dreams of Children

ASIN: B000008KLK
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Firewalker
We Used to Laugh
Solar Wind
Behind Green Eyes
Lucky Mud
Madagascar Cafe
Against the Grain
No Society
Elephant Ego
Folksong for a Nuclear Village

Customer Reviews:

Another nice Shadowfax CD.......2005-03-12

This is Shadowfax's sixth CD. It is the first not on the Windham Hill label. It is 45 minutes long and has the trademark new age sound, very crisp and clean.

By this time, Shadowfax ceased being a stable group. Only Chuck Greenberg and GE Stinson remain from the Shadowdance days. There are 4 new musicians.

The CD starts out rather stale, with nondescript compositions that could have come from any one of the earlier five CD's. It is nice music, but we have already heard it many times before. And, the compositions are not as good as the best of the earlier albums.

Things start to pick up in the second half of the CD. Maybe that is because the tracks were composed by the new members of the group. They seem to breath new life into the group.

This is not a bad CD. It just retreads the music of the ealier works. If it were the only CD by Shadowfax, it would be something special, but the others are better. This probably deserves three and a half stars. The first half is in the 2 to 3 star range, while the end of the CD is 4 stars.

This is the Shadowfax CD that won a Grammy award. But, the Grammys are always several years to decades behind the times. Shadowfax really deserved a Grammy for one of the first 3 CD's for their contribution to a new musical style. Jethro Tull did not get a Grammy until the eighties, and it was for a mediocre album in the wrong category.

Earned them a grammy, for good reason.......2004-10-03

In a few words: New Age world music meets modern dance.

The band wrote these songs for a now obscure dance performance of the same name. Putting their distinctively complex style and typically insane array of ethnic instruments to danceable rhythms made for an album of exotic new age modern dance music unlike anything put out before or after.

Like many of their albums, it has the feeling of a soundtrack to a great fantasy video game you've never played. It actually predates such soundtracks by almost a decade.

They won a grammy for this album when it came out, but it didn't seem to stop Capitol from dropping the artist. Now the album is out of print. Go figure.

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