ALEX CLINE - The Lamp and the Star (1989) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Right out of the gate, percussionist Alex Cline's first album as a composer demonstrates the man's knack for conjuring timeless, elemental music. Minimal ambience opens most tracks, with Cline's love of Asian percussion evident with the use of gongs and Tibetan singing bowls. In "Emerald Light," these bowls create a meditatively soothing yet wholly alien radio signal, paving the way for Aina Kemanis' hauntingly clear "la la" vocals that entwine seamlessly with the brooding strings of Jeff Gauthier's violin. Eric Von Essen's sadly bowed bass on "Accepting the Chalice" speaks of the deep connection between the sorrows of the universe and free jazz. Cline's connection to states of higher consciousness through music is clear with titles like "Altar Stone," and in this way his compositions fuse Western instruments and tonalities with Eastern meditation, the balance of silence and sound, and an elegiac sense of reverence. The way Kemanis' vocals condense organically out of the nothingness in "Altar Stone," or the way thundering drum rolls give way to falling string showers in "Eminence" betrays Cline's profound grasp of music's connection to the natural world. The similar and essential Sparks Fly Upward and The Constant Flame followed this album. TiVo Staff  
Tracklist :
1    A Blue Robe In The Distance 16'03
(Alex Cline)
2    Eminence 6'24
(Alex Cline)
3    Emerald Light 7'22
(Alex Cline)
4    Altar Stone 12'57
(Alex Cline)
5    Accepting The Chalice 7'05
(Alex Cline)
Credits :
Alex Cline - Percussion, Voice
Aina Kemanis - Voice
Jeff Gauthier - Violin, Viola, Voice
Hank Roberts - Cello, Voice
Wayne Peet - Piano, Organ
Eric von Essen - Bass
Nels Cline - Voice
Susan Rawcliffe - Didjeridu