Andreas Vollenweider

Andreas Vollenweider – Kryptos (1997/2005)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 55:31 minutes | 631 MB | Genre: New Age
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © AVAF Music

Swiss harpist Andreas Vollenweider continues his exploration of world fusion on this ambitious, genre-blending release. In addition to the usual presence of Vollenweider’s electrified harp, on which he manages to combine the instrument’s lush, classical sound with unusual rhythmic effects and uncharacteristic tones, KRYPTOS boasts a range of other instruments, including flutes, synthesizer, human choruses, and a variety of percussion.
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Andreas Vollenweider – Vox (2004)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 53:40 minutes | 606 MB | Genre: New Age
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © AVAF Music

While vocals had been deployed as instruments in vintage ANDREAS VOLLENWEIDER productions, and he did engage accomplished singers to impart thematic messages on “Eolian Minstrel” and in multiple languages on “Cosmopoly”, “Vox” represents the harp players first headlong venture into lead vocals. He actually possesses a pleasant voice suited to his Renaissance gentleman persona and equally dolce musical style. Luckily he has written lyrics that harmoniously abut the music, because, even with all these boxes being ticked, this is one of his less exciting releases.
One could approach this from the opposite camp and assess that, given cheesy lyrics, relatively conventional or at least habitual arrangements, and diffident vocal style, subtracting out the ethnic fusion that somewhat elevated its immediate predecessors, it’s a wonder that “Vox” isn’t a total botch job, which it assuredly is not.
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Andreas Vollenweider – Eolian Minstrel (1993)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 50:42 minutes | 608 MB | Genre: New Age
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © AVAF Music

Eolian Minstrel is Andreas Vollenweider’s debut SBK Records release and the long awaited followup to his 1991 #1 NAC and jazz album, Book of Roses. Andreas plays a harp, but one that has been modified to produce an extraordinary range of sounds. A damper which he designed himself allows him to strum and pluck with more crispness and percussive attack. A microphone attached to each string allows for greater articulation of individual notes, and hand-made strings further define his unique sonorities. This recording is Andreas’ most daring album to date and for the first time features guest vocalists, such as Carly Simon and Eliza Gilkyson.
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Andreas Vollenweider – Behind the Gardens, Behind the Wall, Under the Tree… (1981/2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 30:38 minutes | 354 MB | Genre: New Age
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © AVAF Music

Behind the Gardens – Behind the Wall – Under the Tree . . . . is a studio album by new-age artist Andreas Vollenweider, released in 1981. It is almost entirely instrumental, and centers on Vollenweider on harp.
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Andreas Vollenweider – White Winds (1984/2005)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 36:45 minutes | 422 MB | Genre: New Age
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © AVAF Music

Andreas Vollenweider’s 1985 effort White Winds, subtitled “Seeker’s Journey,” features the composer’s modified electric harp in pieces that are much more experimental than what would later emerge as the prevailing sound of new age. A brief introduction features the lapping of a boat in a slip, but it soon fades into the angular forays of “Hall of the Stairs,” which itself drifts into the more conventional ethno-jazz of “Hall of the Mosaics (Meeting You).” Vollenweider’s harp is joined by full percussion and a bank of synthesizers for “The Glass Hall (Choose the Crystal),” breaking the song down to showcase the unique sound of his instrument. Even when it’s accessing the soothing tones of new age, White Winds seems to lie closer to contemporary jazz instrumentalism, as the repeated phrasing of these songs suggests. Vollenweider even gets lightly funky on the awesomely named “Flight Feet & Root Hands.” With his early-’80s work, the Swiss performer was establishing himself as a leader of the burgeoning new age genre. White Winds is a good example of his sound, which mixed accessibility with uniqueness and some true musical exploration.
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Andreas Vollenweider – Midnight Clear (2006-10-24)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 50:17 minutes | 559 MB | Genre: New Age, Ambient
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © AVAF Music

The legendary, Grammy Award-winning harpist takes some truly blessed left turns on what could have been just another pedestrian new age Christmas collection. Rather than do the umpteenth version of “White Christmas,” Andreas Vollenweider applies his plucky, ethereal style to unique, traditional, and little heard Old World tunes like “The Coventry Carol” (which he jazzes up with bamboo flute and seductive sax), “The Wexford Carol,” “The Yorkshire Wassail” (which is the source of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”) and “Carol of the Drum.” His beautiful harp tones are perfect fits for these classical instruments, but he has enough pop sensibilities to add just the right touch of soul and groove to them. Vollenweider’s other ace here is longtime friend Carly Simon, who lends her warm and familiar voice to an offbeat arrangement of the title track and several romantic, inspirational originals. Nothing is wrong with overtly commercial new age-oriented holiday collections like the beautiful albums Jim Brickman has done, but Vollenweider deserves kudos for digging deeper into history and finding emotional joy in traditional pieces that truly sound fresh here.
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Andreas Vollenweider – Kryptos (1997/2005)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 55:31 minutes | 631 MB | Genre: New Age
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © AVAF Music

Swiss harpist Andreas Vollenweider continues his exploration of world fusion on this ambitious, genre-blending release. In addition to the usual presence of Vollenweider’s electrified harp, on which he manages to combine the instrument’s lush, classical sound with unusual rhythmic effects and uncharacteristic tones, KRYPTOS boasts a range of other instruments, including flutes, synthesizer, human choruses, and a variety of percussion.
(more…)

Andreas Vollenweider – Down to the Moon (1986/2005)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 36:21 minutes | 432 MB | Genre: New Age, Ambient
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © AVAF Music

Andreas Vollenweider’s Grammy-winning 1987 effort is dominated by the Swiss musician’s electrically modified harp. Its distinctive sound runs throughout the album, supported by the usual tinkering synthesizer effects and light percussion. After an extended introductory interlude, the title track zips into a vaguely Caribbean-styled rhythm. “Water Moon” features a different, more organic harp sound; it’s mixed with the windy tones of a flute, suggesting ghostly moonshafts lancing through falling rain. Vollenweider plays the harp strings off of guitar strings on the surprisingly twangy (for new age, anyway) “Drown in Pale Light.” The composer weaves the album’s instrumentals together with a goody bag of pan-ethnic influences; the album’s margins are full of these little touches that nevertheless make a big difference. Down to the Moon will appeal to anyone looking for music that’s as interesting as it is soothing.
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Andreas Vollenweider – Dancing with the Lion (1989/2005)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 39:15 minutes | 457 MB | Genre: New Age
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © AVAF Music

After the Grammy-winning 1987 effort Down to the Moon, Andreas Vollenweider returned with Dancing With the Lion, a concept album of sorts about the nature of life and death. For the first time, Vollenweider extended his creative palette, drawing on the talents of many musicians worldwide. His modified harp was still in full effect, but Lion matched its unique tone with touches of electric guitar (the light, Latin-influenced pop of “Dance of the Masks”), plaintive violin (“See, My Love”), and the ambitious title track, which mixed unique percussion and vocal elements into a surprisingly straightforward pop cocktail. While the composer’s early work seemed to be more about relaxation, or where the music could take the listener, Dancing With the Lion seemed to encourage contemplation. It was easy to find solace in the Asian-inflected chording of “Hippolyte,” or the album’s atmospheric finale, where flutes, flamenco guitar, fiddle, and chimes combined with the harp in an approximation of that famous story about the white light at the end of the tunnel. The addition of so many extra instruments into Vollenweider’s already widely scanning sound worked to expand his ideology as much as it did his sound, since the range of ethnic styles represented unified his music with so many locales. Dancing With the Lion was a textured, pensive release that suggested Vollenweider’s later work with an international cast of likeminded musicians and symphonies.
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Andreas Vollenweider – Cosmopoly (1999/200)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:39:29 minutes | 1,04 GB | Genre: New Age, Ambient
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © AVAF Music

Andreas Vollenweider’s Cosmopoly finds the Swiss harpist collaborating with artists like Carlos Nunez, Abdulla Ibrahim, and Ray Anderson, and exploring the music of Africa, Brazil, China, Ireland, and the U.S. Fittingly, Vollenweider’s palette of instruments on this album includes the ocarina, gu cheng, baby koto, 12-string guitar, Bavarian folk harp, Celtic harp, and Chinese harp, along with his usual custom-made rhythm harp. “Morning Poem,” Vollenweider’s Celtic-inspired duet with Nunez, is all the more moving for its restraint, and the unusual fusion of Bobby McFerrin’s vocals with Chinese harp on “Elle Chelle” is another highlight. Ibrahim and Vollenweider create a smoky Armenian atmosphere on their doudouk/harp duet “Hush, My Heart, Be Still,” and “Peachtree Valley” evokes a lush Chinese landscape, though the overly glossy production is somewhat distracting. Carly Simon’s recitation of part of “Finnegan’s Wake” on “Your Silver Key” is also slightly jarring, and some of the album’s jazzier tracks seem out of place, but for the most part, Cosmopoly offers an intriguing fusion of traditional, indigenous styles and new musical ideas.
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Andreas Vollenweider – Caverna Magica (…Under The Tree – In The Cave…) (1982/2005)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 38:24 minutes | 443 MB | Genre: New Age
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © AVAF Music

Although Caverna Magica was his second album, this 1983 release is what put Andreas Vollenweider on the space music map. The music is lightly jazzy, performed on modified harp, “rhythmanatomic acousticolors and UFO,” and drums, with vocal colorings which come and go. From the delightful title track through the sublime “La Paix Verde,” this work is still as current and enjoyable as it was eight years ago.
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Andreas Vollenweider – Book of Roses (1985/2005)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 49:16 minutes | 568 MB | Genre: New Age
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © AVAF Music

Andreas Vollenweider’s Book of Roses marries concept to contemporary instrumentalism, and blends the music of numerous cultures into the composer’s already worldly sound. Separated into four chapters (where each song is an “episode”), the album chronicles the journey of a young girl from dances in grand ballrooms, through mysterious woods full of magical jugglers, to an eventual meeting with the Sphinx. In between there are numerous other adventures, each punctuated by some of the most ambitious music of Vollenweider’s career. His trademark electric harp is still here, and the flair for sweeping arrangement is intact. But the straightforward pop-jazz of “In Doga Gamee” (complete with lyrics) suggests Soul Cages-era Sting, while “In the Woods of Kroandal” marries a romantic classical swell to flamenco guitar and nature sounds. Vocals return for “Hirzel,” which flirts with pop even more blatantly, breaking into a reverb-drenched electric guitar lead midway through. But Vollenweider then really gets experimental with “Manto’s Arrow and the Sphinx” – with its relatively conventional harp dominated by the whooping and sequenced screeching of a female vocalist, the song is completely unclassifiable. While “Sphinx” is ultimately too outrageous to be functional, it proves that Vollenweider – by now an established heavyweight in the new age arena – is not afraid to try out new ideas. Fans of the composer’s early, more ethereal work might be a little put off by Book of Roses’ worldbeat flair and pop leanings. But they will no doubt enjoy the album’s more thematic elements, which cleverly tie its various sections and sounds together with the turning pages of a book. Likewise, the finale, “Letters to a Young Rose,” is classic Vollenweider, matching his modified harp to a shuffling accordion as it moves through various moods and tempos. Book of Roses isn’t recommended for the casual Vollenweider fan, but it’s a must-read for the faithful.
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Andreas Vollenweider – Air (2009)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 52:32 minutes | 571 MB | Genre: New Age, Ambient
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © AVAF Music

2009 album from the Swiss harpist. Vollenweider revolutionized contemporary instrumental music and became the first composer/producer gaining worldwide recognition (including a Grammy Award) for instrumental music. In the process, more than 15 million albums were sold. Over 25 years, Vollenweider’s music has reached millions of people from all continents, nations, cultures and ages in unique and profound ways. On this album, the music is relaxed and uncompromisingly beautiful. Tailor-made for people of our times who feel the need to take a deep breath, and long to slow down. 13 tracks.

It is a breath of fresh Air so to speak, with its use of trumpet and some really good new compositions. Vollenweiders best albums always had a “stream of consciousness” quality to them, and this is the first with that sensation in a while.
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