CHRISTMAS ON THE MESA, from acclaimed composer and multi-instrumentalist Alice Gomez, was created to depict holiday festivities from the vantage point of the Native Southwest and surrounding cultures. The music has a very strong Tex-Mex influence, bringing to mind border cities with streets and stucco walled buildings illuminated by holiday lanterns. Madalyn Blanchett's Native American flute and panflutes are very prominant on the album, alongside Gomez's comforting guitarwork and mellow Southwestern rhythms. The arrangements are faithful to the source material; yet Gomez also improvises in places to keep the music fresh and unique.
Award-winning composer and performer Alice Gomez paints a sonic portrait of the Native Southwest in her first new album in three years. Mellow flutes are framed by a rainbow of "world music" instruments. The result is a one-of-a-kind release perfect for movement and or meditation
A collection of compositions featuring the flute and reflecting the cultural heritage of the Native
peoples of the Americas. The music ranges in scope from primal to symphonic and uses an array of
instruments including Native American drums and rattles as well as synthesizers. A unique sound is
created on various selections by several flutes playing in unison.
The 10 compositions on HEALER'S SUITE lead listeners into various aspects of Native flute music drawing on a variety of tribal influences including, Apache, Mayan and Lakota. HEALER'S SUITE frames the Native flute with "world" percussion, nature sounds and stringed instruments.
Take a seat in the healing circle as a master musician weaves a unique collection of Native-style flute music aimed at centering the spirit and body. In addition to flutes you will hear Native drums, rattles and string instruments.
Flutes, often playing in unison, take listeners
on a unique journey tracing the migrations of Native people from the American Great Plains to
the Andean mountains. Flutes are framed by a variety of instruments, including percussion,
guitar and synthesizer. Musicians are: Madalyn Blanchett featured on recorder, Alice Gomez and Marilyn Rife.
If you have ever picked up an Alice Gomez CD, you know that both the flute and composition work are her fortes; and that her music melds the sounds of the Native Southwest with the distinctive musical influences of the Tex-Mex border region. For RHYTHMS OF THE PATH, those aren't the only influences at play, this time around Gomez takes a more global approach, spicing up her rhythms with the sounds of the African conga drum and the Indian tabla. The results are marvelous - the music, which also uses the kalimba and some other pan-cultural instrumentation, has a decidedly African sound to it. At the same time, her characteristic Native flute is there to make sure that the music doesn't linger on the opposite of the Atlantic for too long. A great new direction for Alice Gomez, I hope she continues in this vein for future albums.
The deep, powerful sounds of the timpani combine with a variety of
ethnic percussion instruments to create a sonic portrait of the changing
seasons.
Environmental sounds, flute and synthesizer combine with the drums to
create a unique series of compositions which feature many Native American
rhythms.
SKY PRAYER features over 70 minutes of earthy enchantment from flutist Alice Gomez, highlighting some of the greatest hits from her previous four releases on Talking Taco Records. Lush rhythms comprised of multi-layered flutes, Latin guitar and percussion are Gomez's trademark, offering listeners a dreamy expedition through the canyons of the Native Southwest. Among some of the gems on this release are "Red Sky," "Echoes of the Land," "Forgotten Empires," "Sierra Madre" and two new tracks - "Healing Earth" and "Magical Life."
Flute music inspired by Native American night chants and lullabies. Moods evolve
from upbeat to reflective using multiple flutes, ceremonial percussion instruments, Yaqui-style harp and
synthesizer. Musical influences include the Native peoples of the Great Plains as well as
Mexico, Central America and South America. For all ages.