Fly Away Home

Mary Hedin writes luminous stories about people we have known in times and places we thought were lost. Full of absorbing everyday details, incandescent flashes of fantasy, and rich layers of imagery, her fiction is sometimes dark and disturbing, but the vision is always humane. A radiant sense of place is dominant in her work–the mountains, vineyards, and suburbs of California, and the lake and farm land of her native Minnesota.

A beautiful blend of folk and psychedelia – carried off with a bit of a Sunshine Pop twist as well! The recording's got a homespun sort of feel – one that's a lot less polished than other efforts like this of the time, in a way that really furthers the charming nature of the tunes. There's clearly elements of bigger, more established acts filtering through the music – but the end result is deeply personal and homespun. John Ferdinando and Peter Howe sing in a harmony-based style on some of the best tracks – more Sunshine than folk, despite the acoustic guitars on the set – and the lovely Lee Menelaus also delivers some great vocals too, further sweetening up the sound! Many tunes have a catchy, jingly-jangly quality – a bit like post-folk work from the west coast of the late 60s – and titles include "Mirabella", "All My Life", "Going Home", "Joy In The Finding", "Get Together", "When I Awoke", and "Lisa". CD features 2 bonus tracks – "Going Home (alt)" and "Though I May Be Dreaming (stereo)" – plus a well-done booklet, filled with plenty of notes!

During the Swing Era the clarinet was king. Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, and Woody Herman led three of the most popular bands of the 30’s and 40’s, yet with the advent of bebop and small-group jazz, the saxophone commandeered the crown, and the clarinet found itself in exile. However, with the advent of the Avant-garde in the 1960’s, a new generation of clarinetists steeped in the tradition, yet yearning to explore the outer limits of the music and their instruments, came to the fore. This live album from the 1979 Baden Baden New Jazz Meeting celebrates six of these adventurers.

The incredible true story of one woman's journey to relocate the place inside herself where strength, hope, and personal truth reside.

During the Swing Era the clarinet was king. Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, and Woody Herman led three of the most popular bands of the 30’s and 40’s, yet with the advent of bebop and small-group jazz, the saxophone commandeered the crown, and the clarinet found itself in exile.

The group's last fully succesful record, mixing soft, romantic sounds ("You Know Like I Know") dressed up in restrained, tasteful orchestrations with harder country sounds ("Homemade Wine"). "Fly Away Home" is probably the best rock number here, and also has room for some very pretty noodling on the mandolin.