Search - Oregon :: Essential

Autumnal equinox by campfire

07/27/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Blending instruments such as twelve string acoustic guitar, tabla, string bass, and oboe in this 1970s collection, the original members of Oregon simultaneously embrace jazz and classical harmonies and global folk rhythms. And mind you, none of this was overly fashionable when these veterans of the Paul Winter Consort struck out on their own and started cutting records for the Vanguard label some three decades past.Standout songs such as "Aurora" and "Silence of a Candle" have been rerecorded on subsequent Oregon albums, but never with the same inventive innocence that infused their early work. Even so, since the Essential Oregon period, the group has continued to fashion a gentle, energetic, intricately woven music that defies the limitations of any given particularist genre. All their releases are worth checking out; this is the best place to start."