Collage V

Personnel: Oren Fader (guitar), Dorothy Larson (cello), Djivan Gasparyan (duduk), Arsen Tovmasian (piano, synthesizer), Yaron Gerschowsky, Mark Wood (synthesizer), Collage Chamber Orchestra.
Principally recorded at Psycho-Acoustical Laboratories, Long Island City, New York and Systems Two Studio, Brooklyn, New York. Includes liner notes by Michel Bayan.
COLLAGE V comes with a special pouch containing eyeshades and a study guide.
Michel Bayan, a sound researcher for 30 years, studies the effects of sounds and music on the human body. His Collage music series (Bayan arranges, compiles, and tests the music) was created for the purpose of relaxation. Be prepared because his albums are often emotionally charged. Collage V begins with the familiar "Spanish Romance" for solo guitar, played by Oren Fader. The sound is so real you can almost chew it. "Sister" is a lament played by the Armenian duduk (an oboe-like instrument) master Djivan Gasparyan, whose sister died shortly before this recording. A sonic fairyland--yet still on the sentimental side--is created with Vangelis's "West Across the Sea"; Fader returns to play a delicious rendition of "Plaisir d'Amour" by Giovanni Batista Martini and "Greensleeves." Beethoven's moving "Moonlight" sonata follows (Arsen Tovmasian, piano), backed by ocean surf a slight accents of chamber orchestra. Two guitar pieces follow: the jaunty aria from Bizet's opera "The Pearl Fishers" and the sublime "Gymnopedia No. 1" by Satie. Mozart's radiant "Elvira Madigan" theme for orchestra an piano is so spacious, it promotes deep breathing. The album ends with one of the most ravishingly redemptive themes in all of New Age music: the "Lullaby" from Ignacio by Vangelis. Bayan has done a great job assembling and arranging these new and old classics: a master DJ for the tired spirits. Bayan suggests listening with eyeshades and quality headphones. ~ Carol Wright