Monday, February 21, 2011

Direct Current released on February 15th & a Review!


Direct Current is an adventurous collaborative music venture which took root in December 2008 as an acoustic / electronic hybrid project between violist/violinist Leslie Gray (Saturnalia Trio) and flutist/keyboardist Daniel Crommie (Group Du Jour, Saturnalia Trio). As the recording progressed other musicians expressed interest in contributing: Jon Miller (guitars), Brian Davis of Pink Martini (congas), Thomas Filardo of Total Noise (guitars), Larold Will (Theremin), Bo Parker & Paul Parker from Group Du Jour (percussion & guitar / fretless bass respectively) and Paul Evans (alto sax) all came in to add their unique sonorities and textures to the mix. In summer of 2009 Glyn Havard (vocalist & bassist of Jade Warrior) agreed to add his talents to the proceedings and two albums were slated, “Between the Darkness and the Dawn” became a Crommie / Havard collaboration and the remaining tracks coalesced into the all-instrumental “Direct Current”.

This album is available for download only on iTunes, Amazon and many other online vendors.

Track listing:

Pacific Time (Crommie)

December Daydream (Crommie / Gray)

Snow on Bare Branches (Crommie / Gray)

Elephant (Crommie)

Ocean Sketches

a. Java Sea (Crommie / Filardo)

b. Arabian Sea (Crommie)

c. The Caspian Sea (Crommie / Gray)

d. Coral Sea (Crommie)

FreQ Rez (Crommie / Gray)

Road to the Atlas Mountains (Crommie)

Ballet from “Swan Island” (Crommie / P. Parker)

Flint & Fuel (Crommie / Filardo)

One Monkey Year Between Us (Crommie)

Psyclones (coda) (Crommie / Havard)

"Strangely though, while the similarities are easily drawn between the two albums, the end results are quite startlingly different, with Direct Current eschewing the more song based approach of Between The Darkness... for a far more repetitive, electronic feel where the rhythms dominate, but seldom change for the entire duration of the songs." - Steven Reid, Sea of Tranquility. Read the review here.

Friday, December 31, 2010

A review of "Solstice Sketches"

This is very cool ethereal music by Daniel Crommie, delivered through the flute and synthesizer (sic). It is very complex and wonderful music to listen to before sleep, yet it's difficult to describe and really must be experienced. Very dreamy and relaxing, yet mind stimulating. You cannot go wrong here even though it's hard to tell when one song leaves off and another begins. A wonderful addition to anyone's collection of relaxing, tranquil, thinking music. The prolific Crommie comes up with another winner here with Solstice Sketches.

Mark Johnson / Sea of Tranquility


Read the review here. Click here to download from Amazon.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Solstice Sketches released on iTunes & Amazon


Daniel Crommie's new solo flute album "Solstice Sketches" is due to be released on December 22nd (download only) on iTunes, Amazon and many other online vendors. Recorded between sessions for "Between the Darkness and the Dawn" and "Direct Current" in December 2009 and January and October 2010, the collection features Daniel's solo flute in a very ambient setting. Here's the track list:

  1. Midnight Moon 9:21
  2. Begin the Longest Night 21:46
  3. Toward the Dawn 12:46
  4. Autumn Epilogue 2:22
  5. Half-Awake Dream 8:17
  6. First Rays 2:49
Download from iTunes
Download from Amazon

Monday, September 13, 2010

Crommie/Havard CD reviewed three times! (so far...)

Dave Platt's "Friends of Jade Warrior" site has a very positive & generous mention of the Crommie/Havard album and you can read it here. There's a review of "Between the Darkness and the Dawn" at Sea of Tranquility. Read the review here. BRfm in Wales also reviewed the CD in addition to broadcasting it. Read the review here.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Review of Saturnalia Trio's "Hummingbirds" CD


"This delightfully versatile group’s only problem is arithmetical; it actually consists of four multi-instrumentalists, who play everything from psalteries to synthesizers and darbukkas to dulcimers. They dig deeply into the progressive folk genre, combining medieval and Renaissance music with modern sensibilities. Memorable originals sit comfortably next to songs by John Dowland, and the results form a thoroughly enjoyable pastiche that might remind one of Fairport Convention or the Incredible String Band. This recording will be a smash within a hundred miles of any Renaissance fair." (JW) Here's a link to the full review page.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Daniel Crommie with Glyn Havard "Between the Darkness and the Dawn"


Daniel Crommie's collaboration with Glyn Havard "Between the Darkness and the Dawn" is completed. Ten compositions: six songs and four instrumentals that feature both Glyn's and Daniel's lyrics and vocals and include musical contributions from Jon Miller (guitars), Larold Will (theremin), Michael Maldonado and Paul Evans (saxophones), Brian Davis (bull roarer), Paul Parker (fretless bass & guitar), Bo Parker (tongue drums) and Leslie Gray (violas). Glyn also plays bass and electric guitar while Daniel played flutes, synthesizers, dulcimers and created the rhythm beds. This album is available for download at iTunes, Amazon and all the usual online vendors, while the CD was released on June 15th with one extra track. Order it from Amazon or order it from CD Baby.