Brooks And Day – Mystic Messages – Keeps The Music Flowing
Two of my favorite musical instruments are the flute and the guitar. So when I heard the debut release of Brooks and Day Mystic Messages…..the message came through to me loud and clear. This is one fine album that I am going really like!
Now even though Mystic Messageshu is the debut album, that doesn’t mean they haven’t made music together earlier in their lives. In fact they have been playing on and off together for the last 30 years!
Ben Brooks (flute and keyboards) and Peter Day (guitar and keyboards) first jammed together in a folk jazz band after high school. Now decades later and still friends and on and off collaborators, They have discovered an “uncanny, improvisational music synergy that is beyond rational explanation.” They can only describe this synergy as Mystic Messages.
The Origins of Mystic Messages
Ben says this about the origins of the album“
Peter would arrive at my home studio every other Saturday. We would talk about our lives for a little while, then simply push the record button and start jamming.That’s where these recordings began. We added the orchestration and percussion later, but the original recordings were just guitar and flute and Kirk Karna keyboard, when Peter felt like playing it. We really had no expectations or agenda.”
The percussion magic was added to the album by Rich Mangicaro, who has worked with the likes of Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh and Michael McDonald. Additional keyboards and percussion was added by contemporary jazz artist Rib Mullins. Mullins also mixed the music. Rich Mouser mastered the project.
About The Music of Mystic Messages
Now comes the hard part of writing reviews for me. When I listen to New Age albums it’s usually as a soundtrack to some other activity, typically, either yoga or reading. So I just put an album on and say that’s really nice music. I the case of Mystic Messages I thought to myself I really like the flute and the guitar blending together. Anyway here’s something with a little more depth…..
From the opening track Sacred City (which introduces us to Brooks alternately graceful and soaring flute energy) through the title track “Mystic Messages” (which builds towards a powerful fusion of Brook’s flute and Day’s a acoustic guitar) Brooks and Day effortlessly eases from pure sensual relaxation to dynamic and delightfully jazzy global fusion passion. “I believe that our conversations in the Rock Room informed the improvisations that ensued,” Brooks adds “For instance “A Song for My Father” is aptly named. The day we recorded that piece, Peter and I were mixing on our respective fathers’ passings. The music that flowed through us reflected the poignancy of this conversation.”
The Bottom Line is the album is terrific! So Check It out!
Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of Brooks and Day
Artist’s Website
CDBaby
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Here is the title track from Mystic Messages..