When conceived, Windham Hill Records was primarily known as a label catering to folk music tastes, characterized by acoustic instruments and sound quality.
Since that time the label's repertoire has broadened to include a much wider range from free form jazz to new age electronic music.
An example of this is heard in the work of three very original groups of artists: Metamora, who on their album titled Morning Walk create a relaxing blend of modern and traditional folk and dance music; The Turtle Island String Quartet's self-titled debut, a daring string ensemble that combines classic elements with bold jazz arrangements; and Interior, who create an electronic tour de force intricate in design and mood on their album appropriately called Design.
Each of the albums contains some music that works, some that does not, but all have very unique examples of original sound.
Morning Walk -- Metamora
(Windham Hill WH-1068)
On their ninth album, Metamora is influenced by the medieval sounds of Celtic folk and European dance music. The chief instrument of the ensemble is the hammer dulcimer, very ably performed by Malcolm Daiglish. This is complemented by Grey Larsen on flutes, whistles, and anglo concertina and Pete Sutherland on fiddle, and guitar.
Both of the later members also make major contributions on piano and synthesizer.
Overall, the album works best when the main instruments of the ensemble are complemented by piano and synthesizer. This creates a much richer and exciting sound as heard in the songs "Through the Woods," and "Siri's Arrival" than other songs such as "North in the Mountains" and "Sunlight."
These two songs move much slower and prove to be far less inspiring. This is where the albums inconsistency can be placed. When the combination of both older and newer styles and types of music are combined the album is far more effective and original.
The Turtle Island String Quartet --
The Turtle Island String Quartet (Windham Hill WH-0110)
The Turtle Island String Quartet perform on the classical instruments of the string quartet, and on their debut album have created a style that is both modern and exciting.
Highlighted by the brilliant performances of David Balakrishnan on violin and Mark Summer on cello, the quartet on the first half of the album has written new exciting arrangements of old jazz standards.
Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night in Tunisia" is highlighted by the hacking cello and courageously roaming violins. All sounds on the album are made by the instruments of the string quartet as heard in Bud Powell's "Tempus Fugit," where the string instruments are used as a source of percussion and rhythm. It is also interesting to hear the modern jazz chord structure being used on instruments more associated with the classical genre.
The second side of the album features Balakrishnan's original composition, "String Quartet No. 1: Balapodem," a brialliant fusion of classical, jazz, Indian, and bluegrass styles.
Divided into four movements, its most memorable include the first movement, "Eurasian Hoedown," a gliding, free-moving piece with dramatic contrasts in musical variation and style. In the third movement "Variations on my Fathers Footsteps," Balakrishnan creates a rhythmic interpretation using the violin to simulate walking movement. Variations" is a bright steady piece full of wonderously repetitive motives and curious string instrument slides.
In total it is the album's free-wheeling style and composition that make it effective. Balakrishnan proves not just to be a great composer/arrang er but also open-minded in his ability to combine many genres to create an exciting, refreshing work.
Design -- Interior
(Windham Hill WH -- 1067)
On their second album the Japanese group Interior creates a wide musical spectrum of sound in mood and texture. With every piece multi-talented musicians Eiki Nonaka and Daisuke Hinata attempt to create an electronic musical landscape through harmony, rhythym and meter. Throughout the entire album the song structure changes from complex, orginized, compisitions to a very loose bizarre sound. It is in these changes that the album has its weaknesses and strengths
Songs on the record such as "Gaia" and "New York 1908" contain a technically precise sound but are very repetitive and seem to have no focus. It is in the more experimental tunes such as "Spring Walk," with its intense pulsating rhythyms and "River," a bizarrely simple mood piece, that Nonaka and Daisuke provide music that is both unique and riveting.
Other songs on tne album worth mentioning are "Shadows of You," a musical paradox of time and meter and "Out of Tokyo," an eerie block-chorded electronic orchestral piece.
In the final analysis it seems that Interior is a group obsessed by technical perfection. The group seems to work best in a musical vein, not a technical one. Their more elaborate technical ideas provide great background music but in many pieces there is no central theme or focus. Because of the repetitiveness of its musical ideas many of the songs lose interest after intense listening.
