La Bella Vista

Harold Budd | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 7, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Shout Factory
• ASIN: B0000CD5IA
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #141,006 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Minimalist composer Harold Budd is perhaps best known for his collaborations over time with Brian Eno, Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins, and Andy Partridge of XTC. Over the span of his music career beginning which began at age 36 when he earned a degree in Musical Composition, he released over thirteen albums and appeared on many more. Harold Budd is unique as an avant-garde pianist and composer who has earned critical respect and commercial success. Budd’s sparse, tonal wash approach was said to have been inspired by the buzz of telephone wires near his boyhood home in the Mojave Desert. Budd is unquestionably one of the significant figures of modern neo-classical music.

Product Description

La Bella Vista was produced by Daniel Lanois, (the Grammy-winning producer’s first production since U2’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind) and Adam Samuels. The album consists of ten original Budd compositions recorded as solos in his iconic ambient minimalist style.

Lanois and Samuels recorded the two sessions that comprise La Bella Vista at impromptu gatherings of friends at Lanois’ house. At the first of these session, the artist was completely unaware that tape was rolling, affording an entirely spontaneous and "of the moment" document.

According to Budd, the vintage Steinway on which he extemporized was "one of the most gorgeous pianos I have ever played. I played for fifteen people, most of whom I had met that night for the first time," he recalls of the initial session at the house, a 1920’s Italianate villa that lends its name to the album. The second session came shortly thereafter, again before a group of guests at Lanois’ house.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If Contemplation Had A Melody ..., May 27, 2004

By 

Juan Mobili (Valley Cottage, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: La Bella Vista (Audio CD)

If contemplation had a melody, the music contained in this album would be part of it. Harold Budd has been writing and performing exquisite music over many, many years -you must listen to "Pavilion of Dreams" or "The Pearl," his collaborations with Brian Eno in the 70's, if you need proof- and although not incredibly prolific, each time what he has released has been worth the wait. "La Bella Vista" ranks among her most accomplished in recent years, which might sound strange given the spontaneous circumstances of its recording at Daniel Lanois eponymous house in the Mojave desert -the story goes that he did not even know he was been taped during the first piece- yet it is. The music here is meditative, spacious and beautifully performed, particularly poignant for the early morning or the late night, which is not to say that it is bland nor without intensity. To ask Budd for more frequent releases it would be a tribute to my desire for more moments like these, yet given the consistent depth of his works there's plenty to dwell on, in this one, for a long time.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impromptu perfection, June 26, 2008

By 

William Timothy Lukeman - See all my reviews
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This review is from: La Bella Vista (Audio CD)

I can only echo the previous reviewers -- while Harold Budd's work with minimal electronics & piano is justly praised, this all too short collection of spare piano improvisations is stunning. There's an especially shimmering tone of antique glass to these pieces, an almost casual atmosphere born of a lifetime of composing & playing music. It's vaguely reminiscent of Satie without being the least bit imitative of him.

Now I also notice that one of the tags offered for this work is "easy listening." That's the last thing in the world it could be called! There's a contemplative lucidity to this music, a subtle but intense passion ... it touches the soul like a tender caress of burning ice. Definitely music for evening ... including the evening of life. Most highly recommended!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best of the best!, March 23, 2010

By 

Janice A. Bogacki (mount holly, n.j. United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: La Bella Vista (Audio CD)

This is my favorite Harold Budd CD. A live recording with some of the compositions recorded spontaneously and surreptiously, it has a special mood and relaxed flow to it. Budd is a master of this rolling, ethereal ambient sound, which is easily differentiated from other artists in the genre. I have provided customers with several favorable reviews, but this is my favorite. I listen to it at least three times a week. My friends like it. You can think, read or have a conversation while listening to it. Mr Budd is clearly the Godfather of ambient music, a moniker that I gave him a couple of years ago, and is now used by others. If you're a Harold Budd fan or an ambient music fan you will love this CD.