Customer Reviews

Companions of the Crimson Color

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Founded in 1974 as a duo by Ken LaRoche, Do'a was one of the first "New Age" music groups. This 1984 album finds them expanded to five pieces, and, as always, blending rich and varied influences from around the world into a unique cross-cultured experience with an appeal to jazz, folk, and new age audiences.

The music has an improvisational/compositional mood of life-affirming spiritedness. It is both seductive and robust weaving a tapestry of tonal structure that wraps the listener in a cocoon of sound.

Ken LaRoche, who did the arrangements for this album, is a master musician who can flawlessly play 168 different instruments. In this album he plays the concert and alto flutes, piano, oberheim, OB-XA synthesizer, c-soprano saxophone, nyunga nyunga mbira, nbira dzavadzimu, ocarina, percussion, and Chinese reed flute.

I recommend this album and any of the other 11 Do'a albums to discriminating listeners.

Being a fan of world music I was drawn to the sound that escaped from this album out of my stereo speakers. Yet, it is unlike most of the 'world music' I own. It is an ecelctic offering, full of shifting melodies, and unusual rhythms. In particular, the soprano saxophone, mixed with African percussion, made my head spin for a while. Clearly these people know how to play, and overall this is a cool album. A couple of the songs don't quite meet the standard, but tracks 2, 3, and 5 are all class.

I've been listening to Do'a's music for over 20 years now, and still find it immensely rewarding. This is music of great originality, optimistic spirit, and surprising range and depth. Companions is one of their best albums (I rate it alongside World Dance), and is a great introduction to their music.

Do'a has sometimes been called a New Age group, which is probably true, except their music is more "classical" in construction and more directed than most music we call "New Age." It might more accurately be called World Music, not in the sense of being from some other place, but in being an authentic attempt to make music using the widest range of global instruments and musical ideas.

Do'a might not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you're a person who just plain enjoys music in all its varied forms (like me), you're probably going to enjoy this disc a lot, and will find yourself listening to it many times.

The CD was the gap in my collection - I was a fan of Do'ah [Do'a, earlier, but they didn't want to be confused with DOA - a rap group] - There is a link to Randy Armstrong's site, but I've lost track of it. Ken LaRoche passed a couple years ago; there is a boxed set available at www.randyarmstrong.com - maybe he'd be willing to feature it here. Anyway, I met them in Ohio, back in the '70s. Always loved the music, and was glad to get this one. Shopping and shipping was easy and quick. As for a review, I believe - as they did - in independent investigation of truth - so check it for yourself. You won't be disappointed.

Representing the combined vision of multi-instrumentalists/composers Randy Armstrong and Ken LaRoche, Do'a (also: Do'ah)World Music Ensemble was one of the first bands in the western world to blend musical traditions and instrumentation from around the globe. It was due to them that the genre "World" became known. Devotees of the Baha'I religion, Armstrong and LaRoche used music as an expression for their message of peaceful coexistence.

Formed in 1974, Do'a initially came together as a duo. Ohio-born Armstrong had previously played guitar with rock and pop bands in the Midwest. During a tour of New England, he fell in love with the region and dreamed of making it his home. Moving to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, Armstrong began to seek musicians with whom to play. Compiling a list of over 100 musicians, he loaded his VW bus and went off in search of a musical partner. Armstrong's search led him to Peterborough, New Hampshire-born Ken LaRoche, a classically trained flautist who had performed with the New Hampshire Philharmonic Orchestra while still in high school. His musical interests, however, were extremely eclectic. When Armstrong showed up at his doorstep, he was working with an avant-garde jazz band. Agreeing to pool their resources, Armstrong and LaRoche took their name, Do'a, from an Arabic/Persian word signifying a call to prayer, meditation, chanting, and worship. The group added the "h" to its name in 1987 to avoid confusion with punk rock band D.O.A..

Simple instrumentation was used at first, with Armstrong on acoustic guitar and LaRoche on bamboo flutes and kalimba. They soon became obsessed with collecting, studying, and playing instruments from around the world. "I had a dream," Armstrong, a devotee of the Baha'i faith, said during a late-'80s interview. "I was walking down a cobblestone street that looked very much like Old Jerusalem. A man in a striped turban motioned for me to follow him into a store, where there were all these instruments hanging in the window. I kept studying them, very perplexed. I wasn't really sure what was going on. After that, I was led into a room where Abdu'l-Baha, the son of Baha'u'llah, the prophet/founder of the Baha'i faith, was sitting before me. It was a very powerful feeling. I wanted to turn away because I didn't think that I was worthy to be there. But, I couldn't take my eyes off of him. He was sitting there smiling and he began showing me instruments from around the world, one at a time."

Do'ah recorded its first three albums -- Light Upon Light, Ornament of Hope, and Ancient Beauty -- as a duo. Recorded during concerts at the University of Vermont Recital Hall in January 1981, Ancient Beauty was one of the first digital recordings in the United States. Expanding into a quintet with the addition of bassist John Hunter, percussionist Marty Quinn, and saxophone player Charlie Jennison, Do'ah released Companions of the Crimson Coloured Ark in 1984 and World Dance in 1988. Although it was their most successful release, reaching the seventh position on the Billboard charts, World Dance marked the band's last outing. Since Do'ah's disbanding, Armstrong has remained active. Together with German bassist Volker Nahrmann, he has performed with the Randy Armstrong Trio and the Armstrong-Nahrmann Group. He has also worked in a duo that he shares with storyteller/dancer Genevieve Aichele.

This is an absolutely wonderful album. Why do people listen to garbage when beautiful music such as this is available?

This recording is neither good or bad. It just is. It makes me think of the Tooth Fairy. By now I know there's no such thing. Subdued classical instrumental with flute player sounds OK. I like it. Not a lot. It's OK. It's kind of strange. In other words: "Yes, No, Yes, No". In the basic analysis, "NO".