Emergence

R. Carlos Nakai | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 23, 1993)
• Original Release Date: October 23, 1992
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Canyon Records
• ASIN: B00000136X
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #136,850 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Emergence is one of R. Carlos Nakai's most emotive CDs, exploring traditional melodies and prayers of Northern and Central Plains Native Americans while waxing improv on everything from desert winds to willow trees and red-tailed hawks. The result is a sweet, expressive, and grounding music dedicated to the songs and stories of Nakai's tribal ancestors. This longtime master owns a natural gift for singing with the cedar flute, and this becomes delightfully apparent after hearing the fresh and light "Whirlwinds Dancing" and "Coyote Rainbows." Nakai devotes the last third of the album to South American Diné creation and emergence stories and his original, "Willow People"--with its echoing notes and touch of ambient synthesizer--begins to sing with cosmic tones, reflecting the landscape of the Din&ecute; songs. What follows are four lovely pieces of expansive Native American music, some of which include Nakai's deep, godly voice floating over a timeless universe, before ending on a quiet, melancholy rendition of "Amazing Grace." With each song, Emergence emerges into a masterpiece. --Karen Karleski

Product Description

The best representation of R. Carlos Nakai's concert performance for the solo cedar flute beginning with renditions of traditional melodies from the Plains and Nakai's own works in the traditional style. Closes with an ethereal rendition of "Amazing Grace."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stirring and Thought Provoking, February 16, 2001

By 

Trent M. Nicholson "professor_nicholson" (Yucca Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Emergence (Audio CD)

Nakai produces a romantic, healing, while vaguely haunting music that gently transports you back to a time when music was more than just entertainment. Nakai emulates the traditional music of his Navajo-Ute in a way that is both touching and mystic. Be prepared to be taken on a journey where you will be introduced to the feelings an impressions that Nakai himself experiences. He will show you through his music what the world around his means to him, and he will instill that awe of life in you.

Nakai doesn't fall into the trap of giving the musical tourist exactly what he expects. There is no chanting or jingling bells, no corny sound effects or war cries. Instead he simply taps into that inner peace that we all look for. Perhaps that's the reason so many people have come to appreciate his music. The universal understanding of, and need for, peace and insight.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless in, of, and about nature, man, the spirit above all, May 31, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Dick Evans) (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Emergence (Audio CD)

The base is traditional. The composition is contemporary and the beauty is eternal. Nakai continues his journey along the paths discovered by his people. If you can enjoy this in the environs of its creation your enjoyment of it will be more complete. If you can't, just imagine the high plains of the Southwest covered with a black sky filled with tiny points of light, almost to the point of being continuous. You are one but you are not alone. You are small but you are significant. Participate!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NATIVE AMERICAN FLUTE IN ITS PURITY, September 24, 2005

By 

D. McAllister "MRD" (Somewhere in the Field) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Emergence (Audio CD)

R. Carlos Nakai is known as the preeminent virtuoso of the Native American Flute. There is good reason for this. No one does it better and no one sticks to the classical traditions surrounding this instrument than Nakai.

EMERGENCE is yet another testament of Nakai's devotion to his craft. Each track provides a soulful expression of the natural foundation for the flute's expression. No strange, New Age audiotechnics here. Nothing but the music and its ability to thrill the listener to the very center.

EMERGENCE, with solid performances like DREAMER'S CHANT, COYOTE RAINBOWS, WILLOW PEOPLE and AMAZING GRACE (just to name a few), is a masterful presentation of tone poetry that will soothe and inspire.

THE HORSEMAN