Nightwatch

Paul Halley (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Paul Halley
• Audio CD (December 1, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: CDBY
• ASIN: B00004T2GI
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #239,657 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Sunset/Dusk

2. Moondance

3. Nocturne

4. Nightwatch

5. Dawn/Sunrise

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A priceless gem, June 9, 2000

By 

Erica "Erica" (Washington State) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nightwatch (Audio CD)

When 20th Century recordings are finally vetted for their originality and strength, Nightwatch will be on the short-list for the finest inprovisational recording--on any instrument, in any genre--ever made. I challenge anyone to listen to this Paul Halley without being gob-dropping blown away. Exalted, almost terrifying, Nightwatch moves through a dreamworld of emotion and lyric beauty. Paul Halley's playing is focused, tense, expectant. It's about as far away from mood music as is humanly possible and yet Mr. Halley invites us into his themes without pretense. It's as if he is inviting us to transcend our humanity and step into the realm of the holy. That he is doing so "off the cuff" is even more amazing.

It's a shame that many, many more people are not exposed to Halley, Eugene Friesen, and the whole Paul Winter crowd. Admirers will also enjoy Eugene Friesen's and Halley's mutual projects.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gold standard of organ improvisation, November 14, 2006

By 

Paul Emmons (West Chester, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nightwatch (Audio CD)

I would call this recording a must-have for organists and connoisseurs of organ music. These stunning improvisations, often based on beloved plainsong hymn melodies and aimed originally at a teenage audience, are outstanding in their musical integrity combined with warmth and popular appeal-- quite a precarious feat to accomplish. Amazingly, Paul Halley regularly demonstrated equal gifts as liturgical organist, choirmaster, and jazzman.

Summoning into life an awesome acoustical space, the great organ in the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine was justly one of the most famous and admired instruments in the U.S. Note the past tense, as at present it is unplayable, smoke damage from a fire in the building in 2001 clinching decades of neglect in maintenance. There are plans for its eventual renovation, however. Of the many recordings of this organ that I have heard, this one, by its legendary titulaire from the '70s/'80s, is by far the most inspiring memoir of a glory that once was and, please God, has not departed forever.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nourishing Ecstasy, July 25, 2003

By 

Yves Latorte (Columbia, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nightwatch (Audio CD)

Remastered Gramavision classic from 1982 features the British organist improvising five solo flights inside St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York. Drawn from a Friday night city concert series, Halley was forced to be compact and efficient for a young audience, but by no means did he trim the content sails. "Remarkable" would safely describe Halley's gift here for progressing, naturally unified, unimprovably logical extemporization, which often departs gently and proceeds, level by level, upward to spectacular heights. Four of the five pieces reach, seemingly, as far as one can on an instrument, in the shortest time (- as little as seven minutes, as long as twelve). After decades of listens, several of these cogent, organic, harmonically brilliant performances, especially the title track, still invite discovery and wonderment. Beginning with dewdrops, ending with oceans, Halley is the mariner of the dark night and speaks the chapters where journey awakens as joy. Play loud, add candles, and dance in the arms of the Creator.