Customer Reviews

The Path Beyond

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Tim Rayborn's first solo album, "The Path Beyond", is a rich musical presentation of a superbly talented artist, who deftly weaves a multicolored sound tapestry from past times and delivers it to us, pristine, in the here and now. I highly recommend that you take the musical journey into "The Path Beyond", with him. His incredibly diverse skills with countless ancient musical instruments,[he plays them all!] are surpassed only by his extraordinary voice. The very best selections, in my opinion, were when his clear voice joined in that ensemble, or when it danced solo in a haunting a capella.

Jewish, Christian, and Islamic music from medieval Spain, North Africa, Turkey, Iran, and the Balkans.

This recording features music and musical styles from several of the regions that historically had contact with the Arabic Islamic world, and often were Muslim themselves, especially in the medieval and Ottoman periods.

The music is decidedly pre-modern. It does not feature modern instruments (with the exception of a few modeled on earlier designs), Western influences, or obvious innovations in style from the twentieth century. Five songs are of historical and traditional origin, while the others are improvisations or compositions that reflect the spirit of that same ancient heritage.

Some of the original pieces were composed or devised prior to the recording, while others were created "on the spot", capturing true improvisations in the moment that they were created. Improvising remains a standard musical practice throughout the Islamic world, and was an important feature of music in medieval Europe.

Until about ten minutes ago, I had never heard any of Tim Rayborn's music. None of it. I didn't really even know who Tim Rayborn was. But then I met him on an Internet community site, got some links to some of his music clips, and liked what I heard. A lot. It's a break from your typical instrumental stuff, since he's using instruments from the areas that his music represents. If you're looking for a new sound, try this album. You won't be disappointed.