Talisman

R. Carlos Nakai

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 23, 2008)
• Original Release Date: September 23, 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Canyon Records
• ASIN: B001B3HDGY
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #43,609 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > World Music > North America > Native American

Editorial Reviews

Review

Twenty-five years ago, a friend gave R. Carlos Nakai a Native American flute to see what the former jazz trumpeter could do with it. Over the years, Nakai along with Kevin Locke, Mary Youngblood and other stalwarts had brought Native American flute to mass consciousness. But similar to an artist such as Mary Youngblood, Nakai took the indigenous flute into new realms, (European classical, jazz, and ethnic world sounds). The 62 year old flautist even journey into the realm of electronica on a couple of his albums.

Nakai's 25th anniversary release (with Canyon Records), Talisman travels full circle and we find Nakai once again performing on solo Native American flute on every other track. You will also find flute duos and the thoughtful Sunrise Prayer in Beauty. Talisman harks back to Nakai's first recording with Canyon Records, Changes. And true to its name, listening to Changes certainly brought much needed transformation to my life.

It's easy to imagine Nakai standing alone on the rim of a canyon playing his flute to the rising sun while perhaps an eagle or a falcon flies overhead. Nakai's repertoire whether performed in a symphonic hall, museum, or on someone's boom box, conjures the natural world. The title Talisman suggests this type of nature-base magic, something mysterious and alluring. Yet, something people living in the mundane world surrounded by too much stuff and emotional baggage cannot fully appreciate. You cannot hear the call of the wild and consumerism in the same breath. At some point a crossroads is reached and we must choose.

Listeners can still appreciate the haunting beauty of Nakai's flute as he performs songs with titles, Coyote Calling, Celestial Realm, and Cedar Breeze. But I suspect in listening to any heartfelt and soulful indigenous music, that the natural world will come calling and it will exact a price which will eventually lead to freedom and universal oneness.

As you can see, this is not an average music review. I am standing at that crossroads now as I receive more of Nakai's musical gift--his offering to us. Nakai picked up the indigenous flute 25 years ago to see where it would take him, and each of us, must take up our unique path to see where in 25 years it will take us. And starting today, make a choice to ensure that the planet is still around in all of its beauty 25 years from now and beyond. --By Moon Child - The Whole Music Experience 'In Review - R. Carlos Nakai's 25th Year Celebration'

Product Description

Talisman celebrates the twenty-fifth anniversary of R. Carlos Nakai's first release, Changes, and returns to the pure, haunting sound of the Native American flute unaccompanied by other instruments. Talisman is a continuous soundscape as Nakai alternates songs for one flute and songs for two flutes in a rich tapestry of music so soothing, it unwrinkles mind and soul...

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Evocative, Haunting, Beautiful, January 8, 2009

By	Tianne (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This CD is wonderfully moving; I use it in my massage therapy practice and find that I never tire of hearing it in the background. It is one of those rare discs that I can start at 9 am, and at the end of the day when I turn it off I realize I've enjoyed it for 6 or 8 hours straight.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting flute music from R. Carlos Nakai, November 2, 2008

By	Steven A. Peterson (Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL)) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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R. Carlos Nakai comes from Ute-Navajo background, and his instrument is a Native American flute. And his musical voice is compelling, as exemplified in this CD. According to liner notes, he has released over thirty recordings, since his first in the middle 1980s. A few lines from the last page of the liner notes:

"At the first blaze of sunlight over the horizon
The prayer is finished and thus begins the new day.

In beauty it returns. . ."

Some illustrative cuts:

"Song of Darkness": This is a rich and evocative piece, elegiac in its own way. This is both mournful and soulful music.

"Obsidian Talisman": Another soulful piece. Some notes trail off softly until the sound ends. A moment of quiet and then the music sounds once again. This creates a telling effect for me.

"Sunrise Prayer, in Beauty:" Here, vocal chanting goes along with flute playing. The joining of voice and flute provides an almost hypnotic quality to the music.

This is the first time that I have listened to a full work by Nakai; formerly, I had only heard a handful of pieces played on our local NPR station. So, if you are interested in Native American flute work, this should prove satisfying. And if you're simply interested in good music, whatever its genre, you could do a lot worse than this CD.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Talisman by R. Carlos Nakai, October 6, 2008

By	Mary Maralee "writer" (Tuscany) - See all my reviews

I have other CD's by Nakai and this new one is the culmination of all of Nakai's works. He is a genius when it comes to communicating to the world with his soft, serene and soothing music. I love him. A must CD...

Mary Maralee