Customer Reviews

Windham Hill Records Sampler '86

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have spent the last few years searching for music that I can play whenever I study. While I have found many good CDs in the past, this one is hard to beat.

This compilation provides a nice mixture of different textures of music from smooth bass lines with Michael Manring, to calm piano sounds of Liz Story. Also, there is a nice piano and woodwind combination in "Engravings." Every song has its own life and texture, but not to the point that as the CD changes from one tune to the next that it is distracting. I can listen to this music as I study and it helps me stay focused. But, it makes for nice relaxing music as well.

Having kept up with Windham Hill since 1983 I can safely say that this compilation (sampler) and the 1984 are my favorites. Sample the music above and see for yourself, there is a lot of variety here and all of it is quite nice!

Classic,Classic,Classic..Michael Manring on "Welcoming" feels like a Christmas morning,add in Piano,Bass,guitar,DULCIMER! songs and you may have the best Windham hill release out there.

A sentimental favorite,I highly recommend this cd.

This is the most beautiful music I have ever heard. I first heard this album back in 1987 when I was stationed in Germany. It was called Jazz Sampler 86 and one of my room mates made me a copy on cassette. I still have the tape but have always wanted the cd and now I finally found it!! This music is so sweet and lovely. It takes me back to my childhood years and warms my heart and soul. It's great with wine for a quiet evening alone or with someone special. This music truely is a masterpiece and I cherish it deeply.

I was a huge fan of the Windham Hill releases in the 1980s, and when this sampler was released in 1986 (featuring music released mostly in 1985), the Windham Hill label was at its creative peak. They had so many great artists, many of whom where at their top game in the 1985-1987 era, and this sampler attests to that.

"Windham Hill Sampler '86" (11 tracks; 46 min.) is a straight reissue of the vinyl album that I used to have, now 25 years ago (where has the time gone!). The collection immediately kicks off into overdrive with the 6 + min. epic "Welcoming" from Michael Manring, surely his finest tune ever (from his "Unusual Weather album--worth buying!), which is followed by a piano piece from Liz Story. Good tracks follow from Ira Stein & Russel Walder and Mike Marshall & Darol Anger (the label encouraged collaborations between label mates and would often release one-off albums by this or that label mates duo). Check out as another example of that Scott Cossue's collaboration with Eugene Friesen on "Gwenlaise" (from their album "Reunion"), just beautiful. Now the album is in full throtle on tracks like Shadowfax's "Another Country" (from their outstanding "The Dream of Childern"; one-album wonder Interior's "Hot Beach" sounds great; Malcolm Dalglish's "New Waltz" (from his mesmorizing album "Jogging the Memory", check it out); Mark Isham's "Theme from Mrs Soffel"; and the closing track from the Darol Anger/Barbara Higbie Quintet's "Near Northern" (from their fantastic "Live at Montreux" album) is just the cherry on the cake. In fact there were so many great artists around that this sampler does not even have a track from guitarist/Windham Hill founder and CEO Will Ackerman, perhaps the only sampler to do so.

I ended up buying many of these albums, and as such this sampler sounds like a greatest hits collection to me, and perhaps the best sampler in the Windham Hill catalog, although the 1984 and 1988 samplers are equally worthwhile too. Finally, I cannot rate this 5 stars as this is a straight reissuance, with poor packaging and no liner notes. And of course no extra tracks. But the quality of the music this is on here is stellar, let there be no doubt about it. Highly recommended!

The product itself, a used cassette, sounds terrific. I have also owned the vinyl, and Windhall Hills CrO2 cassettes are just as good. This is one of their best compilations, during their golden age. Highly recommended.

If you can buy no other New Age CD, this is the one. In my opinion, there is no better New Age album. I bought this sampler in cassette format in 1986, back when a "chrome" cassette was a sign of superior quality. I listened to it until the tape wore out. Now it's available in CD format.

The music on this CD disappears into the background, putting you in a productive mental state. The music is not soft and sugary like a lot of the elevator music claiming to be New Age music today. It is powerful in a subtle, quiet way. You hear the term "quiet storm" applied to Sade's modern smooth jazz. I call this CD "powerful serenity." Every track on this CD is outstanding- the only one I skip is New Waltz.

The tracks are piano, acoustic guitar, and some electronic synth. They are varied, yet feel like part of a coherent whole. Whoever put them together truly found the best tracks of the year and used some thought in their sequence.

If you haven't heard any of the great music that was produced by Windham Hill, you owe it to yourself to buy this incredible sampler. It is full of the most amazing music. If you are familiar with Windham Hill, this '86 Sampler is a "must have." No matter what genre of music you're into, I guarantee this will be the best music purchase you've made in years.