Tree of Life

Barry Phillips, William Coulter

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 14, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1993
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Gourd Music
• ASIN: B000005C2V
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #147,248 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Guitarist William Coulter has been recording and performing traditional music since 1981. He has performed with the bands Isle of Skye, Orison and, currently, with the Coulter-Phillips Ensemble. He has recorded two solo albums–Celtic Sessions and Celtic Crossing–as well as three albums of traditional Shaker melodies with cellist Barry Phillips–Simple Gifts, Tree of Life and Music on the Mountain–all on the Gourd Music label. William has appeared on compilations produced on the Narada label, Windham Hill and Hearts of Space. Four of these recordings have appeared on Billboard magazine’s “top ten” lists. In 1998 William produced Celtic Requiem for Windham Hill Records, which features vocalist Mary Mc Laughlin. He was recently featured on a sampler produced by the Columbia Record Club featuring violinist Hillary Hahn and Máire Ní Bhraonáin, the lead singer of Clannad. As well as performing and recording, William works as a producer and recording engineer, and teaches guitar at the University of California, Santa Cruz. During the summer he teaches at a number of music camps including the National Guitar Summer Workshop and Alasdair Fraser’s Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School. Barry has been 'cellist and percussionist with Orison, Martin Simpson's Band of Angels and The Anjali Quartet . He received his MM in composition from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 1990. Moving back to Santa Cruz with his wife Shelley in 1991. Phillips’ previous recordings include Gourd’s Shaker Trilogy (co-produced with William Coulter): Simple Gifts, Tree of Life, and Music on the Mountain. He also composed and produced The World Turned Upside Down in 1990, which was featured in the PBS production of Ken Burns’ Thomas Jefferson.

Product Description

Cellist Barry Phillips and guitarist William Coulter and company join forces to revive the Shakers' stirring and joyful music. Here again is an anthology to cherish: a perfectly choreographed sequence of lovely melodies, upbeat dance tunes and heartfelt hymns. With an all star cast of musicians including: Robin Petrie (hammered dulcimer), Neal Hellman (mountain dulcimer), Shelley Phillips (Celtic Harp, oboe, English Horn and recorder), Mike Marshall (mandolin, mandola, mandocello and violin), Kaila Flexer (violin), Esther Landau (flute) and Lars Johannesson (silver flute). A companion album to their first recording of Shaker compositions, Simple Gifts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another classroom favorite!, September 20, 1999

By A Customer

I use this album, along with Simple Gifts when I teach my Junior High students about Shakers. They love both of these albums, as do I. I know I will continue to listen to them long after I have left the classroom. It just wouldn't seem like fall to me without these quiet, calming, Shaker hymns.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Guitar....., February 8, 2003

By A Customer

I saw these musicians recently....you won't be sorry if you are looking for well-crafted traditional Shaker (and other) music.