Bill Douglas - Irish Lullaby - Deep Peace

A stunning album, with its Celtic source material, sumptuous harmonies, and gorgeous melodies, The mind floats gently across the natural greenscapes of Ireland, Scotland and England through BILL DOUGLAS' sonic images when experiencing Deep Peace-the British Isles in their greatest serenity. But these are no mere landscapes. Rather, Douglas has fitted his vast experience in both jazz and classical music to that great heritage, a tradition of pictures in sound, and the poetry of those who have lived and felt those scenes. Two-thirds of the collection of original works are set to the great poetry of the English-speaking peoples, while the rest are instrumental settings of lyric, melodic invention. The set opens and closes with the title piece, a choral version of the traditional Gaelic blessing, a kind of litany wishing the recipient the peace of "running waves," "the flowing air," "the quiet air," "shining stars" and "gentle night," so that all may "...pour their healing light on you." (A solo vocal version first appeared on Douglas' Jewel Lake, released by Hearts of Space in 1988.)