The Album
Rachel Faro’s songs express a global perspective, both musically and lyrically. “Windsong”, with its signature dulcimer sound, and the anthem “This Shall Endure” encourage us to have vision and heart during these dark times. Celtic, country, folk and blues stylings are flavored by Indian instruments such as the sarangi and bansuri bamboo flute. Lyrics adapted from poetry by ancient Chinese poets mingle with the sound of an Irish orchestra in ‘Dagger Dance’. ‘Touch of the World’, a song of edgy passion, contains both Indian clay pots and guitar feedback. And yet the production never sounds contrived; it all falls together quite naturally, with an uplifted and a harmonious quality throughout.
Featured musicians include guitarist Robben Ford, bassist Fernando Saunders, bansuri bamboo flute player Steve Gorn, oboe master Paul McCandless, composer/pianist Bill Douglas and multi-instrumentalist Joe Mennonna, who seems capable of playing almost every instrument possible, from saxophone to piano to accordion to flute.
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| The Artist
Rachel Faro
Rachel Faro is a multi-talented singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, record producer and the president of Ashe Records. She has produced over thirty albums, three of which have received Grammy Nominations. She is especially noted for her work with Cuban and other world music. Also, a longtime student of Tibetan Buddhism and a meditation teacher in the Shambhala tradition, this view pervades her work, both in her songs and in her international productions.
But first, before all that, she was noted as a highly regarded singer/songwriter. For those who were fans of Rachel Faro’s John Simon-produced RCA albums such as ‘Refugees’ and ‘Rachel Faro II’, released in the 1970’s, featuring masters such as Michael Brecker, Jack DeJohnette and Dave Holland, this album may come as somewhat of a surprise, arriving so many years later. For those who are only familiar with Rachel Faro as a thrice Grammy-nominated record producer of jazz, world and Latin music by artists like Vocal Sampling, Sammy Figueroa, Yomo Toro and Bobby Sanabria, this album will certainly come as a surprise. And for those who are not familiar with Rachel Faro’s music, either as artist or producer, this beautiful album will be a delightful discovery.
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"Wind of heaven, wind of dreams, wind of inspiration
Winds of karma, winds of change, sweeping through the nations,
Wind of passion, wind of love, winds of hope and fear
Wind of healing, feel the world breathing
O winds of peace come near."
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