Search - Suzanne Ciani & Wave :: Live

Ciani?s ?Live? album embraces all.

lklug7@aol.com | Cincinnati, OH | 05/23/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Suzanne Ciani reached another goal in her recording career. On March 14 and 15 of 1997, Suzanne and her supergroup of musicians called "The Wave," produced their first live concert album at the historical, Herbst Theater in San Francisco. Featured players of the Wave include Grammy- winning woodwind player Paul McCandless (a founding member of the seminal jazz group Oregon), Windham Hill solo artist Michael Manring on bass, Teja Bell on guitars, Kalani on percussion, Matt Eakle on flute, Jeremy Cohen on violin, and Doug Harman on cello.This album presents a tapestry of beautiful arrangements of her favorite songs. It has that "lite jazz" flavor. In addition, there are three new songs written especially for this album. I have many favorite songs, but there are some that I should share with you. Suzanne's signature song, "The Velocity of Love" is a very passionate arrangement. "Go Gently" and "Time Stops" is what I would classify as "songs of comfort." It feels that her music embraces you when faced with difficult times in your life.Again, all of her songs present a lot of imagery. The liner notes are well presented. The audio quality is very well done. You may want to play around with the Dolby Surround settings on your stereo system to capture that live concert feeling.Suzanne was the "Diva of the Diode" from her gifted talents on the Piano at an early age. She was the "Diva of Electronic Music" from her expressive works in electronic music. After listening to Ciani's "Live" album, she is the "Diva of Endurance" because her music withstood the test of time. This album is a living proof of her achievements in music.Purchase "Suzanne Ciani and the Wave - Live," and let her music embrace you."

From Solo Piano Publications

Kathy Parsons | Florence, OR United States | 11/08/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Suzanne Ciani is one of my all-time favorite composers and musicians. It was very exciting to be able to attend one of two concerts she did in San Francisco in March 1997 with her hand-picked super-group, The Wave (Paul McCandless, Teja Bell, Matt Eakle, Michael Manring, Kalani, Jeremy Cohen, and Doug Harman). These concerts were the setting for Suzanne's first-ever live album and DVD. At the concert itself, I was surprised that such phenomenal musicians were using sheet music, and commented in my review of the concert (in the first issue of Wind and Wire) that it seemed too controlled. Suzanne told me later that she was following the classical tradition of keeping the music as written, and feels that too much improvisation in her music takes the backbone out of it. Her vision was certainly clear and absolutely correct when it came to the recorded version of the concerts. This album is gorgeous! Contents-wise, this is a wonderful overview of Suzanne's many composing styles, and the live performance gives each song a fresh take. There are electronic elements in several of the pieces, most especially "Samukee" and "Mosaic", which keep them true to their original form, but the live instrumentation makes them much warmer. Old favorites such as "Neverland", "Eagle", "The Velocity of Love", "Hotel Luna", and "Anthem" all take on a new life with Matt Eakle's soaring flute and Paul McCandless' variety of wind instruments, as well as the other artists' strings and percussion. The three new songs on the album, "Butterflies", "Stream", and "Folk Dance" indicate that Suzanne is continuing to evolve in new directions. Her more recent work seems to me to be somewhat more complex and classical, but still continues in her own melodic and soothing style. "Butterflies" is my favorite of the new pieces, and it is easy to visualize the fluttering of tiny wings while listening to it; each of the band members also has a short solo here. "Folk Dance" has a very unusual rhythm, and is great fun (composer/pianist Ira Stein arranged this piece as well as "Sailing to Byzantium" and "Eagle"). "Sailing to Byzantium", "Go Gently", "Drifting", "Stream" and "Inverness" are all smooth as silk, and Matt Eakle's and Paul McCandless' playing are again outstanding in their tenderness and insight into the music. "Time Stops" and "Anthem" are the two encore pieces, and both provide a gentle but stirring conclusion to this excellent album. As with any live album, the applause between pieces keeps it from being an album to doze off to, but the quality of the music should more than make up for that. I really like the way the album is laid out, with the quiet and flowing pieces alternated with the more upbeat, lively, or abstract songs. Longtime Suzanne Ciani fans will be thrilled with this collection, and for those not familiar with Suzanne's work, it is a great introduction!"

You will enjoy this one!!

Ed | PR, United States | 01/31/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard Suzanne Ciani in an American Airlines aircraft before taking off. Thereafter, I kept hearing the same music every time I had to fly through AA. I only knew that I enjoyed the music very much and it made me feel very relaxed notwithstanding my fear of flying. I always wondered who the artist was but never asked. It was not until an evening that I watched a Suzanne Ciani recorded live concert on PBS that I recognized the music and ever since she has become one of my favorite musicians. Suzanne Ciani is passionate and talented. Her group of musicians "The Wave" is simply outstanding. The melodies included in this album are really so beautiful and amazing that you want to listen again and again. The music on this CD is uplifting, soothing, inspiring and comforting. It really gets to your inner feelings. I highly recommend this album. It is simply good music for any occasion."