Track Listing

1. Voices
2. Mountain Chant
3. On Eagle's Wings
4. Anasazi Visions
5. Evensong
6. Water Bearer
7. White Shell Dreams
8. Light Waves
9. Shadow Dance
10. Ritual I
11. Ritual II
12. Continuum

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22585 in Music
• Released on: 1992-01-23
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
The Sun Dance ritual is the subject for R. Carlos Nakai's Sundance Season. The Sun Dance celebrates and honors man's relationship with Mother Earth. Nakai explains that tribal dancers in the ritual are encouraged to concentrate on their reasons for dancing and to meditate on the orderliness of life. Nakai's original melodies arise from the themes of the sacred traditions: On Eagle's Wings, (meditations on the scintillating flight of the golden eagle), Light Waves, (recurring phenomenon of light refracting through water droplets, manifesting as rainbow paths), and Water Bearer (reaffirming the essence of life upon this small dust speck orbiting a very small star). The inspired playing by Nakai of the wooden flute, together with vocal chanting, drumming, and the lonely sound of the eagle bone whistle, brings to life this celebration of creation.

Amazon.com essential recording
Nineteen eighty-seven's Sundance Season was released at the height of Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai's creative powers and is the first of two recordings done at Lindisfarne Mountain Retreat in Colorado (the other being Desert Dance). While Desert Dance is a solid representation of Nakai's diverse talents, Sundance Season emits a more inspired, alive energy, perhaps due to the Sun Dance festival that took place near Lindisfarne during recording time. Nakai's flute meditations on this collection emote relaxing, centered prayer while his chant and gentle, low drumming seamlessly blend in an added ancient dimension. Particular standouts include "White Shell Dreams" with its cleansing sounds of a fresh rain shower and the Tibetan bell on "Ritual I" and "Ritual II," uniquely bringing forth a peaceful awakening. The solo on the eagle-bone whistle mixed with Nakai's lovely baritone voice provide a pure, golden finish. One of Nakai's best. --Karen Karleski

About the Artist
R. Carlos Nakai has artfully merged traditional Native American performance practices with new perspectives on his musical lineage. An accomplished vocalist and master of the wooden flute, he has studied and lived with many tribes, incorporating their instruments and insights into a highly personal expression. Based in Tucson, Arizona, Nakai has performed at festivals, schools, museums, galleries and concert halls throughout the United States and in Europe. In addition, he has composed soundtracks for public television specials on Native American arts. A visual artist and teacher, as well as a musician (trained in both classical trumpet and indigenous flutes), Nakai has worked with the Arizona Commission on the Arts.

Customer Reviews

exellent pick
this album(DVD) sooths your soul. i would recomend this DVD for all those that are looking for inner peace from a long day of stress, this music is the best way to take a peaceful journey of rest!!

Carlos Nakai - Sundance Season CD
This was a replacement CD...we completely wore out our first one. My husband turns it on every night when he goes to bed. We have a second one that we keep in the Jeep to listen to when we are riding through the Smoky Mountains. It is a wonderful CD and I recommend it to everyone who enjoys Native American music!

Sacred Music
This is music of an entirely different level from almost everything that one hears in the modern world. In a sense it is more prayer than music. You stop, you listen, you begin to contemplate sacred things. This is appropriate, since the underlieing theme is the great ritual of the Sun Dance. This is music to cross between the worlds.

Carlos Nakai is the finest master of the traditional Native American flute that I have ever heard. He is almost supernaturally good. Yet, somehow the accoustics of the Lindisfarne Chapel manages to make him sound even better than usual.