Track Listing

1. Acoustic Garden
2. Blue Martini
3. Shamrock
4. Deep In My Soul
5. Empire Builder
6. Clear Moon, Quiet Winds
7. Praire Schooner
8. Les Jardins de Nohant
9. Havana
10. San Antonio
11. Drayton Hall
12. Windows On The World
13. Talk Of Angels

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #72211 in Music
• Released on: 2002-08-13
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Limited Edition, Special Edition

Amazon.com
About five years ago, the duo of Tingstad & Rumbel dropped the ersatz jazz rhythm section they'd been using and went back to what they did best, evocative and pastoral duets for guitar and oboe. It brought a new freshness to their compositions and playing. With Acoustic Garden, the rhythm section returns, and it conspires again to make their music stiff and metronomic. They bring in several pianists, including David Lanz, to flesh out the harmonic landscape. But they only help on a few tracks, notably Tom Kellock enlivening the Celtic-tinged "Shamrock." Some lovely songs, including Rumbel's arrangement of a Chinese lullaby, "Clear Moon, Quiet Winds," and their co-composed "Prairie Schooner," emerge, but they push through a haze of kudzu, pretty on the surface, but choking the life out of every place it invades. --John Diliberto

Customer Reviews

A Pleasant Bouquet
I have always enjoyed Tingstad & Rumbel. Their melodies are consistently pleasant and a wonderful way to unwind. Plus, where else are you going to find oboe/english horn or ocarina music? Acoustic Garden continues their tradition of beautiful music, however none of the pieces really stand up and grab me. "Blue Martini" has a nice light jazz feel, but nothing compared to the driving blues of "Big Weather" from In the Garden. "Havana" may have a Cuban rhythm, but "La Fogata" from Give and Take can really cut a rug.

This album is certainly worth getting, but not a quintessential work. Like a bouquet of daisies, it pleases but doesn't dazzle.

Beautiful CD
I love this CD. Very relaxing, beautiful, soothing music. Can't wait to buy more of their CD's!

One For The Grammy
Acoustic Garden is one of Tingstad and Rumbel's most polished albums. In combination with their own intimate styling, they have joined up with four pianists from the Puget Sound area: David Lanz, Jovino Neto, Nick Moore, and Tom Kelleck as well as usung the services of Garey Shelton on bass as well as the percussion talents of of Mark Ivester and Ben Smith. This mix and match approach produces one remarkable cut after another, making it no surprise that they walked away with the 2003 Grammy for new age music.

As usual, Nancy Rumbel is predominant. Sometimes I wish Tingstad would take a more active roll in performance, since he is an extremely skilled guitarist. But, as always, he is the most generous of musicians. Of course, Rumbel, an exceptionally fine English horn and oboe player fills the lead roll with great aplomb.

For all that this album is entitled Acoustic Garden, there really isn't a particular theme. Instead the collection is eclectic - a dash of Chopin (Les Jardins de Nohant), some Celtic work (Shamrock), some pure fun (Blue Martini), and a tender memoriam to those lost on 9/11 (Windows on the World). All this variety can't help but please the listener. Take the time to listen to it a bit and you will see what I mean.