DAVID ARKENSTONE
Citizen of the World (Windham Hill)
Reviewed by Eric Steiner

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David Arkenstone's Citizen of the World is one of two Windham Hill discs up for Best New Age CD this year. The other is George Winston's Plains and there's a lot I like on each. I'd prefer, though, a uniquely Americana-type category for Winston, and I'd add Arkenstone into the World Music category due to how I think of New Agers and stuff like that. Or, at least the stereotype that's between my ears of 'em. Citizen of the World is truly a world music sampler: from the Andes-inspired "Forest Runners" to the Arabian rhythms of "Desert Crossing," Arkenstone stamps his musical passport in all corners of the globe. I especially liked "Into the Dreamtime," which recalls the days before Australian aborigines recorded history, which is also related to a Native Australian's song lines where we have our own musical song line to walk in order to help discover our heritage. If Arkenstone's disc helps people discover new world music or turn them on to his earlier Narada or Windham Hill releases, Citizen of the World will have achieved much more than a Grammy. It will have helped introduce the variety of world music to a wider audience. To me, that's worth more than the hardware (although it'll fit nicely on his mantle, I'm sure).

Track List:

Forest Runners * Desert Crossing * Moonflower * The Gypsy Camp * Safe Passage * Ceremony * Land of the Tiger * Carried Away Across the Sea * Temple of the Pharaoh * Into the Dreamtime

© 2000 - Eric Steiner