Prayer for the Wild Things: Paul Winter & The Earth Band (Living Music '94)

In "White Goat Of The Rockies," a cello lays down the smooth plane over which an English horn ascends and cavorts, mimicking the movements of a mountain goat kid zig-zagging up a slope. In "On The River," [Paul Winter]'s sax solo works itself airborne, fusing with the forms and calls of the southbound Canada geese. The only animal or bird recording not from the wild, nonetheless makes for one of the most haunting cuts. Paul obtained a tape from a biologist of grizzly bear cubs making a contented growl/hum as they finished suckling, and set it to Eugene Friesen's lower-chakra cello. The effect is almost overwhelming, striking a chord deep within the listener's animal self. In "Night Voices" there are no instruments at all, only Nature's nocturnal minstrels. In "Night Into Dawn" there are no animal recordings, only an ensemble of acoustic instruments each taking on the voice and personality of a particular creature. In "Dance of All Beings," Winter's sax weaves over and through the drum and song of the Native American White Eagle Singers.