''Desert Solitaire'' is a collaborative album by American

ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

musicians Steve Roach,

Kevin Braheny Kevin Braheny Fortune (born Kevin Braheny, 1952) is an American musician. He composes and performs quiet ambient music, often more melodic than other music of this kind. Biography Kevin Braheny was on the early design team of Serge Modular, a ...

, and

Michael Stearns Michael Stearns (born October 16, 1948) is an American musician and composer of ambient music. He is also known as a film composer, sound designer and soundtrack producer for IMAX, large format films, theatrical films, Documentary film, document ...

. This album was conceived as a follow-up to Roach and Braheny's 1987 collaboration ''

Western Spaces ''Western Spaces'' is a collaborative album by the American ambient musicians Steve Roach and Kevin Braheny. This album is the first of Steve Roach’s many musical tributes to the Southwestern Desert. On several tracks Kevin Braheny uses his ...

''. The title of the album is named after the eponymous book by U.S. author Edward Abbey, who died the same year and to whom the album is dedicated.

Track listing

# "Flatlands" (Roach) (4:49) # "Labyrinth" (Sterns) (6:56) # "Specter" (Roach) (9:34) # "The Canyon's Embrace" (Roach, Stearns) (3:35) # "Cloud of Promise" (Roach, Stearns) (6:38) # "Knowledge & Dust" (Braheny) (3:23) # "Shiprock" (Stearns) (4:00) # "Highnoon" (Roach, Stearns) (10:30) # "Empty Time" (Braheny) (5:51) # "From the Heart of Darkness" (Stearns) (3:50) # "Desert Solitaire" (Roach, Braheny) (6:06)

Personnel

* Steve Roach ( Oberheim OB8, DMX, Matrix 12, Xpander, Emax, Arp 2600, Korg M-1, Kawai K-5,

ocarina The ocarina is a wind musical instrument; it is a type of vessel flute. Variations exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the body. It is traditionally made from c ...

, Taos Drum) *

(

The Mighty Serge The Serge synthesizer ( Serge Modular or Serge Modular Music System) is an analogue modular synthesizer system originally developed by Serge Tcherepnin, Rich Gold and Randy Cohen at CalArts in late 1972. The first 20 Serge systems (then called " ...

, Prophet VS, Prophet 2002,

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sop ...

, tin whistle, Diamondback rattlesnake) *

(

Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

S-50, D-50,

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

TX-7, Oberheim OB8,

Serge Modular synthesizer The Serge synthesizer ( Serge Modular or Serge Modular Music System) is an analogue modular synthesizer system originally developed by Serge Tcherepnin, Rich Gold and Randy Cohen at CalArts in late 1972. The first 20 Serge systems (then called "Tc ...

12-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

) with *Chuck Oken, Jr. (shakers on “Flatlands”) * Robert Rich ( dumbek and gourd drums on “Specter”) *Goergianne Cowan (voice on “Specter”) *Miguel Rivera (effects and ghost percussion on “Labyrinth” and “From the Heart of Darkness”) *Leonice Shinneman (percussion, pakhawaj, manjerra, African berimbau, melodic rattle, claves on “Empty Time”) *Hyman Katz (flute on “From the Heart of Darkness”)

References

{{Authority control 1989 collaborative albums Steve Roach (musician) albums Michael Stearns albums