''Neighborhoods'' is the only studio album from American musician Ernest Hood, self-released in 1975. It is a work of

ambient music Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody.The Ambient Century by Mark Prendergast, Bloomsbury, London, 2003. It u ...

that explores the soundscapes of

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

suburbia through a collage of

field recordings Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside a recording studio, and the term applies to recordings of both natural and human-produced sounds. It also applies to sound recordings like electromagnetic fields or vibrat ...

layered with Hood's

zither Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat bo ...

and synthesizer melodies. Only one thousand copies were pressed during its original production run. After remaining in obscurity for over 40 years, it was reissued by Freedom to Spend in 2019.

Background

Ernest Hood was born in 1923. He was a jazz guitarist in the

area in the 1940s. He played with his brother Bill and saxophonist

Charlie Barnet Charles Daly Barnet (October 26, 1913 – September 4, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. His major recordings were "Skyliner", "Cherokee", "The Wrong Idea", "Scotch and Soda", "In a Mizz", and "Southland Shuffle ...

. Hood contracted

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

in the 1950s, which confined him to using a wheelchair for the rest of his life. As he could no longer hold a guitar, he started playing the

. He played zither on some of

Flora Purim Flora Purim (born March 6, 1942) is a Brazilian jazz singer known primarily for her work in the jazz fusion style. She became prominent for her part in Return to Forever with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke. She has recorded and performed with nu ...

's early albums.

Production

The album was largely composed with

s and the

Roland SH-3A The SH-3A is a monophonic analog synthesizer that was manufactured by Roland from 1975 to 1981. It is unique in that it is capable of both the usual subtractive synthesis and also the less common additive synthesis, offering mixable waveforms ...

synthesizer.

Track listing

Personnel

* Ernest Hood – Zithers, keyboards, sounds * Russ Gorsline – Mixing

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1975 albums Music of Portland, Oregon Ambient albums by American artists Experimental music albums by American artists Field recording