Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: pleasure

  • Iridescent

    Iridescent

    After listening to the singular tracks that makeup Louis Anthony de Lisle’s latest work, Iridescent over the past months, it is an absolute pleasure to be able to relax into the beautiful, gentle and romantic mood woven simply for pleasure.

    Commencing with the lovely Iridescent written for friend Nancy Rumbal’s birthday, on which she plays oboe, the delicate blend of piano, oboe, with the subtle addition of a bracket of jazz, makes a lovely jazz fusion blend with which to commence a special, romantic moment in time.

    Our Golden Hour is a softly floating song which while structured encourages a walk back down memory lane to meeting a first love, the golden hour spent in sublime bliss; a new beginning, a poignant time always to be treasured.

    Paying tribute to those which were lost is the slightly pensive, deeply emotional The Loves We Lost (2020 -2022) for those whose lives changed forever during the COVID pandemic.

    Gentle, divinely relaxing and sensuous Some Kind of Lullaby is absolute romance, delivered with emotion: a man, his piano, the lights low, the woman he loves being worshiped. A song with which to fall in love.

    Dusk; a moody, delightfully elegant song reminiscent of the bewitching time between now and then, when light is gently softening, days colours are slowly blending into night, a time of dreaming, allowing the emotions to drift as you a walk arm in arm with the one you love, towards a future still unknown.

    Nancy Rumbal gently ushers in Aurora, before a soft joining of strings brings with it a touch of almost but not quite ’Hollywood” romance in a delightful bend of harmonies, before deLise arrives with a lovely cool jazz segment, in a song full of softy teasing moments with which to celebrate one of nature’s more awe inspiring moments:  Aurora or Dawn arising.

    That First Morning is a song of wonderment, of new beginnings, of hope for the future, with the special person in your life; which leads eloquently into the divinely beautiful Summer’s Glow wafted into being with cello and oboe, partnered with subtle piano, flute and guitar discovered in the blend which pleases the senses.  

    Drawing a delightfully sensual, relaxing and romantic work to a close is The Blue Hour, singular, mellow, a tribute to the darker, mystical shades of blue just before the sun rises and sets; a blue hour, a moment in time with which to reflect, the shades of a darker blue bathing the earth in delicate soft light.

    When Louis Anthony deLise takes time out from his busy life to sit and compose on a personal level, the music is guaranteed to be something very special. Iridescence is in all its many layers of emotion, pure bliss for forty short but delightful moments in time.

  • Best of Solo Piano, 2007-2018

    Best of Solo Piano, 2007-2018

    Dan Kennedy could be considered as an evergreen of the music world as his music and style keeps on giving, does not change in intent and emotion, but can be enjoyed year after year, as the many layers of emotion contained within each track come with a unique freshness embedded into the piece.

    Having selected a delightful and charming collection of pieces from his recordings over an eleven year period, some familiar, some fresh and new, if you have not followed his musical performance trajectory and others as familiar as a comfortable sweater, much loved and enjoyed time and time again, Best of Solo Piano 2007-2018 is a collection full of enjoyment and happiness.

    Over a music career spanning more than ten years, Kennedy has seen his songs become regular pieces on streaming service worldwide, regularly played on many relaxation and new age radio stations; he also took to the performance circuit delivering over thirty five shows each year throughout the United States, and in more recent times, has developed an interest in music and aging process.

    Having composed music for solo piano since the 1980’s, he firmly believes the essence of good music is melody and harmony and as each of the timeless pieces unfolds this is very apparent, but this can also cause a few issues when playing at live concerts. He is often challenged as to why the piece played does not sound like the recording. His answer is that he picks up the emotion in the room, or concert venue and this finds its way into the music being crafted on the night.

    The seventeen tracks showcase the diversity of Kennedy’s compositions and skill as the pieces move across the spectrum from slow, sensuous and mellow to up-tempo, jaunty, cheerful and happy, through to elegance and thankfulness, each piece touched with a delicate coating of pure pleasure in the creation.

    Best of Solo Piano, 2007-2018 is an album to be enjoyed slowly over and over again.

  • A Velocity of Being: Letters to A Young Reader

    A Velocity of Being: Letters to A Young Reader

    By the time she was in third grade Poet, naturalist and essayist Diane Ackerman already knew where to find heroes, monsters and so much more. Caroline Paul discovered books were a refuge and a source of great wisdom. Terry Teachout came to terms with the fact that in books you can be anything but ordinary. You can be a pirate, a King, an explorer or whoever you want to be; you simply do not need to be you!

    A Velocity of being – Letters to a young reader takes a journey into the lives of some fascinating people; writers, poets, scientists, journalists, explorers; people who have made a difference in this world, people like you and me who discovered books at an early age and the difference they made in their lives, both as children and adults.

    Each of the people that make up this charming anthology share a story about books; their love of reading, escapism, learning and pleasure discovered on the pages of a book.

    Born from a desire to keep books and the beloved pastime of reading alive and well in an age that was fast heading towards the extinction of books as we have known them since time memorial, Claudia Bedrick, an independent publisher of children’s books and Maria Popova, author and writer combined their talents, along with eight years of hard work and dedication, to build a work of memoirs from so many of the people who had influenced either their lives or others’ lives in some wonderful way or another. People such as Neil Gaimen, Jacqueline Woodson, Mathew Burgess, Lise Solomon and another 120 others who helped to create this treasure.

    Coupled with superb illustrations from celebrated graphic artists or illustrators adds a superb element to the stories as each of the invited contributors shares a special moment in their lives, when books offered solace, allowed them to escape to another world, offered a gateway to their future, bought laughter and adventures unimaginable.

    A Velocity of Being is a work born of love, full of love and offered with love to readers, young and old of this world, who still need to do all the things the generations of readers gone before loved to do; travel via the armchair to far flung places, escape on a secret mission to a save the world, at the very least, join an adventurer as they travel with dog-sleds across the icepacks of the world or learn more about the places, spaces and people who make up our world.

    Poetry, prose, simple letters, longer discussions, graphic, actually comic book tales, options to travel into space for just a moment or two, all rub shoulders to create a masterpiece of both children’s and adults reading that will become a treasure to be passed on through the generations.

    All the contributions that make up this wonderful, rich book have been offered with love and the desire to reach out to a new generation, to encourage reading. All proceeds from the sale of this book will go towards the New York public library system ‘because libraries are bastions of democracy and the oxygen for the life of the mind………….’

    David Bowies idea of perfect happiness was reading, What is yours……………………perhaps, hopefully, reading!

  • Lust at First Bite Discover & seduce your lover’s appetite

    Lust at First Bite Discover & seduce your lover’s appetite

    As the cover of this book shows, this is a cookbook for couples.  It contains some recipes, mostly dessert based, and ideas of how to present this food.  There are twelve tantalising chapters outlining the ingredients for food and drinks, followed by ideas for “Love and Lust.” These recipes and ideas are suitable for busy couples who can take time out for a date night. Although the mood is light-hearted, there are sage words, such as “Be sincere with your partner, let your inhibitions go and allow yourself to feel safe and free in the moment.” The scantily clad couples, who are naked, or in the bath or enjoying the moment, still need to eat, and here are some ideas to combine food and love.

    Oysters, not surprisingly, feature in the opening pages. They are prepared with breadcrumbs, cheese, wine and spinach, and baked in the oven. Salmon fillets are next on the menu, and appear in a simple yet appealing recipe with Salsa Verde. Fortunately, the dessert to follow is a Lemon Meringue Pie, which is served chilled, as it would take some time to prepare. The next section of the book shows a dessert called, “Tie me up Tiramisu,” where a blindfold is used as one partner feeds the other. With Paella, of course, you will need a few Spanish phrases to complete the atmosphere. Suggestions for these are given.

    Some ideas that intersperse the recipes and photographs are writing love notes to each other. Questions such as, “What item of clothing do you love to see me wearing?” can be a guide for dressing for your dinner. There are also creative ideas, such as painting each other’s bodies with water based paints, and then lowering yourself onto a drop sheet. Your outline will be there to share. Bathroom activities are also described. Using candles, rose petals, bubble bath, essential oils and champagne, allow your lover a few minutes to relax before you prepare the Mint Pea Bruschetta Bites.

    Ideas for drinks are shown and photographed beautifully in this book. The Twilight Kiss, a combination of vodka, blue curacao, an orange and crushed ice, looks and sounds delicious.

    Towards the end of the book, there is a segment with ideas on “How to Rediscover and re-ignite the passion.” This consists of a six page questionnaire, with many deep and probing questions to ask each other. For example, “How do you feel when we discuss intimate or sensitive subjects?” This is followed by a helpful few pages on Measurements, Oven temperatures, utensils and an Index of dishes.

    What a hoot!  What an unusual book for some lucky couple!

     

     

  • Dare to Dream

    Dare to Dream

    In so many ways this glorious album is a tribute to the many people who have offered support and help over the years to songstress Lindsay Gaye Walker through the highs and lows of her life, and that of Sean Michael Paddison, her partner in this magnificent singer-songwriter duo.

    Deep is an introduction to the talent that is encapsulated in this their first release. Lindsay’s beautiful rendition of this piece is reminiscent of the style Loreena McKennitt made significant during the 1980’s and 1990’s.

    The title song ‘Dare to Dream Again’ is a gentle, loving duo created to encourage people to follow their dream, take a change on life and living, to follow what is truly in your heart, to take a leap of faith and celebrate.

    Classic and beautiful, the child’s prayer, Now I Lay me Down to Sleep, penned in the 1800’s, is given an almost ethereal remix in the form of a lullaby, with the addition of harp rhythms featuring the subtle influence of the violin and cello. The mix is perhaps one of the best pieces on the album, which is a tall call, as the other tracks are also something special, so much so that it is hard to isolate one piece.

    Each of the pieces encapsulates an emotion, a feeling, a thought, a hope and a wish, which blends completely into the philosophy of this talented duo, that is to be able to raise human consciousness through the medium of music.

    African influences created by Sean, are used in the backing of A New Day, that changes the soft, gentle, tempo created in the previous works, adding a subtle but specific depth to what could be considered an almost hymn-like piece, which when followed by A Journey Within, introduced with the soft sobbing of the violin, underlines the reverence which has been created in order to give thanks. Like a previous piece Riding the Winds of Change, it is instrumental and showcases the immense depth of talent Lindsay and Sean have within their disciplines.

    Onward to Glory certainly raises the tempo as it is reminiscent of a battle hymn, a call to arms, to rise up, go forth and conquer, which is after all what this majestic piece is all about – standing your ground and defining  your reality.

    Wrapping up this empowering album is an instrumental piece ‘Moonlight Waltz’ which heralds in with the violin played throughout the album by Maria Grigoryeva, one the many special guests whom have added their undoubted talents to the creation of this passionate, emotional and empowering collection of songs.