Nigel Shaw

A special Anniversary Edition of The River to mark 25 years during which this exquisite recording has become a classic album. Natural sound recordings of a Dartmoor river, with birdsongs gathered along its banks, form the fluid bed over which flutes, bells, gongs and keyboard compositions play.

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For over 25 years The River has become a classic album and continues to one of our most cherished instrumental titles. It is a recording of exquisite beauty, a delicate balance of space and texture where the stillness is as intrinsic to the journey as the flow of music. Natural sound recordings of a Dartmoor river, with birdsongs gathered along its banks, form the fluid bed over which flutes, bells, gongs and keyboard compositions play. This is a deep meditation within a secret world, a sanctuary of peace and healing rest; music with which to drift and dream.

For this special Anniversary Edition of  The River Nigel has created a re-mastered version of the original album emphasising the clarity and spaciousness of the sounds without changing their essential nature. The album also includes an additional track, a unique live recording from a concert of this muisic given by Nigel at the Heian Jingu Shrine during the Cherry Blossom Festival in Kyoto, Japan (2000). The concert was performed inside a very ancient wooden shrine decorated with Shinto holy paintings, playing across a starlit lake to many thousands of unseen people listening from underneath the blossoming trees. This recording also features Hiroki Okano, renowned Japanese ambient musician, playing koto and percussion.

The River was the very first album that I recorded when I came to live on Dartmoor. Now when I listen to this music I hear the excitement I felt then about new beginnings and the wonder of taking first steps on a journey without having a clear sight of the end. I hear the beautiful sounds of this land that run, clear and flowing, through my own veins. I hear the ancient river song as it would have sounded to the ears of our oldest ancestors. I hear the music of hope and unity that strongly connects all the waters of the world. But most of all I hear home.” Nigel Shaw 2017

TRACKS: Upstream, Downstream, Forest, Moor plus live performance at the Cherry Blossom Festival, Kyoto
Album length: 62 minutes. Released in 1993/2017.

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