Spacious and inspired, this recording has wings. These beautiful compositions by Grammy-nominated pianist Peter Kater soar higher and higher with Richard Hardy's bamboo and silver flutes and Grammy-nominated Paul McCandless playing penny whistles, oboe, bass clarinet and soprano saxophone. Patient, poignant and very present, this music was created for our times of need and our times of expansion and relaxation. Let it carry you home.Pianist Peter Kater has orchestrated a gentle, introspective series of ambient chamber works that stays just the right side of sentimentality and, at times, attains the sublime. Each disc is dedicated to one of the elements: Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. Of the four, Air is the most contemplative and ambient, with a quartet of extended compositions, each riding atop synthesizer ambiences and pads. The CD has a hymn-like feel, a style that Kater frequently plays in church concerts. The synthesizers double as atmospherics and spacey church organ, but Richard Hardy's serene bamboo flute on tracks like "Wings of Sound" gives them a more plaintive sound, like wind blown across a desert floor. Kater eschews dynamics and overt melodies, and some of the tracks recall Brian Eno's Music for Airports--especially "Flying Dream," with Kater's layered, wordless choral vocals. He plays the textural alchemist on Air, an album that quietly exults in sonic interactions. --John Diliberto
