Andreas Vollenweider-Cosmopoly Sony Classical

In the New-Age music Heydays of the 80's a Swiss harpist who kinda looked like Richard Simmons provided the perfect music for long bathroom break for DJ's all around the world. Andreas Vollenweider's sound was always a daring musical experience but each album had perfectly segued songs with no gaps in between, in other words no mixing required. I remember it was easy to slap on classics like 'Down To the Moon' or 'White Winds' play them for hours non-stop and instead of returning to phone lines of complaints you'd get requests for more. When New-Age was looking for a superstar to lead it to the next level Vollenweider was just the guy to prove that the genre had substance, heart and sometimes the rhythm of rock n roll. The only problem was most of the new age musicians of the 80s lacked his vision and talent; they simply could not keep up with him. Cosmopoly is another example of his brilliant sonic journey, though there is no strong direction on this one it still serves as music with intelligence for the modern ears. This album is full of international spice traveling to different cultures and featuring some heavyweight special guest. Bobby McFerrin treats us to his vocal gymnastics on three track, Brazilian vocalist Milton Nascimento guests on the spiritually charged 'Cor Do Amor and Carly Simon adds a wonderful eerie mystery on the all too short 'Your Silver key'. Though not as potent as his earlier classics Cosmopoly still serves as a great ambassador from that Swiss harpist with an edge. - by John Beaudin