Oscar's River of Light
Bruce Von Stiers
Are you a fan of World music? How about the so called New Age Jazz? If you are, then have I got an album that should be added to your collection. It is from a Bolivian named Oscar Reynolds. The title of the album is Rio de Luz or River of Light . The album was released on Reynolds's own label, Karumanta Music.
There are 11 songs on the album. Oscar produced the album. The musicians who accompany Oscar on the album are Enrique Coria, Jose Luis Reynolds, Fernando de Sanfines, Lalo Isquierdo, Cbuscales and Raul Ramirez. Coria plays the guitar and bass on the album. He is from Argentina . Jose is from Bolivia and plays the charango. De Sanfines is on percussion and hails from Bolivia as well. Izquierdo is from Peru and provides Cajon music. Chuscales is a Spanish performer who contributes flamenco guitar music to the album. Ramirez is from Peru and also provides percussion. Oscar, as I mentioned earlier, is from Bolivia . He plays the antara, guitar, bass guitar and synthesizer.
The first song is the title track, Rio de Luz. This song features Oscar on the antara, which is an Andean bamboo flute made up of several pipes in a single line. The song has some tranquil moments with assorted musical effects.
The second song is Luna Creciente or Waxing Moon. It has an Afro-Peruvian flavor to it. Joining Oscar in the song are Coria on guitar, Jose on charango and Izquierdo on the Afro-Peruvian cajon. The song does conjure up images of a moonlit night.
Sea and Clouds, Mar y Nubes, is next. It has some great percussion to complement Oscar's antara. After that the album switches gears a little with a Bolivian rhythm and dance number called Lucero or Bright Star.
Other songs on the album are Huascar, Estrellas Azules, Senderos, Mujeres y Ninos, Caminos, Abril and Serena. Estrallas Azules, Blue Stars in English, is almost a regular jazz tune. It has flamenco guitar along with antara, cajon and percussion. The liner notes describe this song as Bolivian- Flamenco fusion.
Mujeres y Ninos translates to Women and Children. It is a beautiful song with great flute music by way of Oscar's antara. Caminos is a wonderful rhythm and dance tune.
The song that I liked best was the title track Rio de Luz. But every song on the album was really good; bringing forth music that is relaxing and inspiring.
Oscar's web site has streaming samples from the album. You can find the site at www.karumanta.com .
© 2005 Bruce E Von Stiers