Peter Phippen & Arja Kastinen – Forest of a Thousand Songs (Temps Oy, 2020)
Forest of a Thousand Songs transports the listener to a world of tranquility inspired by ancient Nordic runes. The album is a collaboration between American wind instrument player Peter Phippen and Finnish kantele performer Arja Kastinen.
The two artists cross the boundaries of world music, ambient and relaxation music. Forest of a Thousand Songs incorporates the natural sounds of calming brooks and songbirds and intertwines them with slow tempo evocative flute melodies and various forms of mesmerizing kantele (Finnish and Karelian plucked zither).
On Forest of a Thousand Songs, Peter Phippen plays the Japanese shakuhashi and ocarinas. Arja Kastinen uses 11-string and 15-string kanteles, 10-string kantele with bronze strings, 5-string kantele with bronze strings and the 5-string kantele with viscose strings.
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Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.