Thank you so much to Peter Thelen for this wonderful review of my collaboration with City of Dawn and Karasvana - The Journeying Sun!
At hand is a trio collaboration between Damien Duque (a.k.a. City of Dawn), Sherry Finzer, and Ella Hunt (a.k.a. Karasvana), five tracks of gentle ambient music full of warmth, muted colors and shimmering gossamer beauty, where each of the three participants composes and improvises in real time, an immersive and atmospheric deep dive into a soundworld of provocative healing music. Duque, from McAllen, Texas creates powerful atmospheric textures using a plantwave device and a NeurofeedbackMuse EEG headset, along with ambient guitar and synthesizers, while Finzer, a Phoenix, Arizona based musician whom we have covered previously in Exposé with her solo Gratitude Project, drives the melodic layers using alto, bass, and contrabass flutes. Lastly, Nashville-based Karasvana offers beautiful wordless vocals to the mix, along with chimes, crystal singing bowls, and tanpura, imparting a slight Eastern flavor to what the trio collectively does. The opener, “Memory of Awakening,” sets the stage for all that follows, the opening swirling composite chord of synth layers and voice serves as the backdrop for the low flutes abd occasional percussives that populate the remainder of the path. “On Seashores of Endless Worlds” follows, serving as a conversation between all three players and vocals in a stunning backdrop of shimmering beauty. The closer “Walking Within” is the only piece among the five that seems to have a cadence, although it’s a gentle one, highlighted by tanpura and Karasvana’s soaring voices while the flutes ebb and flow through the background. My only complaint about The Journeying Sun is its length, all five tracks taken together are roughly the equivalent of a long album side; by the time a listener gets into their zone, it all comes to an end and one is left wanting more. - Peter Thelen
