AYRES By David Lanz & Kristin Amarie

 

AYRES

By

David Lanz & Kristin Amarie

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

One of the highlights of the musical year has just happened, with the release of what could well be an iconic album, as we take a closer look at the masterful offering of Ayres by David Lanz & Kristin Amarie, this album isn’t just a great offering, it is an epic moment in time that the world of neo classical music will never forget, and one that will live forever in the hearts and minds of all musical aficionados across the globe.

The whole project starts with one of the most mammoth compositions ever, featuring the talents of both Matthew Fisher, the original Procol Harum keyboardist and Hammond organ genius, and Lars Hannibal one of the world’s premier guitarists, combine them with David Lanz and Kristin Amarie and you can literally feel and hear the magic crackle in the midnight sky.  Air is a graceful and transcendent offering that will become legendary in time, and a song that is so far beyond any known realm of beauty.

The album holds several previously released singles in the passionate and powerful Sacred Waters, a very special David Lanz moment can be found here, and the charming reverie of Ava Maria, showcasing Kristin Amarie off as one of the world’s leading vocalists of her day, and Beautiful One ft Cameron Stone cellist from TV’s Game of Thrones.

Ayres is a 12 track release of ultra-high quality, literally setting the bar to a level as of yet unseen previously. Tracks of a more religious style can also be found here on the magnificent Gloria in Excelsis Deo, which also features Dallyn Vail Bayles, Apollo5 and Kurt Bestor, in an arrangement vocally superior in all ways, while The Lord's Prayer (Padre Nostro) gets a facelift; the soaring vocals of Amarie raise the energies here with ease.

The mastery of the king of chilled piano in David Lanz is also here in abundance with the pieces Amorini, and Ave Maria both included as solo piano tracks in the latter half of the album. The Parisian delights of Demain des I'Aubes (Tomorrow at Dawn), and the lush textures of Cavatina are two more compelling and attractive offerings that can be found within the confines of this amazing new album by the pairing, both pieces sung with a warmth that is hard to express.

The entire project is concluded with the breath taking Padre Nostro featuring Kristine Amarie and Cameron Stone in a duet of blissful radiance, there can simply be no doubt that this piece was and is, a crafted creation and quite utterly the most sublime way with which to leave the album.

AYRES by David Lanz & Kristin Amarie is a rarity, it is one of those albums that is quite stunning in all its multi-faceted ways, it is indeed akin to a musical diamond, a collection of breath taking opuses that shine from its inception to as far as any musical horizon that is possible. AYRES by David Lanz & Kristin Amarie is an album for the ages, and without a shadow of a doubt one of the best releases I have heard so far in this decade with utter ease.