Dreaming Under the Banyan Tree by Randal L Meek

 

Dreaming Under the Banyan Tree

By

Randal L Meek

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

It is always a pleasure to listen to acoustic guitar music; it was my very first instrument as a teenager, which seems like an awfully long while ago, but one that I often reflect upon time and again. Randal L Meek first came to my attention back in ’22, just when we were crawling from the wreckage of the pandemic, and it was a beautiful respite for me at that time, however he is back once more with a brand new album four years later called Dreaming Under the Banyan Tree.

The album itself is 12 tracks inspired by Maui, Hawaiian landscapes and brought to life by the amazing Imaginary Road Studios and the living legend that is Will Ackerman, along with Tom Eaton who mixed and matered the album at his Sounds and Substance Studios. The opening piece is a warm and enriching offering that is utterly transcendent and called Maui no ka 'oi, I can relate to this track having immigrated to the island of Cyprus some 12 years ago and life changed in the most positive of ways ever, and still does so to this day. This is a beautiful way with which to being our journey, a sweet and loving track indeed, and one that contains on second guitar the mighty Jim Kimo West.

Petals Falling is our next port of musical calling, I fell in love with this one when I first heard it, there was some so very emotive yet ambient about this track, that it created a musical safe haven in my mind that I never wanted to come back from, add in the amazing flugelhorn of the immortal Jeff Oster and magic is made, the deliciously slow coda was also a beautiful thing to behold as well.

We drift now to a piece called Ha'iku Breeze, this slow paced, easy on the ears piece is one of those gentle walking along the coastline offerings, that you just cannot resist and one of many tracks that features the angelic vocals of Noah Wilding too.

There is a subtle change of guitar magic in the next piece called Whisper, an arrangement that is enhanced by a stunning piano on the offering, which I believe is played by the incredible Tom Eaton, add the cello of Eugene Friesen and you have a symbiotic composition of great quality and style, Meek has really composed something utterly special and deeply moving on this track, this piece seems to contain an underpinned narrative of a juxtaposition of loss and life in the weave, with the reflective nuances being truly felt.

At the mid-way juncture we find the track Papaya Salad, this is a song so much like my island paradise here, full of rich promise, warm sun and lapis oceans, with fresh fruit that grows and falls everywhere. Note the fretless bass of Tom Eaton here and of course the exotic musical delicacy of a Charlie Bisharat violin. Following this luxurious offering we move to Hokule'a a moving tonal arrangement about a journey and a boat and then utter peace, Meeks guitar here drips of contemplative magic.

The beauty of this next track is incredible and for some reason reminds me of the Black Sabbath track Fluff, I bet you never expected me to say that, but acoustic Randal L Meek, meets acoustic Tomi Iommi here on this offering. The overarching reach of this track embraces the word peace with a warm embrace on a superb performance by the artist.

This 12 track collection has some amazing qualities to it and on the track The Road There, we ae gifted a slow paced reverie of great quality, one that brought Meek to the attention of the wizard of Imaginary Road Studios himself, the pacing here is idyllic and something to utterly enjoy.

'Ahihi Bay is up next and contains the symbiotic genius of the ukulele via John Curtis, and Premik Russell Tubbs on flute, this mixture of a multi-instrumental flavour is incredibly attractive, and is a composition that draws the listener in to a world of beauty, calm and serenity, something that I understand completely.

In the deeper weave of this magical carpet of music we find a more reflective offering called Drifting, however this track has a meditative quality to its construction that is undeniably brilliant, with Ackerman joining Meek and the returning Oster and Wilding, this has to be one of the most spiritually fulfilling offerings from the release.

The penultimate track from this classy album is called Lost; I doubt there is a single person on the planet who hasn’t felt this feeling once or twice; here Meek explores this emotive aspect of life with the skill set up of a Charlie Bisharat violin supporting him in the most uplifting of ways, reflection and inspiration in one beautiful track that reminded me in content to another guitarist from the US in Robert Linton.

The concluding tale told is this almost long form opus called Dreaming under the Banyan Tree, and at over 7 minutes long we have a title track that includes natural sounds, this is a tonal voyage about nature and resilience, it could be a striking metaphor for our human experience and offers us something that we all need every day, hope. This is a beautiful concluding narrative, simply and perfectly made for the job of ending what has been a green and lush voyage of musical genius of Randal L Meek, note the Hopi drum from Will Ackerman on this track as well.

Dreaming Under the Banyan Tree by Randal L Meek is a delightful release, one filled with a deep sense of peace and contentment, it is an album bathed in the gratitude of being able to live in such a charming environment, I relate to that entirely. Here we have a meditative calming collection of beautiful acoustic guitar based reveries, that highlight the very best in acoustic instrumental music in this modern age, if this doesn’t get to number one, then there is no justice in the world.