Passage 138 B.C. - A.D. 1611

Many casual listeners of classical music (like myself) are often drawn to particular albums within this genre because of the timeless atmosphere and mood that we hope any particular release will encompass. Something that sounds like it could have come from hundreds of years ago, dripping in history and long forgotten places and people, and yet still saying something to todays listener.
I am not even a fan in general of brass quintets, quartets, ect, so if it weren't for a friend at work having purchased this CD, and my own being a major fan of the under-recorded guitarist Peter Maunu (who guests here), I would have never picked up this disc.
I've been buying just about anything Peter Maunu plays on after buying, and loving, his single 1990 solo album as well as his many appearences with Mark Isham (often on soundtracks), so I borrowed this disc to listen to at work from my friend. Then I borrowed it again, then again. Sure, I could have easily burned a CD copy myself from his, but these guys aren't selling CD's like they were Brittany Spears and I thought buying my own copy is kind of like a vote for these guys saying "yeah, this is a classic work". Besides, I even like the cover and the liner info (I just NEED to know who plays what on each track, who the guest musicians are, ect).
So you have this excellently recorded disc with the brass quintet with ever so subtle additions of Peter Maunu's guitar, some voices, and some subtle percussion and fretless bass from two other Mark Isham associates, Kurt Wortman and Doug Lunn. They all add to the great atmosphere (there's that word again) of this disc.
I've had my own copy of this disc for a couple of weeks now and it's the one disc that has not left my cd changer. I just change all the other discs around it it seems.
To top it off, I am a major Mark Isham fan and among all of the ancient works on this disc they do a version of Isham's "The Melancholy Of Departure" from Isham's "We Begin" duet disc with Art Lande.
I would recommend this disc to ANY fan of classical music as well as fans of new age music. It really deserves 5 stars and I hope this disc receives the sales numbers that it truly deserves..
I have no idea how my friend at work discovered this CD, but I sure am glad he did.

I have owned this album for five years now and I never grow tired of it. The music is in turns solemn, majestic, soothing, grandiose and intimate. In the liner notes EBQ trumpeter Rolf Smedvig says, "This represents our latest effort exploring, with new arrangements, the music of the modal system. Modal music is based on scales which dominated European music for 1,100 years, from approximately 400 to 1500 and strongly influenced composers for another one hundred years."

In addition to the members of the EBQ, guest musicians are incorporated into the music on guitar, fretless bass, synthesizer, percussion and wordless vocals.

What I love about this music is its ability to transport the listener to another palce and time. Smedvig summed it up best in the liner notes when he concluded," The music is timeless. The old becomes new, the new old. Melodies never end, they only lead to the next passage..." Beautiful music indeed. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

This is a wonderful album, which I can't recommend strongly enough. On this disc, Empire Brass succeeds brilliantly in melding the passion and splendor of early music with the eclectic trickery of modern world-music percussion. The arrangements are intricate & delicate, yet powerful, and the sound is pristine. Think of it as the Roman Empire making a techno jazz album. I even used it at my wedding. Fans of acid/techno jazz, world music and brass should not miss this amazing disc.