Ancestral Crossing

Scott Hartley's Ancestral Crossing is a celebration of life, adventure and hope.

The keyboardist said he wanted to combine electric and acoustic instruments into a format that would pay homage to the early adventurers and setters who chose to leave the relative safety of England, Scotland and Ireland in order to seen new lives in the unknown new world of America.

"I'm half English from the Forbes and Hartleys and half Irish from McClellans and O'Briens. I have relatives who helped found hte early American Colony of Jamestown," he says. "It seems to me that the people who got in those primitive sailing ships hundreds of years ago to leave England and cross the Atlantic Ocean were either brave and curious explorers or else were escaping from a very bad life and were hoping for something better. With that kind of dramatic, physical trip almost always comes an internal spiritual journey as well."

Ancestral Crossings is an attempt to capture the feel of that internal spiritual journey in music. To help pack the tracks on this CD with the needed emotion, Hartley recruited a team of expert musicians. These include violinist Charlie Bisharat, flutist Peter Gordon, cellist Melissa Hasin, saxophonist Farzin, acoustic guitarist Brian Donovan and vocalist Elizabeth Egan Everett.

More than anything esle, this album has range. It begins with three tunes that compose the Ancestral Crossing suite, depicting travelers leaving their homes and beginning the journey across the sea. It then follows the travelers as the spread west across North America,, eventually reaching the Pacific shore.

It's a lovely piece of work for fans of modern Celtic music. Drawing upon a variety of incluences, Hartley has produced an album that can tug at the hearts and minds of listeners. In Convergence, for example, Hartley blends the classic melodies of Shenandoah and Water is Wide to create a hauntingly beautiful moment. He also presents and charming arrangement of the traditional tune When Irish Eyes Are Shining.

However, he also provides some nicely symbolic tunes of his own. Anchor Bay provides a safe, serene feel, symbolic of all the safe habors in the world. Highland Vespers conjures visions of a gentle rain falling in the forest. If you listen closely, you might even hear the whispers of your own ancestors as they first walked the paths of the brave new world they'd risked their lives to find.

You can listen to clips from Ancestral Crossing at Amazon.com or find more information at firstlightmusic.com.