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Like his fellow ambient composer on the Celestial Harmonies label John Mark, David Parsons possesses an extraordinary gift for capturing a sense of place. But while Jon Mark’s reference points have moved from Celtic Britain to Spain to the mid-east and beyond, Parsons’ well of inspiration remains resolutely in the Indian subcontinent and South East Asia.
So what makes him special? It's true that musicians in the ambient and new age genres have long toyed with ethno-ambient fusions. And Parsons choice of instruments is no different than that used by many a new age boffin; synthesisers, voice samples and samples of traditional instruments. But the similarities end there. Parsons music shows a profound affinity with Indian and Tibetan cultures, an understanding which reaches into the furthest recesses of Eastern religious experience and the landscapes in which it evolved. Parsons is the real thing. Not in an anthropological sense, of course, and he would certainly never claim to be. But his music remains one of the purest distillations of the East through a Westerner’s eyes that’s ever been committed to a recording studio.
Parsons first couple of albums were originally released in the early 80's on a small New Zealand label. Neither are essential, but some years later a far-sighted Eckart Rhan from the U.S. label Celestial Harmonies was sufficiently impressed with Parson's talents to sign him to subsidiary label Fortuna Records.
Himalaya marks the beginning of Parsons’ mature work. Alongside the later Yatra and Dorje Ling it shows a composer at the dizzying peak of his powers: refined, focussed and extraordinarily sensitive to his surroundings. It is music, says U.S. broadcaster John Diliberto, "informed by an Eastern sense of time, the idea that music is always becoming rather than arriving". It’s deep. Really deep. From the opening organ strains of Himalaya’s twenty-minute title track, Parsons slowly draws you into a sonic world where spiritual is simply too inadequate a word to convey such an exquisite sense of awe and reverence. With sustained organ chords, wafting synth melodies and subtle voicings Himalaya offers beautifully shifting textures, enhanced by occasional cymbals, tabla drums and the distinctive drone of the Indian tamboura.
The double CD album Yatra - a Sanskrit word for “journey” - is his most ambitious work, full of poignant musical impressions of his journeys through India and Tibet. Parsons’ most developed rhythmic pieces are found here. The title track cleverly plays off a looped drum pattern against samples of street hawkers selling their wares, while “Bengal Village” and “Assi” use bright, electro-acoustic arrangements of Indian folk melodies. But his fondness for extended deep space excursions remains, and the swirling epics “Maha Puja” and the “Manasarovar” are mesmerising, ever so subtly drawing on samples of ritual chanting as the trance-like tones slowly unfold.
Dorje Ling is also masterful, blessed with the same subtle grandeur as Yatra and exuding a deeply reverent atmosphere. The Tibetan angle is more overt here, most pronounced on the twenty-minute title track. It opens with a sustained bass drone, the crystalline sound of Tibetan bells and other traditional percussion. You get the feeling that you’re the invisible participant in some kind of traditional ceremony. And when the vocals of Buddhist monk Tenpin Wangdu first rise above the surface, only the harshest cynic would not to be moved. If you’ve already heard the other-worldly buzz of harmonic throat singing, you’ll know what to expect.
Dorje Ling marked the beginning of what turned out to be a fairly inactive decade for Parsons in terms of releasing his own material. Instead he spent much of this period traveling the world collecting field recordings for Celestial Harmonies' "Music Of Islam" series.
Towards the end of the 90's, however, his rate of releases picked up again and Parikrama and Shaman stand as the best of his more recent works. Stylistically Parikrama suggests little change in direction since Yatra, save a sparser and more minimal sound. It compares most favourably with Yatra's epic sweep and deeply meditative feel. Wholly different but equally successful is Shaman. Here for the first time on record Parsons explores the spinning, layered synthetic melodies of ambient trance - with a nod to German electronica of the 1970's - coupled with a strong tribal pulse. It's a surprising departure and he pulls it off with considerable skill and passion.
Parsons best recordings remain among the most precious jewels in the Celestial Harmonies fold. German composer Eberhard Schoener once wrote that, as Westerners, our psyche has evolved in ways totally different to the East, implying that we can be little more than awe-struck observers of its cultural experience. If this is true - and I suspect that it is - Parsons is indeed fortunate, for he has secured himself the most privileged of vantage points. We can be thankful he has returned to share it with us. Review from AmbientMusicGuide.com - David Parsons
