REVIEW FROM NEW AGE VOICE MARCH 2002
JEFF OLMSTED: Songs of Rumi: Don’t Go Back to Sleep
InspoPop
When I saw this album, “Songs of Rumi”, in the stack for review, I assumed that it would be like the other musical projects I’d heard so far that set the tremendously popular ancient poet’s words to Middle Eastern sounds. But then I listened to it, and I was jolted into a pleasant state of shock. I was listening to something really fresh; an American composer, Jeff Olmsted, director of New York City’s Interfaith Choir, setting Coleman Barks’ interpretations of the Sufi poet to American pop stylings. Some of the arrangements sound like they would be right at home on a Broadway stage. Olmsted’s interpretations are every bit as ecstatic as more traditional approaches and may appeal to listeners who may not be as into the world music sound as well as offering a pleasant surprise to longtime fans of both Rumi and world music. In the same way that Coleman Barks’ new interpretations launched a Rumi revival, Olmsted’s vigorous musical interpretation may inspire listeners to experience the words and music from a fresh perspective. The music these lyrics are set to seem well suited to the spirit of what the author was saying. The rousing chorus of singers and bold instrumental arrangements give the lyrics an edge and an urgency. Gentler tracks are sweet and seductive, but the overall tone is a high energy blast that resonates from the rooftops.-Dan Liss
Instrumentation: voices, keyboards, guitar, hand drums,
clarinet.
Dan Liss - New Age Voice