MP3 Annie Wenz - Time is Magic

"an inarguably beautiful album. haunting, rich, evocative, unique. Does it get much better... more beautiful? NO." J.Eric Smith Metroland: Albany,NY

11 MP3 Songs
FOLK: like Joni, WORLD: World Traditions



Details:
Annie Wenz's music is described as powerful, spiritual, ethereal & bold...

a patchwork of amazing stories & textures...

like Annie's life.

Her songs take you along on her journeys...backpacking around the world through Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Bali, Australia, New Zealand & India; bungee jumping 150 feet off a bridge with her guitar on her back (Annie says "of course I got 2 songs out of it!"); climbing an erupting volcano in Costa Rica; working as a rafting guide, a psychiatric nurse, & an obstetrical nurse in Harlan County KY; running in a 100 mile relay with Penobscott Indian women to Mt.

Katahdin; & playing Native American flute for Auckland, New Zealand's Millennium Celebration.

She is known for her unique way of blending contemporary sounds with roots/traditional & multicultural influences & funky rhythms, & her music has been compared to Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon & Richard Thompson.

Her warm humor and stories are woven with intricate stylings on guitar, hypnotic native flutes, piano, & percussion instruments from all over the world.

Her diverse audiences cross age and cultural boundaries.

When Annie's not on the road, (or surfing in her kayak!) she lives in W.

Massachusetts, Maine & Costa Rica! Annie's CD, "Poet's Dance",produced by Tom Prasada Rao, is a brilliant work of musical art & poetry...

with over 20 instruments played by either Annie or Tom.

It includes the powerful "Vietnam", opening with Annie singing in Vietnamese; the spoken word piece "Laos" with gongs, panpipes, Vietnamese Trong & various Asian instruments; the Thai song "Loy Krothong" honoring the River Goddess; Annie's percussive political song "Freedom"; Annie & Tom's English/Spanish duet of Phil Ochs "Bracero"; Tommy Sands "There Were Roses" & "Poet's Final Dance", a tribute to the late poet/songwriter Al Grierson...

among others.

Annie's CD, "Time Is Magic", with guests Duke Levine (Mary Chapin Carpenter's guitarist), Glen Velez (of Paul Winter Consort), Brooks Williams, and Annie Burns, and her '94 release "Gypsy Moon" have received outstanding reviews, and crossover airplay on radio stations throughout the US and abroad.

Annie was awarded 15 grants from the Mass.Cultural Council in 2000 for her educational programs, a "Meet The Composer" grant from the NEA, & a position on the prestigious "New England Foundation for the Arts Touring Roster" .

She combineds her skills as a musician & Registered Nurse in her recording "Peaceful Waters" & facilitates wellness & percussion workshops, blending Native flute music, drumming & aromatherapy.

Originally from Queens, New York from a family of 7 children, Annie studied piano, guitar, percussion & voice from various mentors before performing her compositions internationally.

She recorded the vocal soundtrack for the Swedish play/TV production "Dream Woman", and produced/recorded her song "Bring the Cup Home" for an ESPN Americas Cup Video.

Annie performs solo or with her band "Gypsy Moon" .

She has been a participating artist in Sonny Ochs tribute concerts, remembering the music of the late great Phil Ochs, & has shared the stage with artist such as Tom Paxton , Janis Ian & R.Carlos Nakai.

She is sponsored by Elixir Guitar Strings by Gore & Perception Kayaks.

..."I've played you new album several times...people love it...

so do I!"...

Tommy Sands It's not just WHAT she does...

it's the WAY she does it!...Fred Kaiser/Philly Folk Fest.

Pubah "Annie...blends voice & instrumentation to create a pervading sense of peace...a spiritual feel...Wenz is able to bring up difficult issues in her lyrics...lets the words float with tranquil music to send a subtle message that is all the more powerful...Dirty Linen ..."a gifted music diva/multi-instrumentalist blessed with a crystalline voice, a keen ear for melody, an uncanny feel for rhythm and a strong sense of social justice...Metroland, Albany NY "Annie translates passions into stories in song...she is, without a doubt the best story telling musician I have ever heard...

The Greenfield Recorder- Greenfield, MA Poet's Dance...

New Reviews: I just received and listened to the Poet's Dance.

It's all beautiful and powerful.

Congratulations a thousand times.

The dulcimer and your voice and that lonesome flute sound work so well on the Roses.

I'll have it on the radio on Saturday and many after that.

The cover's wonderful too, the physical photo refocussed in mysticism...

Tommy Sands- Rostrevor, County Down, Ireland I really, really loved the CD! ...Your choice of songs, as well as your songwriting is EXACTLY what folk music is supposed to be about.

Thank you for recording such great music for me to share! Ron Olesko WFDU Teaneck, NJ Poet's Dance is easily one of the corking albums of the year!- Vapourtrails Radio UK Annie,I am totally blown away!Your music is beautiful...

Malcolm (of the song! "Malcolm's World") Congratulations on another year on the Journey! ...it's such a great CD! Steve Jerrett- Folkdj Listguru/Listmom a backpack of tales from the far side of the globe...

a travelogue not only of body, but of spirit...

Springfield Journal, Spfld, MA ...Annie Wenz...The Polish Gypsy Folk Goddess...! Ellen Hayman KFAI St Paul,MN/ KUMD/KAXE/KAOS Ragamuffin Mike Plumbley - From Vapour Trails Radio Isle of Wight/England Annie Wenz's music draws on the folk traditions uncovered in her travels around the Globe.

On her latest album Poet's Dance the song rolls East to West effortlessly as a backporch swing.

The journey is a spirited one, the campfire magic caught magnificently by Tom Prasada Rao's production which polishes the performances sharp as diamonds.

Each song on Poet's Dance is a crafted jewel, a vibrancy of colours shifting from the snowy Saskatoon Sky, a love song of breathtaking beauty to Malcolm's World where the invite is to kick the sandals off and do a Carribean snoopy dance.

The feeling of the album is of a poet on the road, blending in with the people of different lands from South America to Ireland.

Annie Wenz has stayed a spell, embraced the people, understood their plight, shared songs and enriched herself as much as her new found friends: The late Phil Och's Bracero is just Annie & Tom Prasada Rao's guitars underpinning a vocal duet that is a brooding burner to peel paint.

Poet's Final Dance is an awesome tribute to Al Grierson "friend, brother, poet, monk, wiseass".

The ringing guitar introduction stops the breath and Annie Wenz's voice melts the senses.

Annie Wenz is also a registered nurse.

She is valued for her educational music programmes to make a difference to young people's lives.

She tours festivals, & venues throughout America and around the world.

If we are lucky maybe one day she'll grace our shores with her poetry and song.

Time Is Magic...

The Previous CD: Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange Annie Wenz is not your usual folk experience.

Combining traditional native instruments of both N.&S.America with modern and age-old themes, she wraps a warm surrealistic blanket around her songs without losing the feel of contemporary folk, the stories of our lives today.

Brooks Williams' slide guitar on "Dance Under the Moon" is excellent and, along with its haunting spanish chant, makes this cut my favorite.

A very close 2nd is "The Dragon"- percussions, pan-pipes & flute place this story about her journey to a Costa Rican volcano firmly in the genre of traditional native music of S.America.

This song will hook you with it's catchy beat and syncopation.

In contrast to these earthly images, Annie tackles the subject of child abuse in "Little White Lies," & the lure of the unknown in "When Horizon Calls" .

Duke Levine lends a skillful hand to the title track, & his guitar and Annie Burns' lovely voice grace "Wild Horses," dedicated to "all the wild women out there." "Journey to Katahdin" is a lovely piano/flute piece inspired by a "100 mile spiritual journey" Annie was invited to share with her Native American friends.

Glen Velez's percussions on this are mesmerizing.

Birds, rain, waterfalls, rustling leaves, and distant lightning all come to life through the skill of his hands on this sojourn.

Time Is Magic is enfused with the lushness of a tropical jungle, the sparseness of the southwestern deserts, the starkness of a granite mountain face, the gentle softness of a breeze caressing a leaf.

Annie Wenz has a rich, vibrant contralto voice and she has penned a most interesting and successful amalgam of images and sounds to be heard in contemporary folk today.

Metroland /Albany, NY Time is Magic is an inarguably beautiful album! Opening track "Dance Under the Moon" perfectly frames Wenz's unique musical nether-world, which is bordered by traditional guitar-based folk & Native/Latin American musical styles.

"Moon"'s arrangement is kick-in-the-solar-plexus surprising (it sits you down & sucks your wind out with an befuddled, involuntary ahhh when you hear it the first time)--but it prepares you for the album's rich melange of acoustic guitar, fiddle, cello, flute, percussion & even (gasp!) an electric lead line on "Wild Horses", which ends up sounding like Richard Thompson/Sandy Denny era Fairport Convention.

Wenz is also an evocative lyricist and story-teller: her lines make you want to listen to songs that were already wonderful when you were just hearing them.

Does it get much better than this? Maybe.

Does it get more beautiful? No.

Are you ready to call me presumptuous? Listen to the album before you do.

by J.

Eric Smith