MP3 James Durst - Songs from HUE MANATEE´S QUEST

Indy pioneer James Durst has created a rich and varied musical experience for planetary citizens of all ages that inspires and uplifts while conveying its timely message of environmental urgency and peace.

10 MP3 Songs in this album (42:45) !
Related styles: FOLK: Modern Folk, KIDS/FAMILY: Kid Friendly

People who are interested in Gordon Lightfoot Joni Mitchell Pete Seeger should consider this download.


Details:
"Yesterday, I set up a reclining chair on the lawn, poured a beer and put on your Hue Manateeâs Quest CD, and was blown away. Your latest composition is outstanding -- on many levels -- creatively, artistically, intellectually, musically. You managed to bring to light the universal
questions and themes that are asked by all thinking-beings. Thatâs an ambitious undertaking for any art form. To do so in an engaging musical form, with a simple story line that
appeals to all ages is an outstanding achievement. The artwork is also outstanding. The word-play I expected from you, but you out-did yourself on this one. Itâs truly your greatest artistic achievement. Congratulations."
--Joe Cromwell, NY

"We've had your CD in our six-disc shuffle since you sent it to us. It's only gotten better. Just terrific!"
--Paul Jacobs & Jennifer Swender, Amherst MA

"Magnificent! It's truly a work of art."
--Joel & Dee Aronson, Gaithersburg MD

HUE MANATEE'S QUEST is an eco-peace folk musical created and composed by songsmith James Durst over a 14-year period beginning in 1995. James was an early voice warning of planetary warming since viewing a video documentary called 'Stopping the Coming Ice Age' in the late '80s. HUE MANATEE'S QUEST employs humor, pathos, inventive wordplay, compelling music and other theatrical devices to entertain, but at the same time convey the urgency of Earth's (i.e., Life's) great environmental challenge. These 10 songs were selected as representative of the musical's rich diversity, symbolic in itself of the planet's own vast interdependency with its many inherent lifeforms, i.e., The Gaia Principle.

"My folks named me Herald
My friends call me Hue
So can you"

With these words, our gentle hero HUE MANATEE introduces himself to us and a new friend, the somewhat cynical yet endearing itinerant musician FLICKATI CRICKET, who has witnessed Hue's close call with a boat propeller. The two exchange similar accounts of run-ins with the 'two-legged ones,' and share an awareness of each's own deteriorating environment. Together they seek the insight and counsel of wise old LEON CHAMELEON, a renowned change agent and teacher.

About to depart on a long journey when they find him, Leon invites the two young ones to accompany him, calling it an educational field trip. The adventure ultimately evolves into Hue's personal quest, re-energizes Flickati's musical mission, and provides Leon a long-dreamed-of pilgrimage to his ancestral roots, the Galápagos.

Along the way the peripatetic trio meet and share songs and assorted perils with such charismatic characters as WHALE, a dolphin trio ('TRIO LIFE'), SHINING EAGLE, shaman of the Northern Hemisphere Imaji Nation and ELLE CONDOR, medicine woman of the Southern Hemisphere Todos tribe. And finally, upon reaching their destination, they are greeted by the popular Galápagosian vocal quintet, ACAPELLAGO.

Before going their individual ways, the three protagonists are visited by SOURCE, who confirms their innermost awareness that all of Life is inextricably interwoven into a tapestry of magnificent colors and textures, each complementing the others, each interdependent with the rest.