NIEL GOLDEN

music

Niel Golden's first solo CD release can best be described as music without borders. It’s an eclectic instrumental journey through world musical cultures as diverse as Indian, African, Latin and the Blues. Niel is an accomplished musician specializing in playing the tabla (drums of North India). On this new CD he also plays guitar, all of the percussion instruments and vocalizes! Many of his original compositions feature the hang (hung), a hand played, melodic steel drum invented in Switzerland in the year 2000.

  1. Bergamot (Golden) 4:04
  2. Paint it Black (Jagger/Richards) 3:58
  3. Hari OM (trad. Arranged by Niel Golden) 3:40
  4. Next Stop Timbuktu (Golden) 5:37
  5. Celtickle (Golden) 3:53
  6. Maliwood Drive (trad. Arranged by Niel Golden and Ken Hall) 4:22
  7. Garden of Delight (Golden) 3:49
  8. Gabriel’s Wing (Golden) 4:27
  9. Mariam (Golden/Galbraith) 3:50
  10. Flying Away (Hall/Golden) 4:30
  11. Bhangraroo (Golden) 4:30
  12. Blu Z (Golden) 4:21

Featured and Guest artists include Harry Manx, George Koller, Steve Marriner, Jaime RT, Ken Hall, Scott White, Doug Galbraith, Scott Sheerin, Enrique Rivas, Emily Braden

See some live videos of Niel here

Monday Magazine CD Review
By John Threlfall
Feb 13 2008
It’s A Journey (independent)

Yet another entry in the almost-too-good-to-be-local category, Niel Golden’s It’s a Journey is a beautiful package, both visually and sonically. Perhaps best known for his work with local world music outfit Saffron, Golden has crafted a solid solo album that should stand the test of time. Filled with gentle sounds of the tabla as well as staples of both the world music (djembe, tamboura, kora, oud) and roots (guitar, accordion, harmonica) scenes, Journey sounds a lot like a Windham Hill release—and indeed, Golden’s music would be perfectly suited to the glory days of that fabled label. Most of these 12 tracks are originals by Golden (the notable exception being the quirky and charming cover of the Stones’ “Paint It Black”), but the savvy inclusion of a more rootsy sound broadens the audience for this album immensely, helped along by the likes of Harry Manx on the mohan veena, guitarist Ken Hall, bassist Scott White, vocalist Emily Braden, Jamie RT on fiddola and busy co-producer Wynn Gogol on accordion. For example, the traditional Indian Bhajan “Hari OM” is a great meditative track that’s much like a journey down an exotic rail line, but just when you’re getting tired of those mystical tabla sounds, he downshifts to a jauntier Celtic-influenced track like “Celtickle.” It’s A Journey is well worth taking


 

Times Colonist CD Review
By Joseph Blake
March 18 2008

Local tabla master Niel Golden's debut CD brilliantly melds jazz, Brazilian, Celtic, blues and India's classical music into a gorgeous easy listening melange.
With a studio team including Ken Hall, George Koller, Emily Braden, Enrique Rivas, Scott White, Harry Manx, Steve Marriner, Scott Sheerin, Doug Galbraith, Jamie RT, and co-producer Wynn Gogol, Golden conjures-up an eclectic, exotic world of rhythm from material ranging from the Rolling Stones' Paint It Black to traditional Indian sacred songs. Golden's originals comprise the majority of the CD's dozen tracks, and they are truly inspired examples of our borderless musical world. This is a stone gem.

 

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