"Rise" follows "Full Circle" as the Bay Area's own all woman World/Folk septet Solstice's second excellent, finely-crafted recording. Winners of the 2007 Harmony Sweeps Bay Area Regional and placing 3rd in the National Finals, the powerful harmonies and wonderful song selection have won this group a special place among our favorites. As Solstice's repertoire usually has consisted of strikingly performed World folk tunes like Sari Kaasinen's "Kappee," Japanese children's song Hotaru Koi" (Ho, Firefly), "Three movements from Finno-Ugric Landscapes" and Bela Bartok's "Legenycsufolo" (Boys' Teasing Song) included here, we see a whole new side of the group with the inclusion of Claude Debussy's "Dieu! Qu'il la fait bon regarder!," the Aretha Franklin hit "Chain of Fools," Paul Simon's early S&G hit "Hazy Shade of Winter," the Bluegrass song "West Virginia My Home," Edith Piaf's signature tune "La Vie en Rose" and Palestrina's "Tenebrae Factae Sunt" (Darkness Fell Over the Earth." One of our favorite songs from the group's 2007 live performances, Joni Mitchell's melancholy "Blue," completes a beautiful, surprising collection from spirited, talented Solstice. |
