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Click on the arrow
to play
"Heart of the Rose"
from Conni's new
"Flower Spirits" album
and scroll down for more
info on this new release
 CONNI ST.PIERRE
"Beneath the Waves: Legends of Lost Cities"
Ambient, meditational instrumentals on solo
flute, shakuhachi,
keyboard and chimes recreate myths of the
Lost Cities of Is and
Lyonesse. Beautiful,
magical, and relaxing -
a musical escape from
the stresses of the
modern world. Dream, daydream, or focus on
a creative project, and
this album can be your inspiration.
Click here to
Buy Now at amazon.com or download a free track
ORbuy direct with
free shipping
through PayPal
for $15.99
CONNI ST.PIERRE
"Between the
Branches: Legends
of The Wild"
The second album in
the Legends series.
Calming, meditative instrumentals on alto
flute, shakuhachi,
bass bamboo flute,
and keyboards.
Reflective music
from the heart of the woodlands, to the will
of the mountain. The
gentle wildness of a
summer breeze on cd.
Like breathing in the
forest.
Click here to
Buy Now
at amazon.com
or download
a free track
OR buy direct with free shipping through PayPal
for $15.99
CONNI ST.PIERRE
"Beyond the Sky:
Legends of the
Starry Night"
The third album in the "Legends" trilogy.
Spacious and
soaring alto flute
melodies re-create
the legend of the
Pleiades and
halcyon days of
winter. Highlighted
with solo Japanese shakuhachi, and
Native American
drone flute, listening
is like stargazing on a
winter night. You can
easily "float away"
across the vast
'ocean of the sky' into
a more mythical place.
Click here to
Buy Now
at amazon.com
or download
a free track
OR
buy direct
with
free shipping
through PayPal
for $15.99
CONNI ST.PIERRE
LEGENDS TRILOGY
Three cd set:
"Beneath the Waves"
"Between the Branches"
"Beyond the Sky"
Seven years in the
making,
The complete Legends
cycle - ocean, land, and
sky.
Special price! $35
The total playing time
is over 120 minutes of
wonderful musical
escapism.
Click here to
Buy Now at
amazon.com
or download
a free track
OR
buy direct with
free shipping
through PayPal
for $35.00
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 Conni St.Pierre
Wind and Wire review |
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"Very few artists can
successfully navigate the
straits that separate the
ambient and new age music
landscapes. After hearing this
CD, I’d have to put Conni
St. Pierre into that small group
of musicians. The concluding
album of her”Legends” trilogy,
Beyond the Sky: Legends of the
starry night, melds the delicate
“pretty” side of new age music
with the sparse, non-structured
aspects of ambient music, yielding
an alloy that successfully fuses
the two disparate genres into a
whole that should appeal to open-
minded listeners in both camps.
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Performing on assorted flutes and keyboards, St. Pierre crafts a sound
that is both haunting and soothing.
Her use of bell tones, in particular,
is astoundingly evocative. I listened
to this album a number of times at
dusk as I walked my dog, Onyx,
and the feeling of symmetry with the
fading light was eerie yet rewarding.
For example, “Message in a Dream” juxtaposes her flute work with sparse
synth strings and warm rich bells,
sometimes played as solo notes,
other times as broken chords or note combinations. The effect is mesmer-
izing - the flute hovers in the air, as if suspended, while the bell tones seem
to twinkle like sonic fireflies. I know
this makes her music sound overtly new agey; and, admittedly, since flute
(alto, wooden, and shakuhachi) plays
a big part in her sound, there is a
certain new age element to the music. However, it’s no more “pure” new
age than are the recordings of Coyote Oldman. “Daughter of the Winds,”
(where Conni is accompanied by a
wood thrush, since she recorded the
song outside), definitely carries that
same mystical ambience that Michael Graham Allen and Barry Stramp convey
in their recordings.
What struck me strongest about
Beyond the sky is how skillfully St. Pierre applies her various synthesizers and keyboards. “Eternal Valley” (the piece
after “Daughter...”) offers up flute and somber dronish style keyboards. The
song is almost dark in nature; certainly,
this is not your garden-variety “new
age” music. Another commonly used keyboard effect by the artist is one
that seems to combine harp-like notes
that reverberate like bell tones. These sounds are similar to those that were common in new age music in thelate
‘80s and early ‘90s (on recordings such
as Philip Elcano’s RainDance),but
St. Pierre puts her unique stamp on
the track by giving it a more free-
wheeling, almost proggish feel. In fact,
more than once while listening to this
album, I was reminded of the song “Moonchild” from King Crimson’s In
the Court of the Crimson King. Some
tracks on Beyond the sky carry that
same sense of spaciousness and improvisational feel, yet here the
sound is less free-form and more
accessible (the notes are played with
less silence between them).
From an ambient standpoint, there is
little use denying that a song like “Over Night’s Sea” is a distant relative of Budd’s and Eno’s The Pearl, albeit a cousin who
is somewhat cheerier and less somber. Although, St. Pierre is not all sweetness
and light. “Darkness Before Creation”
opens with reverberating drone-tones
and lower register flute notes and feels
like a pre-dawn shadowy piece.
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I admired how, ultimately, uncon-
ventional this recording is. Instead of playing it safe and following a more
clear-cut new age blueprint (featuring
major key tonalities and structured melodies), St. Pierre walked off into relatively uncharted waters. Bell tone keyboards sometimes sound almost like
jazz minimalism (and, in fact, if the
synths were sampling a Fender Rhodes instead of bells, you’d draw that
comparison even faster). It’s the overall warmth of the artist’s compositions that
won me over completely. Her flute
playing is a model of efficiency melded
with muted passion. I can’t remember
the last album I played that was so effortless to enjoy - the music is
soothing, yet not numbing or boring.
The songs are not at all repetitious, yet
a distinct continuity exists throughout
the thirteen tracks.
I have both of the previous recordings (parts one and two) of the Legends
trilogy but have not sampled them yet. However, if Beyond the sky is any
indication, I expect to be equally
enthralled with them. I sincerely urge ambient fans who enjoy the flute as an instrument to give this album a
listen; and, of course, new age music
lovers should consider my review as
solid an endoresement of a recording
as is possible. Unless you abhor flute
music, I can’t imagine you not falling
in love with Conni St. Pierre’s unqiue
and beautiful tone poems. Here is a
recording that resonates at a deep
level. The liner notes relate a mystical
tale (relayed via the song titles) and,
for once, the music and the “tale” go
hand in hand. This is no schmaltz or
cookie-cutter new age music. It is
inspired and genuine and I cannot rave enough about it. I love this album,
pure and simple"
- Bill Binkelman, Wind and Wire
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CONNI ST.PIERRE
"FLOWER SPIRITS" REVIEWS
(Click on the Publication link to read
the entire review)
"Introspective/reflective...St.Pierre is
an undiscovered gem of an artist...
uniformly excellent, and exemplifies
the healing and mysitical qualities of
the genre....a rewarding and evocative
cd..."New Age Reporter
" Le coup de coeur....On est presque
sur le toit du monde en parfait équilibre
avec la nature." -- Backstage Radio News, Belgium
"Introspective and dreamy - Conni
St.Pierre creates visions of leafy
glades and dappled meadows where
the vastness of the sky meets the
intricacy and slow motion of blooming
flora. This is music that could fill your
ears carrying you off into inspired
reverie, or could equally just tint your
environment as subtle background
music bringing its calming effects
unnoticed." -- Morpheus Music |
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