Peter Phippen
CD Review
Contributed by: WMC_News_Dept.
By Patty-Lynne Herlevi
09/02/2006
Native Intensity
What is authentic Native American music or do we need to even concern ourselves with such a question? Yet a package of "Native American music" arrived at my mailbox that begs to ask that question. The package contained a CD by veteran Canyon Recording artist, Peter Phippen who is not of Native American origin, but plays Native American flutes which include the wood recorder that most of us see around these days and an Anasazi flute, (Anasazi of course is the name that archeologists have called the ancient ancestors of the Pueblo Indians of the American Southwest). Peter also plays traditional flutes from other cultures. And he does know his way around these instruments almost as if he has been playing them all his lives.
Phippen's CD, Shadows of Dawn with its soothing tones can calm any foul mood. The CD falls under the new age category and possess little if any tension, meaning it scores low on the intensity scale, making this a perfect recording for spas, massage therapist and other healers. It's perfect for those that suffer from nervous tension or over-sensitivity to the world around them. With song titles such as Safe Passage and a Silent Place, I think you know where this one is heading. It might even be a wonderful balm for when you are stuck in rush-hour traffic.
The point I am trying to make is to not take Native American music for granted because this music resides in a vast terrain of genres and styles, ranging from 100% traditional to Native American pop, but even the assimilated music bears a Native American signature. It's the work of musicians that walk between two worlds. (And then there are non-Natives such as Peter Phippen who also walks between these worlds).