Eternal

RJ Lannan

Many think that there are four kinds of prayers; adoration, contrition, petition and thanksgiving, but for each person that utters words honest in heart to their God, the number is endless. There had been several albums that offer prayers and promises of late, (e.g. Sapient by Steven Chesne, Valerie Romanoff Healing Music 2) and frankly, there has never been a better time for them to appear. Fires, floods, wars, and unfathomable pain is loose in the world. Our earth is chock full of this dark matter and there sometimes seems to be no end in sight. But I have always been an optimist, full of faith in mankind and a benevolent Supreme Being.

Composer Kevin Wood offers up a new album that is full of promise and hope called Eternal. The album has twelve tracks of classically influenced contemporary/New Age/cross genre music with tribal chant, Gregorian chant, vocals of every description, and music that creates meditative soundscapes for body and spirit. I’ve reviewed Wood a number of times and I have always found his compositions emotionally-rich and spiritually satisfying on many levels.

“In Search of Meaning,” a tune enigmatic in nature, is the opening number. Jami Seiber’s cello strikes a somber phrase to begin the song, but a lighter heart responds and the rhythmic melody with tribal singing gives it the energy it needs to soar. There is chant in the background giving the song shading and the cello revives once again to harmonize with the singers.

“Light Shines Through” is an unusual mixture of sounds. World renowned musician Francois le Roux offers the voice of his cello an adoration prayer accompanied by female vocals, gentle violin, and men’s heartfelt chant. There is Native American elements throughout the album giving it an earthy, honest balance. “Father’s Love” is such a song. Shawnda Rowe Birch sings counterpoint with the shaman, both recognizing the Great Spirit.

One of my many favorites on Eternal is “Love’s Embrace.” It is a piano driven tune with many voices, strong bass, and a plaintive message. It is as if two different eras are singing in harmony. The New and the Old speak of a rapturous time when the balance of love and peace will be met. Another strong piano and cello tune is called ‘Time for a Change.” The piano lead is vivid in tone, the vocals reverential, and the message clear as day. The male chorus is solemn, but all the voices rise to the heavens.

Using “Pachelbel’s Cannon in D” written a hundred years ago and mixing it with tribal chant, the beautiful tune “Grace Eternal” touches all the deep recesses of the heart. It is not so much a prayer as it is a celebration of spirit. There are many ways to think about, and even more ways to say it, but having an experience where you know God is smiling down on you is uplifting. Again, Wood’s song of the old and the new seems to make sense. The past and the now sometimes add up to the future.

“Peace Begins With Me” is quietly sweet and poignantly melodic. Once again we hear the exquisite pairing of cello and piano and it works every time. Each takes a turn, compliments its partner, and deftly moves on; such a balance.

“Compassion Reigns” is the echo of an old hymn you have heard somewhere before. It has a mixture of soft cooing voice and reassuring piano, and a resonant chorus in the background. It is a song sung in backwoods churches, some with no walls or roofs at all, but with a strong assembly of faith that acts as the pegs and beams that make it a solid structure.

There is a bonus track on Eternal, “Atonement” from Wood’s Kindred album and it fits is perfectly with the album’s theme. It is a blissful song, a modern day mantra of voice and angelic chorus. I don’t know if it is strictly a song of contrition, but the feel is the embracing of love.

Kevin Wood’s Eternal is a musical companion to a life’s journey of discovery. It starts out with a search, goes through a myriad of transformations, and in the end, finds the answers that have been hidden in our own hearts all along. Anyone who listens cannot be helped but be touched by this music and by our own personal discoveries. Highly recommended.

Light of Consciousness Magazine

This is a gorgeous album, beautifully produced with sacred and tribal chant, and lush instrumentation including keyboards, cello, flute, guitar, bass guitar, and percussion. Compositions and arrangements are by Kevin Wood with ten guest artist including renowned cellists Jami Sieber and South Africa’s Francois le Roux. The one exception is “Grace Eternal,” Wood’s lovely rendition of “Pachelbel’s Canon in D.” He was inspired during meditation to share this piece as it expresses so perfectly the grace and love of God that is eternal and always flowing. Every song on this album transports you to an enchanting realm of serenity and peace. As Kevin expresses, “My hope is that my journey will inspire others to look within themselves in stillness, feel the Eternal presence of God, and share their love and Eternal light with the world.” Released in May 2018 and quickly attaining the Number 4 spot on the Billboard New Chart, this is an album for every seeker on your list.

Bill Binkelman

Retailing Insight Magazine

It’s a tall order to review such an intensely personal album, which is what Eternal is for Kevin Wood (piano, keyboards, percussion). How does one capture in words the deep, spiritual commitment this talented artist has made to this project? Wood, joined by too many guest artists to recount, and featuring vocals from the cultures of Africa, Native America, Celtic, and India, as well as Gregorian chant, has delved deep into the connective thread of humanity and produced an album rich with global influence melded to a contemporary vision of New Age Music, sometimes fused with light electronica, a la Deep Forest and Enigma.

Michael Foster

Ambient Visions

With so many submissions always calling for my attention here at Ambient Visions I’m never sure what to expect when I put a CD in the player or cue up some songs in my media player, but I must admit that the music on Kevin Wood’s latest album Eternal was a pleasant surprise. Sometimes it is an occupational hazard that I inadvertently look at a title and an artist and think that I know what I will find when I listen to their latest album, but sometimes that is just not the case.

Eternal is a contemplative album from beginning to end and is oriented around offering a peaceful place for the listener to open up to their own inner spiritual journey and to examine it in an environment that is both comforting and safe. Spirituality is a very personal journey where no one can show you the way you need to go. But music, such as what you will find on Eternal, offers you a framework from which to venture into those unexplored waters with a sense that you have company that understands you as you walk on.

Eternal is a mixture of sacred and tribal chants, light beats, and a touch of classical instrumentation at times, and it all works together to create music that reaches into your spirit and gives you permission to “feel” what is oftentimes kept hidden in a world that tends to be a bit too cold to understand the tenderness that exists within each of us at a spiritual level.

Wood has managed to weave this exquisite album together as each song tells an individual spiritual story, while at the same time being a part of the whole. Eternal is not just Kevin working alone to communicate these truths to the listener, but instead it is a group effort as he has gathered together ten guest artists who each contribute their considerable talents to making this album even more insightful than it already was as they offer their interpretations of Kevin’s compositions. With the likes of cellist Jami Sieber, South Africa’s Fancois le Roux, and Paul Avgerinos it would have been difficult for this project not to have been successful in reaching its goal of opening the listener’s spirit to consider things that sometimes gets overlooked in the hustle and bustle of the 21st century.

The music of Eternal offers a calming way to end your day or even to start it for that matter. The chants were skillfully woven into the fabric of this album along with the instrumentation to create a sound palette that will brightly shine into the hearts of those who are prepared to see that which lies within. The cello stands out in several spots during the course of this release and it is always a welcome instrument whenever I hear it interacting with the soundscape in such a wonderful way.

Wood has achieved an intimacy with Eternal that listeners will appreciate as they look within, but he has also allowed the music to be more than that. With the many voices and instrumentation that he has mixed into this project, he has given it a spaciousness that speaks not just to a certain spectrum of listener, but will appeal to a broader range of people as they see within the music aspects that might not have been there if Kevin had gone a different direction with his compositions or if he had done it all himself.

All in all Kevin’s Eternal offers a diversity of views in terms of spirituality, but all brought together in an organic way that binds them together as a unified whole. The music is polished and thoughtful in its presentation and will offer the listener a wonderful hour spent contemplating the path they are on and allowing them to see it from a variety of angles. With chants from traditions as varied as African, Native American, Celtic, Indian and Gregorian, you can see how it will appeal to a wide cross section of listeners.

Kathy Parsons

MainlyPiano.com

Pieces of music and even entire albums often tell of a journey—be it internal or external—but Kevin Wood’s Eternal is an exceptionally personal musical journey of healing and emergence from a spiritual crisis that began when he lost his mother when he was in college. This is Wood’s fourth album, and his first release with Real Music, a label known for their music for healing, relaxation and meditation—a perfect fit for Eternal.

Another unique quality of Eternal is the combination of musical and cultural traditions it includes, sometimes in the same pieces: classical, African, Native American, Celtic, Indian and Gregorian chants and vocals are backed by an impressive list of guest instrumental artists such as Jami Sieber (cello), Francois le Roux (cello and vocals), Kelly Andrew (strings and drum production), and Paul Avgerinos (bass and percussion) in addition to Kevin Wood’s piano, keyboards and percussion. It’s a fascinating mix that combines to create a diverse selection of world music styles woven together with the themes of Wood’s search for life’s meaning and his embrace of Spirit. This is not an album to be relegated to the background (although it would be very pleasant in that role!), as Kevin Wood has shared so much of himself with the world through this very emotive music.

Eternal begins with “In Search of Meaning,” a piece that combines piano/keyboard, Gregorian, African and Native American chants, backed with a strong percussive beat. It’s a gorgeous and very compelling piece, and I interpret the mix of musical genres as being tugged in several directions at once accompanied by a bit of confusion. Francois le Roux provides vocals as well as cello to “Light Shines Through,” a piece that expresses the joy of feeling “the sun on my face, warm and shining, and washing into my soul. It was a call to embrace Spirit and to shine my light for others.” R. Harjo also contributes some lovely vocals on this one. “Father’s Love” is a favorite, expressing the deep and unconditional love Wood shares with his daughter. Jami Sieber’s cello and Steve Birch’s flute make this touching piece soar. I think most piano teachers would agree with me that the world doesn’t need another version of Pachelbel’s “Canon in D,” but then I heard “Grace Eternal” and changed my mind. The original melody is left intact, played on strings and piano, but with overlays of various chants, the simplicity of the melody takes on a freshness and a new meaning. I love this track! “Peace Begins With Me” is a wonderfully serene duet for piano and cello (Sieber). “Compassion Reigns” puts the piano in the foreground with strings and voices, creating a tender piece about opening our hearts with compassion and love for ourselves and others. In the liner notes, Kevin says of “Life Eternal”: “Heartfelt and mystical, it flowed effortlessly from deep within and offers a glimpse of my true sense of the Eternal.” It’s a breathtaking piece and one of my favorites. “Atonement” is a bonus track from Wood’s Kindred album. The album closes with “Stillness (Postlude),” a stunning piano (Wood) and cello (Sieber) duet that goes right to the heart.

Highly recommended!

Steve Sheppard

oneworldmusic.co.uk

It’s been a while in the making, but judging by the content, it’s been well worth it. Years may come and go, but at the end of the day it is always going to be the quality that will shine through and with Eternal by Kevin Wood, that most assuredly is the case.

Eternal is packed with a familiarity, which is a cross between Enigma and Lesiem; the perfectly paced global back beat and chilled world ethic on tracks like “In Search of Meaning” and “Light Shines Through” are guaranteed winners. One will find a gentleness of spirit on “Father’s Love” that will be very appealing, and a charming touch on “Love’s Embrace,” which has some stunning vocalizations and Gregorian styled chants. In fact, within this specific piece you will find many cultural boundaries being crossed.

Wood has manifested something so very chill on Eternal, appealing to the eager masses of the newly regenerated New Age music genre, with tracks like the smooth vibe of “Time for Change” and the reminiscences of the very stylishly arranged “Grace Eternal” (Pachelbel’s Canon).

Time has aged this release in a cask of musical oak for Wood; each piece has its own energy, and as you listen to the short form compositions of “Peace Begins With Me” and “Compassion Reigns,” one will feel the calming narrative of tranquility wash over them.

The one world global fusion nature of Eternal is magical to behold, and tracks like “Blessed Awakening” emphasize this ethic, while “Life Eternal” contains a moving spiritual narrative about its overall construction.

The last compositions of “Atonement” and “Stillness” (Postlude) seem to create an energy of forgiveness and total peace for us to enjoy, and there’s no better way to leave a project than by offering such musical bliss, and ending with a sublime serene style.

Eternal by Kevin Wood was indeed worth the wait; it has a richness of tone and a smoothness of harmonic spirit that will attract listeners far and wide to its beautiful energies and lush melodies. Each arrangement is crafted so artistically, building layer by layer with brilliance that is truly moving.

Chris Spector

Midwest Record

In the past, this is the kind of set that you'd give points to for creativity, but in the end you would feel like it just lays there ... but times change. Is it chant? Is it electronic? Is it keyboard? It's all that with lots of stuff sampled and woven through making it a kind of groundbreaking alternative adult pop! Assuredly at the left of center, granola category, it doesn't try to break your teeth as you crunch down, and it keeps swinging the doors of your mind and ears open. Wood's Eternal is a great next-stream date for the new age genre.

Visionary new age music for nourishing and rejuvenating body, mind and spirit

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Beyond the teeming activity of our lives on beloved Earth lies a great, eternal Silence. As we pause and listen, the Silence will speak, One of its wondrous voices is through the language of music.

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Eternal

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