Jay Kruse
"Reed Songs"
Available on CD Baby and iTunes
www.jaykruse.com
By Sally Schwartz
weavingdreams@cox.net
For someone as fortunate as Jay Kruse, American-born and raised, and whose life has been one filled with multiple instruments in a range of cultures, the opportunity to offer up a compilation of reed instruments was not one to pass by. With this album, he dedicates his passions to the sounds of the Middle East.
Kruse makes and plays his own flutes, which are also known as the ney and the bansuri. Made out of bamboo, both instruments sound similar to the American Native flute. This is what actually sparked my interest in this CD. I recently took up the American Native flute and have found the peace it offers. Once I heard this release, I realized why Jay Kruse had given so much time and effort to these instruments of the Middle East.
In "Reed Songs," Kruse puts forth the feeling and flavor of these instruments that is relaxing and meditative in a Middle Eastern ambience. You can see past the harsh reality of the world today and appreciate the true nectar of these flutes not normally heard here in the United States. And although this CD focuses on the deep appreciation for reed instruments, you will enjoy if only for its peaceful quality. Thank you, Jay, for sharing your knowledge with me in regards to the care of my own flute and for the essence of other cultural flutes. Blessed be to you.
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