NEWS

Best Native American Album nominee for New Age Reporter 2007 Life Style Awards. Winners announced March 9, 2008

Top 12 New Age and Contemporary Instrumental Album -
Bill Binkelman's (New Age Reporter) 2007 List

Top 100 Album list for 2007- New Age Reporter


Bill Binkelman- New Age Reporter says: "This is one beautiful and serene recording....if you enjoy Native-influenced flute music...this a must-have release." Nov, 2007. FULL Review below under "REVIEWS"

"Sacred Moon" from "Following the Call" is featured on the nationally syndicated radio show, Hearts of Space (www.hos.com). The program #817, "Flute Rattle Drum...Space" was first broadcast on Oct 5, 2007. Hearts of Space can be heard on over 220 National Public Radio stations and on XM radio channel 77 seven nights a week.

"Following the Call is currently #2 on the “Top 30 Music Bestseller List” at the largest bookstore of its kind in the U.S., East West Bookstore, SF Bay Area, CA.

ALBUM NOTES

Take a meditative journey with gifted world musician Ann Licater. These beautiful, original compositions and inspired improvisations played on Native American and World flutes resonate on a deep and soulful level. Use this CD to balance body/mind/spirit, gain access to intuition and as a tool for personal discovery while meditating, journaling or creating.

The flutes used on “Following the Call” are from around the globe and seem to magically connect the listener in a meaningful and visceral way. Track #4, ANCIENT ECHOES is performed with a nose flute made of bamboo from the island of Maui. This musical tone-poem sounds like whales conversing. Track #5, SACRED MOON, is played on a Mayan ceremonial flute accompanied by a 400-year-old Tibetan metal bowl—the melody is hauntingly beautiful. Track #15, is played on a flute made of felled Redwood found within a Humboldt County forest in Northern California. Its deep voice and resonance takes the listener to another time and place. There is a lot to experience with this CD from the lilting forest-like dance on Track #8, THREE GRACES, to the deeply earthy and ambient sounds of clay flutes on Tracks # 2 and #12, NUMINOUS GATEWAY and BELOVED. Track #7, WIND AND BUTTERFLY, feels just like its title--a monarch floating through a breeze. Each of the 16 songs has its own special meaning along the journey, but the best way to listen to “Following the Call” is from beginning to end for a long, relaxing and inspirational meditation.

FLUTES FOR PERSONAL DISCOVERY

If you purchase this CD and carefully listen to it, you'll hear that each flute performed on "Following the Call" has unique properties that may affect you on different levels as you experience their resonate vibrations. Note how you are drawn to certain flutes or songs depending on what you are discovering about yourself at the time. Take the time to journal, meditate and reflect on an issue you would like to explore and see how this music helps you tap into your intuition so you can discover more about yourself and your journey. If you have stories you wish to share about how this music has awakened your intuition, opened a door for your personal discovery and creativity or helped balance your mind/ body/spirit, please write to: stories@fluteforthesoul.com


REVIEWS

Review by Jonathan Widran for All Music Guide (AMG):

What the listener gets out of this stark, soul-stirring, 16-track collection by life-long silver flute player Ann Licater -- who runs a series of "Flute for the Soul" workshops and holds a Master's in Creation Spirituality -- is partially dependent on the open-minded heart and spirit he or she brings into the experience. Though it's geared towards the new age market, listeners who simply expect relaxing melodies and the kind of gentle rhythmic accompaniment that contemporary commercial new age offers may be a little surprised -- this one is pure flute, sacred instruments gathered from different exotic locales, registering different tones which are each geared towards connecting with our own frequencies. The casual flute fan -- or lover of jazz flute music -- may not be able to immediately tell the difference; it might seem just like brief improvisational pieces. But Licater's intentions run deeper, and aspires to offering a truly healing spirit from track to track. An understanding of each flute she uses helps in picking up these subtle differences, and her liner notes provide the names of the flute makers and their contact information. Her collection is impressing, from the nose flute from Maui that she uses on "Ancient Echoes" (which hypnotizes in its approximation of conversing whales) to the Mayan ceremonial flute she ensembles with a 400-year-old Tibetan metal bowl on "Sacred Moon." Intended for pure relaxation, deep meditation, and powerful inspiration, Licater also offers ways for those she touches to more deeply understand the subtle ways our souls connect with the instruments that drive her passion.


Review by Bill Binkelman for New Age Reporter:

"Few instruments convey more depth of feeling, haunting beauty and serenity than
flutes made of earth and wood. When wielded by a talented artist, their primal mystery blends with ancient spirituality and the music can be amazingly transportive. Such is the case with Ann Licater’s Following the Call, an album on which the artist uses her wooden and clay flutes to deftly weave spells that comfort and enlighten the listener. This is one beautiful and serene recording. Without going any further in this review, if you enjoy Native-influenced flute music, you should consider this a must-have release. Despite not bearing overt resemblance to the duo Coyote Oldman’s music (the latter incorporate much more spatial sound tweaking and studio wizardry), Licater’s songs induce the same sensations of calm, reflection and ages-old memories.

Other than the presence of a Tibetan singing bowl on “Sacred Moon,” Following the Call features only flute (although Licater’s double and drone flutes may fool you into thinking they are multi-tracked, as they did me). Due to the variety of flutes heard and the diversity of the artist’s compositions, I never once experienced any feelings of monotony. Of course, when I read the liner notes and saw that the CD was co-produced by the extremely talented multi-instrumentalist (and fellow Native-influenced flutist) Gentle Thunder, I wasn’t the least bit surprised. GT, as she is known, is the consummate musical perfectionist (as well as being a passionate and spiritual person) so her sonic fingerprints were easy to hear.

The smartest move that Licater, GT and Brian Todd (the third co-producer and the engineer, too) made here was to have no songs last much over four minutes. These shorter “tone poems” impart more feeling and carry more emotional impact by not wending down the über-improvisational road (which sometimes leads to noodling and, in turn, leaves the listener feeling restless or even bored). By interchanging the wooden and clay flutes song-by-song, either alone or combined, Licater also manages to make the music more multi-dimensional than expected, as opposed to only sounding Native-influenced. Who knows what part of the modern (or ancient) world you may imagine yourself visiting.

The opening title track sets the stage with a somber and moody wooden flute melody, followed by “Numinous Gateway,” a more ethereal and flowing clay flute number. “Spirit Dance” introduces higher pitched tones and a somewhat livelier mood, while “Unfolding Mystery” evokes the image of fog covering distant hills. “Wind and Butterfly” hints at Asian flavors blended with the more expected Native ones. Licater’s trills introduce a subtle but distinct playfulness, perfectly capturing the visual essence of butterflies dancing on the breeze. “Mystic Messenger,” played on a clay ocarina, is minimal by comparison and conveys a sense of ages-old spirituality. “Winged Prayer” has a palpable gracefulness to its gently lilting higher pitched notes, and the closing “Full Circle” ends the sixteen-track long album with a peaceful “traditional” Native-like piece on which Licater plays her double flute with dexterity and feeling.

What’s all the more remarkable in Ann Licater’s case is that she actually received her formal musical training in classical (silver) flute (here in my hometown of Minneapolis at the renowned MacPhail Center for Music) yet she plays these wholly different instruments as if born to them. Following the Call is the ideal CD for those who desire acoustic music (as opposed to electronic ambient) which can help them center themselves, heal, relax, or de-stress. In addition, it would be perfect for late-night reading since at low levels it’s never invasive or intruding, yet the mood it establishes (of quietude and repose) will be felt nonetheless. I highly recommend this album and would love to hear more from this talented artist.


Review by Jim Brenholdts for AWARENESS MAGAZINE:

The Native American flute is an extremely deep acoustic instrument. It has inherent overtone and psychoacoustic properties that allow it to be a natural meditation and healing tool. In the hands of an expert, it transcends reality and ventures into surreality and beyond.
Ann Licater is such a master. Indeed, she holds a master's degree in creation Spirituality and is a life-long silver flute player with classical training. Following the Call: Wood and Clay Flute Music for Meditation and Inspiration is her debut CD. It is on her own "Cul de Sac Mystic" label. A Tibetan singing bowl accompanies the flute on track five - Sacred Moon. The rest of the CD is Ann on wood and clay flutes.
The music soars! It takes focused listeners to new heights and new depths. Each note vibrates within the heart and speaks to the soul. While Ann has a unique touch on the flute, she allows the resonance of the flute to be the tour guide. The tour is a spiritual path to the heavens - perhaps to Heaven itself. The only limits are those imposed by listeners.
This is a breathtaking performance and a different perspective on joyous space music. It celebrates humanity's inner spaces.
There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of CD's of acoustic Native American flute music. This happens to be one of the better ones and it is highly recommended.


MORE REVIEWS:

"Soulful"--Organic Spa Magazine- Jan/Feb 2008

“Ann Licater's new Native flute CD "Following the Call" is both beautiful and meditative. It is also our third best-selling CD (after Loreena McKennitt’s Ancient Muse and Steven Halpern’s Chakra Suite) this quarter”—Lee Starkey, Music Buyer, East West Bookstore, Mt. View, CA- May, '07

“Ann’s flute playing touches the soul and makes it dance—surely a way for each of us to tap our wisdom”—Reynold Feldman, PhD- Executive Director Wisdom Factors International and author of three books on wisdom.

“If you are in the healing or medical arts, a massage therapist, a therapist, or you are looking for music to serve as a background for your meditative or journaling time, I would encourage you to check out this album” -- Mike Oitzman leads the Northern California Flute Circle (www.naflute.com) and publishes a blog dedicated to the Native American Flute. You can read more from Mike at: naflute.blogspot.com

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Ann Licater is a life-long silver flute player who discovered the inspirational and healing music of the Native American flute at a powwow. She uses her intuition and classical training to create soulful melodies and inspirational improvisations on these sacred instruments. Her “Flute for the Soul” workshops explore how contemporary replicas of ancient wood and clay flutes can be used as tools for personal discovery and spiritual practice.

Ann holds a Master of Liberal Arts degree (M.L.A.) in Creation Spirituality from Naropa University, Boulder, CO and a B.A. from the University of St. Thomas, St.Paul, MN. She studied classical flute at MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis, MN and trained with R. Carlos Nakai at the Renaissance of the Native American Flute in Helena, Montana. Additionally, Ann is a freelance writer, speaker and performer on the subjects of personal discovery, self-expression and spirituality. For bookings and concert, workshop and lecture information, please contact her at:

Cul de Sac Mystic Productions
P.O. Box 1423
Campbell, CA 95009
www.annlicater.com
www.fluteforthesoul.com