Summer Solstice [Audio CD] Various Artists

Amazon.com In search of a new season to conquer (after a long run of successful A Winter's Solstice recordings), Windham Hill took aim at summer in 1997. The first Summer Solstice disc isn't exactly top-down cruising music; it's more of a back-porch soundtrack suitable for watching fireflies or for mulling the fading light of a languid summer's day. A few pieces (violinist Tracy Silverman's take on Vivaldi; pianist Liz Story's "The Promise") feel a bit weighty for the theme here, but the disc is well stocked with compensatory highlights. Among them are the intelligent, softly propulsive melody strung together by Paul McCandless (oboe) and bassist Michael Manring ("In Our Jasmine Days"); David Arkenstone's twinkling, mandolin-centered dance in the sun ("Companions"); some classic Will Ackerman ("Incondizionatamente") on parlor guitar; a charming, slowly unfolding melody found in "Summer Star" by harpist Lisa Lynne; Story's lovely, ruminating "Out of Time"; a sunny frolic on harmonica by George Winston; and a hushed, jazz-inclined medley of Beach Boys tunes by pianist Philip Aaberg and guitarist Scott Mathews. --Terry Wood