Cleveland-area musician Craig Markley showcases the emerging vocal talent of his daughter Kara in this self-produced offering for the holiday season. In the title track, a plaintive flute melody over brooding synthesizer chords leads into a setting of the medieval Latin Christmas hymn “Gaudete” set to an insistent syncopated rhythm. When the initial tune returns over the added beat, it enriches the texture without clashing with it — an intriguing blend of the ancient and the modern.
Several of the ensuing numbers are riffs on familiar Christmas carols, with a few surprises. Usually a melody is introduced with a simple one- or two-instrument accompaniment, gradually elaborated to an emotional climax. “What Child Is This” and “The Evening Song” (a translation of a traditional German carol with original music) fall into this category, as does the instrumental “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” With the melody in the strings and hammered dulcimer, piano and light percussion beneath, the latter gives a particularly effective rendering of the plangent, modal tune, ending with a swirling of pipes off into the distance. “Silent Night” in Spanish with flamenco-style guitar, a toe-tapping arrangement of “Angels We Have Heard on High,” and “Carol of the Bells” as a fantasia for synthesizer, whistle and percussion round out the holiday set. “The Water Is Wide” has been included as well, seemingly simply because it is beautiful.
‘Cleveland-area musician Craig Markley showcases the emerging vocal talent of his daughter Kara in this self-produced offering for the holiday season,’ says Lory of Craig and Kara Markley’s Once Upon a Winter Moon. ‘There’s nothing wildly original here, but the arrangements are well-crafted and pleasant to listen to. The two original instrumentals, “Lady With the Silver Thread” (by Craig) and “Tinuviel” (by Kara) are cut from the same cloth, fitting in seamlessly with the more traditional melodies.’
Kara’s voice is well-centered, strong and joyful. She tends to sing always with the same degree of intensity, which can be tiring to listen to for long periods of time. As she matures she may develop more subtlety in her style. She also plays fiddle on many of the tracks with sensitivity and grace. Where her talent will lead her, only time will tell.
(Lone Raven Music, 2004)
