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44-511: Magic Theater is the tenth studio album by the new-age / jazz group Shadowfax . New-age music New-age music includes both acoustic forms, featuring instruments such as flutes , piano , acoustic guitar , non-Western acoustic instruments , while also engaging with electronic forms, frequently relying on sustained synth pads or long sequencer -based runs. New-age artists often combine these approaches to create electroacoustic music. Vocal arrangements were initially rare in

88-444: A "new age" bin. By 1985, independent and chain record retail stores were adding sections for new age, and major labels began showing interest in the genre, both through acquisition of some existing new-age labels such as Paul Winter 's Living Music and through signing of so-called "new-age" artists such as Japanese electronic composer Kitarō and American crossover jazz musician Pat Metheny, both signed by Geffen Records . Most of

132-468: A name to anything that is timeless". Peter Bryant, music director of WHYY-FM and host of a new-age program, noted that "I don't care for the term... New-age has a negative connotation... In the circles I come in contact with, people working in music, 'new-age' is almost an insult", that it refers to "very vapid, dreamy kinds of dull music... with no substance or form or interest", and that the term has "stuck". "It has been called “aural wallpaper,” “music for

176-628: A nationally distributed album with explicitly lesbian-feminist lyrics (Lavender Jane Loves Women, Women's Wax Works). With her first recording, Mooncircles (featuring Meg Christian ), released in 1975, she pioneered the field of sound healing; her 1990 book Sounding the Inner Landscape: Music as Medicine was later used in medical schools. She was initiated into Dianic Wicca by Z. Budapest in 1975. In 1977, Kay Gardner wrote her first piece for orchestra ("Rain Forest"), and conducted

220-739: A staff writer for HOT WIRE: The Journal of Women's Music and Culture. She is credited with envisioning the Acoustic Stage venue at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival (with cellist Rachel Alexander), as well as founding and directing the Women With Wings sacred singing circle. She received the Maryanne Hartmann Award in 1995 and an honorary Doctor in fine Arts from the University of Maine. She died of

264-462: A standpoint, and explained that " Windham Hill was the hub of this whole thing. Because of that association, new-age has come to be perceived as this West Coast thing". However, Windham Hill's managing director Sam Sutherland argued that even the label's founders William Ackerman and Anne Robinson "shied away from using any idiomatic or generic term at all. It's always seemed a little synthetic", and they stopped making any kind of deliberate protests to

308-440: A taboo mentality, as most of the music belongs to the "progressive" side of new-age music, where composers necessarily do not always have a New Age worldview. However, it is often noted that "new-age music" is a mere popular designation that successfully sells records. J. Gordon Melton argued that it does not refer to a specific genre of music, but to music used for therapeutic or other new-age purposes. Kay Gardner considered

352-409: A year later Hill started a record label, Hearts of Space Records . On Valentine's Day in 1987, the former Los Angeles rock radio station KMET changed to a full-time new-age music format with new call letters KTWV , branded as The Wave . During The Wave's new-age period, management told the station employees to refer to The Wave as a "mood service" rather than a "radio station". DJs stopped announcing

396-416: Is called, by rough convention, New Age music." – Michael Walsh , writing for Time (1986) Harold Budd said, "When I hear the term 'new-age' I reach for my revolver... I don't think of myself as making music that is only supposed to be in the background. It's embarrassing to inadvertently be associated with something that you know in your guts is vacuous." Vangelis considers it to be a style that "gave

440-525: Is considered a founding foremother of women's music . She sued the Bangor Symphony Orchestra for sex discrimination because during their search for a new music director, they asked orchestra members if they could "tolerate a woman" as a conductor. She started her own independent record label, Even Keel Records, and produced 17 albums – both of her own music and the work of others. In 1974, Gardner and Alix Dobkin recorded and produced

484-521: Is described as "a masterpiece of New Age ecological consciousness that celebrates the sacredness of land, sky, and sea". His work on the East Coast is considered to be one of the most important musical expressions of new-age spirituality. On the West Coast , musicians concentrated more on music for healing and meditation. The most notable early work was Steven Halpern 's Spectrum Suite (1975),

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528-528: The Billboard Hot 100 chart, and the album A Day Without Rain at #2 on the Billboard 200 , making Enya the number one new-age artist of the year. Kay Gardner (composer) Kay Gardner (February 8, 1941 – August 28, 2002), also known as Cosmos Wonder-Child , was an American musician, composer, author, and Dianic priestess known for using music for creative and healing purposes. She

572-517: The Birkenstock crowd” and “ yuppie elevator music.” Its titles evoke a holistic, hot-tubbing world: Etosha — Private Music in the Land of Dry Water, Aerial Boundaries, Nirvana Road. Although its composers include musicians prominent in the rock avant-garde, it is marked by a meditative aesthetic whose goal is often creative anonymity. A laid-back synthesis of folk, jazz and classical influences, it

616-526: The "Soundscapes" channel on Music Choice . The two satellite radio companies Sirius Satellite Radio & XM Satellite Radio each had their own channels that played new-age music. Sirius— Spa (Sirius XM) (73), XM— Audio Visions (77). When the two merged in November 2008 and became SiriusXM , the Spa name was retained for the music channel with the majority of Audio Vision's music library being used. In 1987

660-695: The "new-age" category even if they belong to different genre, and those artists themselves use different names for their style of music. Kay Gardner called the original new-age music "healing music" or "women's spirituality". Paul Winter , considered a new-age music pioneer, also dismissed the term, preferring "earth music". The term "instrumental music" or "contemporary instrumental" can include artists who do not use electronic instruments, such as solo pianist David Lanz . Similarly, pianists such as Yanni and Bradley Joseph use this term as well, although they use keyboards to incorporate layered orchestral textures into their compositions. Yanni has distinguished

704-560: The National Women's Music Festival. Gardner also co-founded the New England Women's Symphony. In 1980 she helped produce a recording of a performance of the New England Women's Symphony performing music by women composers and conducted by several women. The album was produced and distributed by Galaxia Records. She wrote Ouroboros: Seasons of Life—Women's Passages , a Neopagan oratorio. Written between 1992 and 1994, it

748-631: The U.S., and over 40 distributors were selling new-age music through mail-order catalogs. In the 1990s many small labels of new-age style music emerged in Japan, but for this kind of instrumental music the terms "relaxing" or "healing" music were more popular. Enigma's " Sadeness (Part I) " became an international hit, reaching number one in 24 countries, including the UK, and number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 , selling over 5 million worldwide. At

792-593: The United States. In 1976 the record label Windham Hill Records was founded, with an initial $ 300 investment, and would gross over $ 26 million annually ten years later. Over the years many record labels were formed that embraced or rejected the new-age designation, such as Narada Productions , Private Music , Music West , Lifestyle, Audion, Sonic Atmospheres, Living Music, Terra ( Vanguard Records ), Novus Records (which mainly recorded jazz music), FM ( CBS Masterworks ) and Cinema ( Capitol Records ). Between

836-499: The former, markedly different musical and theoretical movement. Under the umbrella term , some consider Mike Oldfield 's 1973 progressive rock album Tubular Bells one of the first albums to be referred to under the genre description of new-age. Others consider music by Greek composer Vangelis and general modern jazz-rock fusion as exemplifing the progressive side of new-age music. Other artists included are Jean-Michel Jarre (even though his electronic excursions predate

880-507: The genre, but as it has evolved, vocals have become more common, especially those featuring Native American -, Sanskrit -, or Tibetan -influenced chants, or lyrics based on mythology such as Celtic legends . There is no exact definition of new-age music. However, it is often judged by its intent according to the Grammy screening committee in that category. An article in Billboard magazine in 1987 commented that "New Age music may be

924-591: The instruments and genre used in its creation; it may be acoustic, electronic, or a mixture of both. New-age artists range from solo or ensemble performances using classical-music instruments ranging from the piano, acoustic guitar, flute, or harp to electronic musical instruments , or from Eastern instruments such as the sitar , tabla and tamboura . There is also a significant overlap of sectors of new-age music with ambient , classical , jazz , electronica , world , chillout , pop , and space music , among others. The two definitions typically associated with

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968-569: The intentional extremes of the U.S.' coasts are some of the most successful new-age artists, like George Winston and R. Carlos Nakai . Winston's million-selling December (1982), released by Windham Hill Records, was highly popular. Most of Nakai's work, with his first release Changes in 1983, consists of improvised songs in native North American style. During the 1990s, his music became virtual anthems for new-age spirituality. In 1981, Tower Records in Mountain View, California added

1012-445: The label "new age" an inauthentic commercial intention of so-called new-age music, saying, "a lot of new age music is schlock", and how due to record sales, everyone with a home studio put in sounds of crickets, oceans or rivers as a guarantee of sales. What started as ambient mood music related with new-age activity became a term for a musical conglomeration of jazz, folk, rock, ethnic, classical, and electronica, among other styles, with

1056-687: The main reason people don't like the term new age is because it's the only musical category that isn't a musical term". Andreas Vollenweider noted that "we have sold millions of records worldwide before the category new age was actually a category", and shared the concern that "the stores are having this problem with categorization". "New age is a spiritual definition more than a musical definition. Some musicians began by associating themselves with new-age music. Now they've thrown everybody in there. But it would be silly to associate with this particular music". – Yanni on new-age music definition (1992) Ron Goldstein, president of Private Music , agreed with such

1100-415: The major record labels accepted new age artists by the beginning of the next year. In the late 1980s the umbrella genre was the fastest-growing genre with significant radio broadcast. It was seen as an attractive business due to low recording costs. Stephen Hill founded the new-age radio show Hearts of Space in 1973. In 1983, it was picked up by NPR for syndication to 230 affiliates nationally, and

1144-596: The mid-1960s with the Paul Winter Consort ) and Pat Metheny . Tony Scott 's Music for Zen Meditation (1964) is sometimes considered the first new-age recording, but initially it was popular mostly in California, and was not sold nationally until the 1980s. Another school of meditation music arose among the followers of Rajneesh ; Deuter recorded D (1971) and Aum (1972), which mixed acoustic and electronic instruments with sounds of

1188-452: The most startling successful non-defined music ever to hit the public consciousness". Many consider it to be an umbrella term for marketing rather than a musical category, and to be part of a complex cultural trend. New-age music was influenced by a wide range of artists from a variety of genres. Tony Scott 's Music for Zen Meditation (1964) is considered the first new-age recording. Paul Horn (beginning with 1968's Inside )

1232-455: The music genre from the spiritual movement bearing the same name. The term "contemporary instrumental music" was also suggested by Andreas Vollenweider, while "adult alternative" by Gary L. Chappell, which was the term by which Billboard called the new-age and world-music album charts. The concept arose with the involvement of professional musicians in the New-Age movement. Initially, it

1276-498: The musical purpose of which was described as to "resonate specific areas of the body... it quiets the mind and body", and whose title relates "to the seven tones of the musical scale and the seven colors of the rainbow to the seven etheric energy sources (chakras) in our bodies". In the 1970s his music work, and the theoretical book Tuning the Human Instrument (1979), pioneered the contemporary practice of musical healing in

1320-556: The new-age category, and that "new-age music" resembles other music because it is aimed as a marketing niche—to be a "formula show" designated for urban "ultra-consumers" as status accessory; he also said the Andean, Asian and African traditional music influences evoke the sense of " cosmopolitanism ", while nature in the album artwork and sound evoke the "connection to unspoiled landscapes". The borders of this umbrella genre are not well-defined, but music retail stores will include artists in

1364-458: The new-age genre are: Stephen Hill , founder of Hearts of Space , considers that "many of the artists are very sincerely and fully committed to New Age ideas and ways of life". Some composers like Kitarō consider their music to be part of their spiritual growth, as well as expressing values and shaping the culture. Douglas Groothuis stated that from a Christian perspective, rejection of all music labeled as "new age" would be to fall prey to

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1408-473: The opportunity for untalented people to make very boring music". Yanni stated that "I don't want to relax the audience; I want to engage them in the music, get them interested", and that "New age implies a more subdued, more relaxed music than what I do. My music can be very rhythmic, very energetic, even very ethnic." David Van Tieghem , George Winston and Kitarō also rejected the label of new-age artist. David Lanz said that he "finally figured out that

1452-474: The premiere (her conducting debut) the following year at the National Women's Music Festival in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, with Antonia Brico in attendance. Between 1976 and 1984, Gardner worked on A Rainbow Path , a large musical composition designed for meditation on the eight energy centers, or chakras , of the human organism. She conducted a women's music orchestra production of it in 1988 at

1496-558: The sea. Kay Gardner 's song "Lunamuse" (1974) and first recording Mooncircles (1975), which were a synthesis of music, sexuality and Wiccan spirituality, were "new-age music before it got to be new-age music". Her A Rainbow Path (1984) embraced Halpern's theory of healing music from that time with women's spirituality, and she became one of the most popular new-age sacred-music artists. Mike Orme of Stylus Magazine writes that many key Berlin school musicians helped popularise new-age. Paul Winter 's Missa Gaia/Earth Mass (1982)

1540-547: The term), Andreas Vollenweider , George Winston , Mark Isham , Michael Hedges , Shadowfax , Mannheim Steamroller , Kitarō , Yanni , Enya , Clannad , Era , Tangerine Dream and Enigma . However, many musicians and composers dismiss the labeling of their music as "new age". When the Grammy Award for Best New Age Album was first created in 1987, its first winner, Andreas Vollenweider , said, "I don't have any intention to label my music... It's ridiculous to give

1584-761: The time Holland was the home of two leading European new-age labels—Oreade and Narada Media . Oreade reported that in 1997 the latest trend was "angelic" music, while Narada Media predicted that the genre would develop in the direction of world music (with Celtic, Irish and African influences). In 1995 some "new-age" composers like Kitarō, Suzanne Ciani and Patrick O'Hearn moved from major to independent record labels due to lack of promotion, diminishing sales or limited freedom of creativity. In 2001, Windham Hill celebrated its 25th anniversary, Narada and Higher Octave Music continued to move into world and ethno-techno music , and Hearts of Space Records were bought by Valley Entertainment . Enya 's " Only Time " peaked at #10 on

1628-457: The titles of the songs, and instead, to maintain an uninterrupted mood, listeners could call a 1–800 phone number to find out what song was playing. News breaks were also re-branded and referred to as "wave breaks". Other new-age-specialty radio programs included Forest's Musical Starstreams and John Diliberto's Echoes . Most major cable television networks have channels that play music without visuals, including channels for New age, such as

1672-412: The use of the term simply because it was inappropriate. Both Goldstein and Sutherland concluded that the tag helped move merchandise, and that new-age music would be absorbed into the general body of pop music within a few years after 1987. The New York Times music critic Jon Pareles noted that "new-age music" absorbed other styles in more softer form, but those same, well-defined styles do not need

1716-481: Was formed the Grammy Award for Best New Age Album , while in 1988 the Billboard ' s New Age weekly charts. In 1989 Suzanne Doucet produced and held the first international New-Age Music Conference in Los Angeles. By 1989, there were over 150 small independent record labels releasing new-age music, while new-age and adult-alternative programs were carried on hundreds of commercial and college radio stations in

1760-476: Was influenced by a wide range of artists from a variety of genres—for example, folk-instrumentalists John Fahey and Leo Kottke , minimalists Terry Riley , Steve Reich , La Monte Young , and Philip Glass , progressive rock acts such as Pink Floyd , ambient pioneer Brian Eno , synthesizer performer Klaus Schulze , and jazz artists Keith Jarrett , Weather Report , Mahavishnu Orchestra , Paul Horn (beginning with 1968's Inside ), Paul Winter (beginning in

1804-412: Was of no interest to the musical industry, so the musicians and related staff founded their own small independent recording businesses. Sales reached significant numbers in unusual outlets such as bookstores, gift stores, health-food stores and boutiques, as well as by direct mail. With the demand of a large market, the major recording companies began promoting new-age music in the 1980s. New-age music

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1848-419: Was one of the important predecessors. Irv Teibel 's Environments series (1969–79) featured natural soundscapes , tintinnabulation , and " Om " chants and were some of the first publicly available psychoacoustic recordings. Steven Halpern 's 1975 Spectrum Suite was a key work that began the new-age music movement. New-age music is defined more by the use and effect or feeling it produces rather than

1892-458: Was produced by Ladyslipper Records and recorded by an all-female group for the 1994 National Women's Music Festival. Ouroboros: Seasons of Life musically portrays a woman's life cycle from birth to death using Neopagan symbols and imagery. The Triple Goddess aspects of Maiden, Mother, and Crone are prominently featured, as are the four seasons and Neopagan holidays. Gardner was a choir director, radio personality, women's spirituality priestess, and

1936-527: Was very active in promoting the work of contemporary female musicians and was a pioneering figure in women's music . Born in Freeport, New York , Gardner wrote and performed her first piano composition at the age of four. When she was eight, she began learning how to play the flute. She subsequently went on to gain performance experience in chamber, orchestral, and vocal music. Gardner composed works for flute, piano, chamber ensemble, orchestra, and choir. She

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