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Review: Flute player invokes ‘guardian angels’
Long Beach gardener and
philosopher Larkin Stentz
unveils his 12th CD
By PATRICK WEBB
FOR COAST WEEKEND
L
ONG BEACH, Wash. — Listeners
can hear the flute player’s breathing
on “Sanctuary.”
That may not be common, but it is
intended, according to Larkin Stentz, who
says it is his way of seeking to create a
more human connection.
The unorthodox Long Beach musician,
equally known for his landscaping work
and environmentalism, is unveiling his
12th CD this week.
Stentz will attend a kick-off party 7 p.m.
Friday, May 24, at the Peninsula Arts Cen-
ter, 504 Pacific Ave. N., Long Beach, Wash.
The following day, from 9 a.m. to
noon, Saturday, May 25, he will be at the
Abbracci Coffee Bar, 408 Pacific Ave.,
Long Beach, Wash., signing copies. The
CD is available for purchase at Abbracci,
Astoria’s McVarish Gallery, where some
recordings took place, and the Three Cups
Coffee House.
Most artists, insistent on their singular-
ity, refuse to be labeled or placed in a box.
But a music store owner inevitably would
shelve it among New Age.
Stentz’ 12th album is a personal journey
to find an “inner place.”
“It is that feeling place where our guard-
ian angels meet us and reassure us every-
thing is OK,” he says in liner notes.
Prior incarnations
Stentz repertoire features 11 albums.
“To the Essence of a Candle,” was
released in 1978 in early days of New
Age. “O’cean,” released in 1980, fea-
tured an attempt to synchronize the move-
ments of a dancer with the flute, combined
with sounds of the ocean and recordings
of humpback whales. “Stairway to Emp-
tiness” was designed to reflect a period
of meditation after yoga. A collaborative
work, “Earthlight,” was described as “mys-
tical meditations.”
Another, “Blossom in the Storm, was
recorded in a 300-year-old cloister in Hol-
land, including one track in tribute to
Photo by Patrick Webb
“Sanctuary” features 10 pieces by
Larkin Stentz plus a version of “Amazing
Grace.” The cover artwork is “Hold You
Within,” a painting by Seattle artist
Sh’Kala Warren from her Soul Series.
CD LAUNCH PARTY
Photo by Patrick Webb
7 p.m. Friday, May 24
Does the interior structure of the geodesic dome greenhouse on Larkin Stentz’ small farm in
Long Beach, Wash., appear to point the listener in a clear direction? Stentz, an environmentalist
and garden expert, plays the bamboo flute and other instruments on his new CD, “Sanctuary,”
which is being released this week.
Peninsula Arts Center, 504 Pacific Ave. N,
Long Beach, Wash.
Russian anti-nuclear campaigner Andrei
Sakharov. In 2014, he recorded a CD to
raise money for the Astoria Column, play-
ing on its winding staircase.
Abbracci Coffee Bar, 408 Pacific Ave.,
Long Beach, Wash.
Disquieting
The new album is adorned with strik-
ing cover artwork called “Hold You Within,
a painting by Seattle artist Sh’Kala Warren
from her Soul Series.
It begins with “Opening the Door,” two
beats, repeated for a full 90 seconds before
his bamboo flute begins playing. On first
hearing, it is not immediately apparent that
it is a drum, thus somewhat disquieting.
Then the musician’s breath is heard, way,
way before the first musical note.
“Raindrops on Golden Strings” follows,
a similar tapping rhythm to begin until the
recorded sound of the ocean sweeps in,
an equal partner to the musical notes. His
sound engineer has mixed the components
to make them akin to a call-and-response,
sometimes with the ocean dominant over
the human-created sound. It allows nature
to display its rhythmic power, relentless,
perhaps superior. The track introduces
Stentz’ evident skill playing the hammered
dulcimer which will feature later.
Stentz describes this 12-minute track as
an homage to Phillip Glass, a minimalist
composer not known for catchy toe-tapping
tunes. On second listening, his work has a
soothing, reassuring quality.
The dulcimer returns in “Infinite Heart,”
whose initial high notes conjure images of
characters walking into a haunted house.
The segue into a more safe and satisfying
sound leads to a focus on a single note to
concentrate the ear in a soothing manner.
Sweet sound
Bamboo and silver flute offerings, with
some understated synthesizer work (in
combination with Michael Stearns on “Two
Souls Dance”) fill the rest of the album,
plus a penny whistle and a simple South
American wind instrument called a kayna,
whose sound is as uplifting as birdsong.
There is a raw, deceptively simple quality
to it all. One flute piece, “Sweet Bamboo,”
is improvised but not directionless.
SIGNING AND SALES
9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, May 25,
The album is available at two Oregon lo-
cations, Three Cups Coffee House, 279 W.
Marine Drive, Astoria, and the McVarish
Gallery, 160 10th St., Astoria.
$15
For the finale, Stentz offers “Amazing
Grace.” Commonly heard in mournful bag-
pipe or female gospel vocal styles, the clas-
sic takes a softer, gentler direction with his
Indian bamboo flute. How sweet the sound
is when played so simply.
Like many whose journey for mean-
ing has zigged and zagged to discover bal-
ance, Stentz offers occasional explanations
inaccessible to the uninitiated. One track
which demonstrates his comfortable skill
on the silver flute, with an especially pow-
erful conclusion, is “Al-one.” The title, one
is told, is a play on the yin and yang of “all
one” and “alone.”
Stentz’ deliberate incongruity is clear
evidence that one size does not fit all. CW