Various Artists-Narada The Wilderness Collection (1990)

Narada Productions is one of the most important and influential record labels specializing in new age, jazz, Celtic, and world music. Its origins date back to the early 1980s in New York, and it was founded as a subsidiary of Universal, distributed by MCA Records. Over time, Narada Productions itself established several subsidiary labels to diversify its artists across various musical styles. These included Narada Equinox, Narada Jazz, Narada Mystique, and Narada World, among many others. The extensive roster of musicians who have recorded and released music with Narada includes artists such as David Arkenstone, Jeff Lorber, Paul Speer, David Lanz, Bernardo Rubaja, Peter Buffett, Hans Zimmer, and Charlie Musselwhite. "The Wilderness Collection" is one of Narada's most famous recordings, featuring a carefully curated selection of artists who, according to its promotional material, "praise untouched nature as a source of artistic inspiration and a refuge from everyday urban life." The Narada artists featured here created this recording as a tribute to ecologically important natural areas, hoping that future generations will continue to enjoy them. Highlights of the repertoire include "Fragile Majesty" by Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel, a piece that evokes the grandeur of natural landscapes; the epic and dreamlike "Yosemite" by David Arkenstone; the timeless melody of "Sahara Sunrise" by Ralf Illenberger; and the ambient, Latin-influenced "Break of Day" by Bernardo Rubaja. Among the rest there are everything from haunting canvases that oscillate between atmospheric music, to the fusion of a wide variety of styles, mixing jazz sounds and the most traditional elements under excellent elegance and the good taste of a simply magical music.