In 1975, Michael moved from Tucson to Los Angeles to study with Emilie Conrad at the Continuum Studio. Emilie had ‘live’ music for her ‘movement meditation’ classes, and Michael began performing with Fred Stofflet, Gary David, and Don Preston. Ancient Leaves (25:43) was Michael’s first album, recorded in 1976/77 with a Mini Moog synthesizer and a Finish lap harp (Kantele) onto 4 track tape. To the other instruments, Michael added Emilie chanting, an ascending choir with Susan Harper and Linda Olsen vocalists, Gregorian Chants and a night ambience recorded in the desert outside of Tucson, Arizona, his hometown. It was initially released on LP and cassette.
The ‘B’ side, Elysian E (23:13) was performed with an Arp String Ensemble played through an MXR digital delay, one of the first, then slowed to half speed. To this he added Moog and EML synthesizers, The Beam and his voice.
Mastering from original source by Martin Bowes (Attrition) in The Cage Studio.
"Probably the earliest example of modern (electronic) ambient—divorced from piano minimalism, guitar wankery, jazz, New Age cheese, or whatever—it's mostly just deep, dark synthesizer drones here. Ancient Leaves was simply ahead of its time. This was Michael Stearns' first album, and I think it's his best, although most people seem to prefer either Planetary Unfolding or Encounter, which admittedly are excellent as well. Regardless, it's undeniable that Ancient Leaves is a landmark album and Michael Stearns is clearly one of the main pioneers of ambient music; it amazes me this guy is never mentioned in same breath as Eno et al. E.g. Ancient Leaves was never released on CD until 1999. 1999! It's ridiculous how little attention this guy's music gets, even among ambient aficionados. I think he definitely deserves more than that." - dvd muze
Released Late August 2019 by Infinite Fog Productions.
Track Listing:
01. Ancient Leaves [25:23]
02. Elysian E [22:53]
English