Immersed In Mystery: Murmurs in the Wilderness

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Murmurs in the Wilderness

As mentioned in my previous post I thought I would occasionally put some recordings from my archives on this blog. I am starting with one that goes way back - to 1985. That year I was living in Saskatoon, newly married and finishing off my Master of Divinity degree at Lutheran Theological Seminary. A fellow student, Bruce Solsten, had a TEAC cassette 4-track machine that he graciously let me use (for an extended period of time). When I wasn't hitting the books I experimented with multi-track recording and would often involve musician friends to fill out my sounds.

This track is called Murmurs in the Wilderness, and I thought it appropriate to post at this time because the Lenten theme our congregation is following this year is Desert Experiences. The title of this song comes from Exodus story when the people of Israel begin murmuring against Moses and God while they wander in the desert (see the 16th chapter of Exodus). In this recording the murmuring really doesn't kick in until after the 4 minute mark, which reflects the initial joy by the released slaves which devolves into complaints after the reality of the desert sets in.

This track began because I connected with a couple of guys who were part of a New Creation Music Team who were in Saskatoon for a couple of days as part of their tour. We got talking about music gear and recording and they were excited to try something - so we set up a quick recording session (at Redeemer Lutheran Church) and laid down the basic tracks that night. A little while later I added the piano and trumpet parts.

On this track:
Dennis Hendricksen: keyboards and piano
David Hunter: trumpet
Lowell Christensen: electric guitar and bass
John Vymazal: drums.

This song was part of the cassette album released in 1985 called Eclectic Images.

To play the track, click on the orange circle with the arrow symbol.

4 comments:

ZsofiMarch 5, 2012 at 10:47 AM
I really enjoy this Bruce, it's a good piece of music. Thank you for sharing.
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Dennis HendricksenMarch 5, 2012 at 11:00 AM
Bruce? Thanks for the comment Zsofi, coming from a creative person like you that's a nice compliment. And by coincidence today is the trumpet player's birthday. Happy Birthday David! Thanks for being my musical collaborator over the years.
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UnknownMarch 26, 2012 at 3:17 PM
Hi Dennis, I used to room with John, Darryl Rott & Lowell Christensen back in the 80's. Do you have any contact information for John?
- Jody Bergum
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