The following is a review from Kathy Parsons of Mainly Piano. Click here to read the review on the Mainly Piano website.
FLOW is the debut album by new age super-group FLOW. The name of the group was formed with a letter from each member’s name – Fiona Joy, Lawrence Blatt, Jeff Oster, and Will Ackerman – each a multi-award-winning artist in his or her own right with well-established musical careers on their own. The group was formed out of long-term friendships and a history of working and playing together over the past eight years. The idea for the group was born in 2015 when Lawrence Blatt invited Fiona Joy and Jeff Oster to his San Francisco home to riff on some musical ideas. Blatt’s original idea was to create an album inspired by the iconic Windham Hill sound. They wanted Will Ackerman to produce the album and in the process of sharing some of their ideas with him, Ackerman became a full-fledged member of the group. Each of the four artists brought ideas for two or three pieces to the group, and then each added parts with the guidance of Ackerman’s production partner at Imaginary Road, Tom Eaton, who became “the fifth Beatle” for the project.
The FLOW Album Release Celebration at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
Billboard World Premiers FLOW
The following article was written by Gary Graff and originally appeared on Billboard.com. Click here to read the original article.
Will Ackerman Premieres ‘Free Ascent’ From New Group FLOW: Listen
Will Ackerman has never exactly gone with the flow during his length career in jazz and New Age music. But now he’s going with FLOW, a new all-star group whose self-titled debut album comes out Oct. 6 — including the track “Free Ascent,” which is premiering exclusively below.
Contemporary Fusion Reviews – Review of FLOW
The following is a review from Dick Metcalf, editor, Contemporary Fusion Reviews. Click here to read the review on the Contemporary Fusion Reviews website.
Imaginary road excellence fiona joy lawrence blatt jeff oster will ackerman Flow – Flow
Imaginary road excellence fiona joy lawrence blatt jeff oster will ackerman Flow – FLOW: It’s only about 150 miles from where Will Ackerman setup his Imaginary Road studios many years ago to where my grandfather’s farm used to be (Island Pond, VT), so I’m well familiar with how peaceful and natural the region can be. Will has used that ambience to assist in the creation of many beautiful musical experiences, but having listened to (and reviewed) each of these players (Fiona Joy on piano, Lawrence Blatt doing acoustic/electric guitar and ukulele, Jeff Oster on flugelhorn and Will Ackerman on guitar) many times, I believe this new release (it’s officially slated for October 6, 2017) is the finest ever to emerge from there. The guitar works from both Lawrence and Will strongly compliment each other throughout the album, in ways even they hadn’t imagined.