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.