New Age Retailer

This re-release of a 1991 album by acclaimed multi-instrumentalist Terry Oldfield (flutes, keyboards, drums, percussion) clearly shows influences from Kitaro and the late Richard Burmer. From the former, Oldfield draws a variety of Asian musical flavors while Burmer’s signature melodic dramatic keyboards are also in evidence on many of the CD’s 10 tracks. As such, Zen is less of a meditative musical experience and more of a fully fleshed out pan-Asian one, equally suffused with “classic” New Age music textures.Oldfield mixes in quieter reflective pieces, such as the soothing yet mysterious “Duality,” among the more powerful ones. Judicious and discrete use of selected nature sounds only adds to the CD’s artistic depth.