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King Raven: Volume One by Jeff Johnson & Brian Dunning ArkMusic/Ark Records Jeff Johnson is no stranger to the pages of Renaissance Magazine, though his latest release, King Raven, has a non-traditional delivery system. Like many artists today, Johnson has entered the realm of music that is downloadable from web sites such as iTunes. In other words, you can listen to song samples when you download King Raven, but you will not be able to pick it up at the local music store. That said, King Raven is modern Celtic music at Johnson’s best. With four tracks in all, “The Flight of Rhi Bran,” “Elder World,” “Power of Heaven,” and “Fire Song,” it hails back to the ambient style that Johnson mastered in the Songs from Albion series. Once again, Johnson draws his inspiration from author Stephen R. Lawhead and his new book Hood, which is purportedly a paradigm-busting look at the life of Robin Hood. This literary soundtrack provides over 20 minutes of sometimes meditative, sometimes energetic otherworldly music, including the keyboard, bass, viola, bodhran, and Dunning’s expert handling of whistles and flute. The first three tracks are instrumental, though “Fire Song” includes a taste of Lawhead’s prose, which, while lyric and thought-provoking, interrupts the spiritual journey created by the first three tracks. For less than $4, you can download King Raven, with three albums to come over the next three years. If volume one is any indication, they will be worth waiting for. To order, visit www.arkmusic.com — Kevin M. Williams

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