The Garden of Mirrors

The Garden of Mirrors
Studio album by Stephan Micus
Released	1997
Recorded	1995–1996
Genre	World fusion
Length	51:15
Label	ECM ECM 1632
Producer	Stephan Micus
Stephan Micus chronology
Athos (1994) The Garden of Mirrors (1997) Desert Poem (2001)

The Garden of Mirrors is an album by Stephan Micus recorded between 1995–1996 and released on ECM the following year.

Background

Like his previous efforts, Micus plays every instrument via overdubbing: he also provides all of the voices for the 20-man chorus in three of the tracks.

Micus's inspiration for this album was two traditional low-range West African harps that he studied in Gambia: the bolombatto and the sinding. When playing these two instruments, Micus claims to have identified with early African American music, which they influenced, claiming that the bassline in jazz was influenced by these harps. Other instruments used by Micus include steel drums and four different flutes: the Japanese shakuhachi, the Balinese suling, the Irish tin whistle, and the Egyptian ney.

Track listing

1. "Earth"
2. "Passing Cloud"
3. "Violeta"
4. "Flowers in Chaos"
5. "In the High Valleys"
6. "Gates of Fire"
7. "Mad Bird"
8. "Night Circles"
9. "Words of Truth"

Personnel

Stephen Micus