If
Christopher Idylls had been released the year it was recorded -- or even ten years after it was recorded -- it would have been a landmark album. Guitarist
Gimmer Nicholson played a fusion of classical and folk music: meditative, slowly evolving pieces that lasted as much as ten minutes. He had anticipated the sound that would come to be called new age on this album of chiming, mellow guitar, but in 1968 nobody knew that there might be a market for such a thing. The tapes were forgotten for 25 years, only seeing the light of day in 1994. Regardless of when it was recorded, this is a fine album.
Nicholson's compositions are melodic and evocative, his playing assured and effortless. It is not dazzling, but it wasn't designed to be. This is mood music, and it's among the best of its kind. ~ Richard Foss