Asher Quinn's music career is two-fold: instrumentals and spiritually tinged new age music on the one hand, quiet folk songs on the other. This two-CD collection covers both grounds, from his first LP
Open Secret (1987, produced by
Anthony Phillips of early
Genesis fame) up to previously unreleased live recordings from 2008. His new age music is very decent by that genre's standards, but his real talent resides in his folk songwriting, which is honest, elegant, and has a distinctly English quality.
Gordon Giltrap is a reference (although
Quinn doesn't have or display
Giltrap's level of musicianship), but there are also hints of
Shawn Phillips and
Cat Stevens. The set includes folk songs, piano instrumentals, keyboard/flute instrumentals, a couple of covers, and a handful of fresh live recordings and new songs, all arranged chronologically. Artistic quality varies greatly, and some albums get too much exposure (East of East and
Open Secret, which, between the original tracks and live tracks, is almost entirely included). Actually, the problem of this collection is how generous it is. Clocking in at two-and-a-half hours, it offers too much. It's not an invitation to explore the man's catalog, it's everything you need to get and then some.