It’s a long way from Australia to Vermont – about 10,000 miles to be more precise, but the journey was worth it for pianist/composer Fiona Joy Hawkins to have her album recorded and produced by the legendary Windham Hill Records founder Will Ackerman. As it turned out, the experience was equally rewarding for him as well. Her music, which has been described as “transcultural instrumental,” incorporates elements of classical, jazz, new age, and world music. It is a combination that listeners obviously find appealing as she has over 43 Awards and nominations across 9 countries. In fact this album “Blue Dream” achieved the highest ranking in the history of the NAR International Radio Charts and won the ZMR Album of the Year, Best Piano Album, and Best Contemporary Instrumental Album awards.


The CD extends well over an hour and its 22 tracks are interestingly arranged between full length songs and shorter “interludes,” some only a minute or two and serve as an aural sorbet between the courses. However, while the album is divided as just described, it is actually created as a continuous musical flow and crystallizes beautifully as one complete body of work. Listening to it from beginning to end takes the listener on a journey, somewhat like a film score. Within this flow, the listener will find an incredible diversity of instruments, influences, and themes, sometimes in the context of one composition, all centered around Fiona’s elegant and expressive piano playing. . There is a lot of magic here in the way all the various, and sometimes unlikely, combination of elements and musicians intertwine to weave a dream you won’t want to wake up from.

For a full length review of this CD as well as others please visit: www.michaeldiamondmusic.com
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The noteworthy artist I would like to highlight today has achieved unbridled success playing the piano, reaching the number 1 spot in World New Age radio charts across 9 countries, achieving the Best Piano Album in the NAR lifestyle music awards in 2006, and winning the classical / jazz category in the Music OZ Awards for 2008. Accomplishments even her parents never would have dreamed possible.  Fiona Joy Hawkins has also received multiple nominations as finalist in classical jazz categories in 2007 and 2009 in multiple genres, among her respectable achievements as an Australian born composer and pianist. Her most recent 2008 Blue Dream album on the Little Hartley Music label, described as world fusion piano, puts the listener into a reflective relaxed state with many refined variations ranging from the poignant quiet moments of thought, to moments with varying rhythms, styles and many orchestration phases in the 22 song album which merge together skillfully. While already widely recognized, she hopes this album will break into international markets.  My favorite track 9 blends powerful, yet soft vocals, only to crescendo into a moving inspirational piece, blending into the next novel chapter.
One can consider the 22 songs contained in this album as chapters in a book, that after reading each chapter, the next phase of this story becomes more revealing when finishing all verses while working your way towards the final chapter.
All song chapters and illustrations in this book will hold your interest by preventing you from putting the book down, and my favorite track 9 blends powerful, yet soft vocals, only to crescendo into a moving inspirational piece, blending into the next novel chapter. Farther in the storyline Track 12 opens with a classic piano solo interlude as accompanying vocals add definition, and as the plot thickens, additional momentum begins to increase the readers awareness of a chance encounter, as additional instrumentals and rhythms divulge increasing amounts of dialog of this narrative.  Recorded and produced by Grammy Award winner Will Ackerman, plus an addition of many other talented musicians to their credit, who solo and accompany Fiona Joy Hawkins, influence the beauty and refinement of the album, without ever exceeding the award winning pianist intentions and the message she masterfully portrays with the 88 ebony and ivory keys provided for her on a Steinway concert piano.
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I listened to this beautiful album frequently while I was at sea sailing around South America. It brought me both peace and comfort… as well as depth and profound inspiration. BLUE DREAM is a 70-minute suite of piano music written by Australia’s Fiona Joy Hawkins and produced by Grammy Award-winning artist and founder of Windham Hill Records, Will Ackerman. His credentials alone should have you hitting the buy button. Recorded at Imaginary Road Studios on a Steinway B featuring special guest Luka Bloom, the artist’s musical style is described as “World Fusion Piano” and it is truly alluring and captivating. The mood on BLUE DREAM ranges from vibrant to sensual to haunting… Hawkins’ stellar musical vision on this project is worthy of great praise. She wowed us with her 2007 release ICE – Piano Slightly Chilled, and with BLUE DREAM Fiona Joy Hawkins enters the realm of masterful. The most compelling thing about this project is its almost gravity-defying continuity as it moves through 22 tracks, all of them with unique ideas and styles, yet all blending flawlessly. BLUE DREAM is aptly titled and highly recommended for your personal Time Outs.
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I am an acoustic guitarist that has discovered the beauty of the piano through this beautiful album. Headphones on and lights down low, the entire album transported me to another place that I didn't want to leave when it was over. Fortunately all I have to do is hit the play button again, and again, and again.
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