It's great to be able support creative new music in a world with so much "same old, same old".  

There are some great moments here of musical inventiveness.  I enjoyed the SACD surround sound mix especially well.  Keep up the good work.
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Beautiful musical textures, rhythms and colours using a variety of acoustic instruments, combining elements of jazz and classics. Each successive play reveals further delights. A very enjoyable disk that does not disappoint.
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Larry Chernicoff’s October Nominated for Best Surround CD in 3rd Annual Surround Music Awards

NEW YORK, NY (August 3, 2004) -- The finalists in all categories have been announced for the third annual Surround Music Awards (SMAs), which are produced by CMP Information and sponsored by Dolby. The winning titles will be announced at a star-studded event taking place August 31, 2004 at The Highlands in Hollywood, CA. 

The evening will feature a musical tribute to 2004 Surround Pioneer Award recipient Herbie Hancock by an all-star band, as well as many other surprises. 

For the third consecutive year, the Surround Music Awards will honor those who have excelled in multichannel music recording and mixing throughout the year. Previous winners include Queen, James Taylor, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Alison Krauss. The SMAs are also becoming known for the dramatic live performances that take place each year, including Graham Nash and David Crosby at the inaugural event, and Dweezil Zappa last year.
 
All of the other categories are decided upon by a panel of expert judges that include personnel from Sound & Vision, Pro Sound News, Widescreen Review, Surround Professional, NARAS, USA Today, Highfidelityreview.com, and Los Angeles-based radio station KCRW. 



BEST MADE FOR SURROUND TITLE is awarded to the most outstanding title created from its inception with multichannel in mind. This release must not have previously released in any other format. (New recordings  released simultaneously in surround and stereo (like October are acceptable.)

 The finalists are:

I Get Surround; The Surf City Allstars featuring Dean Torrence [AIX Records]
XXL; Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band [Silverline Records]
Brain; Hiromi [Telarc]
Four Flicks; The Rolling Stones [TGA DVD]
October; Larry Chernicoff [Windy Planet Music]

More information on the Surround Music Awards, as well as registration information, can be found at www.surroundexpo.com.
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The Beat 
Cross Cultural Palette 
By Seth Rogovoy 
Special to The Eagle
Article Published: Friday, February 06, 2004 - 2:15:20 AM EST 
In its dynamic twists and turns, with surprises around every musical corner, Larry Chernicoff's new CD, "October" (Windy Planet Music), packs the punch and excitement of artful, progressive rock without beating a listener over the head with excessive volume or pyrotechnics. 
Rather, Chernicoff's 10-piece group, Windhorse -- a large, all-acoustic chamber ensemble or a miniature orchestra, depending on your perspective -- serves the composer and bandleader with shimmering, colorful renditions of contemplative music that boasts the dynamism of jazz and the dimensionality and proportions of classical music. 
Windhorse's group interplay can be stunning, as on "Light Years," which opens with a duet but turns into a number featuring multiple counterpoints of rich, vibrant tonal colors, before Chernicoff offers a fleet solo on vibraphone. 
Chernicoff, who lives in Alford, composes from a broad, cross-cultural palette that draws from multiple traditions as well as from nature. 
"Talking Rain" is a stately composition with a classical feel showcasing guest harpist Carol Emanuel, who has worked with John Zorn, Marty Ehrlich, Bill Frisell and other jazz notables and who lives in Great Barrington. Cinematic in scope, it's not surprising to read in the liner notes that it was originally written for a dance. 
"Sailor and Siren" is a miniature drama, and the title track builds to a slowly pulsing climax worthy of Philip Glass. 
"Timeless" is one of the disks more experimental pieces, a structured improvisation in which the musicians, including bassoonist Janet Grice, clarinetist Tim Moran, violinist Esther Noh and oboist Charles Pillow, are given only four notes to draw upon for their parts. Untethered to any fixed meter, the musicians conjure up a profoundly wistful mood, setting up a contrast for "East 13th Street," the upbeat tune that follows. 
A frisky, jazzy strut through the East Village fueled by bassist John Lindberg and percussionist Tony Vacca, "East 13th Street" is downright Ellingtonian in the manner in which Chernicoff engages the different instrumentalists in the role of urban characters. The clear shapes, solid colors and head-turning array of voices in the piece bring to mind the work of painter Piet Mondrian. 
The album closes with a hint of gospel on "Last Dance," featuring a bluesy saxophone solo by Moran and inspirational, jazzy piano by Karl Berger, who co-produced the album with Chernicoff. 
Other instrumentalists who round out the ensemble include cellist Tomas Ulrich, Tom Varner on French horn and Benjy Wertheimer on tablas. 
In the past, Chernicoff, an alumnus of Berklee College of Music who has been involved with the Creative Music Studio Orchestra for 30 years, has incorporated state-of-the-art electronics into his performances. On "October," he has taken whatever lessons there were to glean from electronics and translated them back into the acoustic realm, so that "October" boasts a fresh, glistening organic quality.
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