This is music to be savored many times with full attention, and perhaps in a darkened room without distractions. With nature and environmental concerns as the primary sources of inspiration...Urquhart’s voice is uniquely his own. The pieces tend to be very spare and uncluttered, but are played with such openness and purity of emotion that each piece packs a wallop. Each song carries a somewhat different message, and yet the album holds together as a strong and powerful whole, creating an unusually satisfying experience from the first note to the last.  
“Poem” was composed for Urquhart’s ailing father, and is a reflection of the peace that came upon his family with the acceptance of passage.  It is structured, but has the improvisational quality of a soliloquy or a private and intimate conversation.  “Old Trees” is Urquhart’s reaction to a world where ancient trees can be cut down for profit. The tale of the old trees is told from the trees’ point of view, and is a call for mankind to leave a more reverent legacy.... “The Whale’s Lament” represents the singing voice of the whale as he or she makes a lonely journey through the ocean.  I can’t imagine anyone hearing this piece and not stopping dead in their tracks to listen more closely.
I wouldn’t be surprised if “Evocation” was my favorite album for the year. I give it my highest recommendation.
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Craig's music is truly timeless and with its power will command your full attention. Through his music Craig will enter your mind, take your soul by the hand and walk you to the edge of time and back. His music sets the stage and orchestrates the mood. About all you can add is a flickering candle and perhaps a glass of fine wine. 
At the end of my day, the stress, the noise and the bombardment of the outside world has put me in a state of mind whereby I feel I could single handedly lift a city bus. After listening to Craig's music and walking with him in song through my mind, I find myself at peace, and with barely enough strength to do anything but smile. Its a wonderful experience and Craig's music is means for me to talk with God, reflect on life and regain my perspective. 
Knowing Craig's music is knowing Craig the man. His music is nothing short of his soul reaching out to touch everything and anything that needs to be touched. Never have I known any composer/performer to put so much of himself in his music. Experiencing Craig's music is a "must do" type of thing. It's the only thing I have that helps me make sense and get through the craziness of today's world.
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Craig's music is like the stars: timeless... powerful but subtle.  One sits in stillness, secure in the music's flow, while becoming more and more aware of the beautiful glints sprinkled throughout.  Quiet, but certainly not boring!  And his exquisite playing allows the music full expression of its detail.  Highly recommended.
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Once again, we are blessed with another album of music from the soulful pen of the American composer-pianist Craig Urquhart. The title of his latest release is an appropriate one: EVOCATION indeed evokes those moments that most of us let pass by in our lives. I cannot help wonder if Urquhart is, in his gentle way, almost commanding us to stop, notice and savor those precious scenes of nature, both human and animal. Certainly my own listener response was to take the telephone off the hook, sit still and let the music guide me to where it desired. 
The music on this CD evokes a number of images which will differ from listener to listener depending on his or her own experience. This is what I have always admired about Urquhart’s music: it doesn’t jab us in a hard, twisting way, tossing us around in an effort to drive home its point. Instead, each work subtly persuades and seduces us into shutting out the world and its daily storms, then takes us to a better, calmer place, a place where our awareness and sensitivities are heightened. 
“Whale’s Lament” is an absolutely heart-wrenching piece. “Strolling” takes us for a pensive walk through a park at dusk.  “Blues” evokes the image of a pianist in a dark bar, a lone spotlight fixed on his solitary figure, smoke wafting from the cigarette dangling between his lips, a glass of scotch next to the music rack.  “Nocturne” is a portrait in sound of the sadness of love lost.  The final work, “Epilogue”, is a perfect summation of the music on this recording, a thoughtful ending that seems to say, “This is a glimpse of the journey of life, of that which surrounds you everyday and everywhere. You could possibly miss it if you don’t stop and notice.”  Thank you, Maestro Urquhart, for this journey, and the many journeys we look forward to taking with you in the future!
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