Edito de After the RainsCommissioned by the Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, for Nursing Appreciation Week, this CD evokes the rich and varied moods of the ocean and the islands. Artist Bios: Harpist Susan Mazer and woodwinds performer Dallas Smith are most known for their extraordinary sound, which merges the aesthetics of jazz, classical, and world music into an experience that feeds both the intellect and the spirit. Together since 1984, Susan Mazer and Dallas Smith have merged their individual expertise to create a new sound and musical experience for contemporary instrumental music -- blending the electro acoustic concert grand harp and woodwinds. Both in composition and expression, their music offers a depth and richness that crosses boundaries of genres and expression. Melodies are rich; rhythms are distinct; and the dialogue between them is enticing, challenging, and sophisticated. As a listener, you will hear a freshness in each listening, as they venture into new musical arenas in each performance and recording. Each CD is a journey into the musical and personal expressions of their dialogue as soloists and as musical collaborators. Their live performances have awed audiences at major jazz and arts events, including the Peter Britt Festival, the Arts Festival of Atlanta, the UNR Performing Arts Series, and other well known music series. More than two musicians, their combined sound is symphonic and rich in musical expression and sonority. In many recordings, they are joined by virtuoso percussionist and drummers such as Moyes Lucas, Rayford Griffin, Eric Middleton, Andy Heglund, and others -- adding still another rich musical element. Dallas Smith Born in Columbus, Georgia, Dallas Smith began his musical studies in the 6th grade on a song flute. His talent was obvious from this young age, and he studied clarinet with George Cardino through high school. A scholarship student at Florida State University, Dallas studied with Harry Schmidt until he took a year abroad to study languages in Germany. Once there, he remained abroad, spending one year in Germany and subsequent years in Sweden and Afghanistan. During these years, three critical musical milestones occurred for Dallas: he began playing the flute, moved over to the jazz world, and began his love affair with East Indian Classical music on the Bansuri, the bamboo flute. Upon returning to the U.S. after over three years abroad, he moved to San Rafael, California, to study with Indian Music masters Ali Akbar Khan and G.S. Sachdev, and jazz saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis. As diverse as his musical interests were, that is how wide he ventured into the world of jazz, world music, and fusion. The result was that he performed in the U.S., Europe, and India -- becoming known as the finest woodwind performer to achieve virtuosity in each of his musical passions. He moves easily between the inspired and fluid world of meditation, the complex and exciting rhythms of Indian fusion, the complex world of jazz, and his own compositions, which blend all of them. In addition, Dallas is also a pioneer in the performance and development of the electronic wind synthesizer, having naturally expanded his interest to the newer technologies that allowed him to move around all musical genres with unprecedented creativity and expertise. It was in 1984 that he recorded his first solo album, ?Stellar Voyage,? and met Susan Mazer, when he collaborated on her first album, ?The Fire in the Rose.? In his performance and recordings, Dallas easily moves between the silk melodic quality of the flute to the sensual richness of the saxophone and clarinet and on to the magic of the electric wind instrument. His melding of East Indian, jazz, and classical music make both his performance and compositions refreshing and enticing. Dallas has performed with Ahmad Jamal, Steven Halpern, Zakir Hussein, and other musical greats that cover the landscape of contemporary instrumental music. Susan Mazer Born in Detroit, Michigan, Susan Mazer began her harp studies at Cass Technical High School at the age of 13. After studying for three years under Velma Froude, she moved on to study at Wayne State University with Elyze Ilku. It was at WSU that her relationship to the harp and to her musical career began to take form. Susan was a scholarship recipient at the Meadowbrook School of Music and at the Academia Musicale Chigiana (Siena, Italy) where she participated in orchestral studies under the direction of the North Carolina School of the Arts. She graduated from WSU with honors and moved west as a graduate fellow at Stanford University, where she received her Master of Arts degree in Music. As a classical harpist, Susan has performed with the Detroit Symphony, the English Royal Ballet, and under the batons of Sexton Ehling, Paul Paray, Robert Shaw, and other great conductors. As a classically trained harpist, it was a major leap for Susan to move across the musical divide to jazz and popular music ? especially at a time when the harp was not easily accepted as a legitimate instrument for any music other than symphonic. It was in her years in San Francisco that Susan became well-known in the Bay area as a top jazz harpist. She played in San Francisco for 12 years until she began performing at Harrah?s in Lake Tahoe. During her long tenure there, she performed as a soloist with such noted artists as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Julio Iglesias, Loretta Lynn, John Denver, and others. In an effort to set a new standard for excellence and artistry as a harpist in the contemporary instrumental jazz and pop music genres, she ventured into technological realm of amplification. Today, Susan is an acknowledged pioneer of the electro acoustic harp, enhancing the stunning sensitivity of the harp with a new depth, clarity, and technical virtuosity. She is a consultant for Lyon and Healy, working with the company to develop the electro acoustic harp. She authored the first technical manual for the instrument, which serves as a guide in both using the instrument and adapting classical technique to this new world of sound and performance. Susan has been on the faculty of Harpfest, international pop and jazz harp festival, for many years and is equally known for her stylistic expansion of the harp into jazz improvisation and composition. She is the only jazz harpist to ever perform at the famous Village Vanguard in New York City where she played with jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal. Susan brings to her music both classical virtuosity and jazz fluidity. She has been described by guitarist and vocalist George Benson as the ?Charlie Parker of the harp." About Healing Healthcare Founded by Susan Mazer and Dallas Smith in 1992, Healing HealthCare Systems develops media products and educational programs to assist healthcare organizations in providing clinical environments that are directly supportive of recovery. Best known for its Continuous Ambient Relaxation Environment (C.A.R.E.) programming, which brings nature and soothing instrumental music into hospitals, Healing HealthCare Systems offers three C.A.R.E. products: * The C.A.R.E. Channel® 24-hour closed-circuit television programming * C.A.R.E. With Music® instrumental music only programming * C.A.R.E.-on-Hold® music for telephone systems. Another Healing HealthCare Systems product is The Sondrex System® Mk II, a portable patient music and communication system for patients undergoing surgery or other stressful medical procedures. A combination of a personal CD music system with a specially designed communications interface, The Sondrex System allows the caregiver to speak to the patient at any time without removing the sound-insulating headphones. Healing HealthCare Systems also offers environmental design services in the form of consultation, sound system design, and digital sound systems. On the educational side, Healing HealthCare Systems provides accredited programs to help clinical and non-clinical staff assess and implement therapeutic environments. In addition, it produces special presentations and custom environments for conferences and meetings.