This music in its LP incarnation was
a remarkable local success. It was the
best-seller ever on the Laurel Records
label without any advertising, word-of-mouth
having kept it in stock at every Los
Angeles record store through the end
of the LP era. It's the music that was
used in the scene in the film Blade
Runner when the bicyclists rush
by replicants Roy Batty and Leon Kowalski
on their way to see Chu, the eye-maker.
The master tape long since having disappeared,
this disk is excellently re-mastered
from a disk and is hence AAD, however
the sound is clear and bright and completely
free from noise and artefacts. [see
correction in footnote]
I met Gail Laughton several
times in Los Angeles at amateur musicales, although he was
no amateur, having been a professional performer and recording
artist for many years, and he impressed me as being a person
perpetually young. He was very quiet and shy, but considering
his many accomplishments, he must have been in fact much
older than he appeared. It is perhaps fitting that his
'dates' do
not appear as composer on any of the material associated
with this album, and even upon inquiry nobody seems to know
his exact age.
I remember Laughton saying
that there were only a few instances of multiple track overdubbing
in the album that it was mostly straight improvisation. Most
amazingly, there are no finger noises whatever, a tribute
to the excellent control of the musician as much as to careful
microphone placement. As a result Laughton achieves sounds
far beyond what you would expect from a solo harp, leading
most to speculate that there were several other instruments,
or perhaps a synthesizer involved, but no, only one harp
plus a few chimes here and there. Even professional harpists
may learn a few things about special effects. The music leans
heavily on Debussy and Fauré, with an Impressionist, New
Age flavor to it. It really is mood music, more 'background' than
'foreground' music
as there are no or no developed themes or traditional musical
forms. However the disk is very enjoyable to listen to and
will hold your interest through many hearings. It makes excellent
meditation music or ritual music; however due to its brief
duration you may want to use your repeat playback setting.
Paul Shoemaker
see also review by Rob Barnett
Footnote
Message received from
Laurel Records
I would like to clarify
one point in Paul Shoemaker's review.
The original audio master tape was not
lost. The CD was made by direct transfer
from this original master tape without
any digital mastering. Perhaps, I erred
when I indicated it as AAD. The original
editing and mastering was done on the
1/4" master. The audio material
was not taken from an LP.
Gail Laughton
(harp and bells). 
