Reflections of Passion

easy listening

Reflections of Passion is the first of what has became a near-torrent of "best-of" collections and other repackagings involving Yanni's early work. To avoid confusion when pondering the long list of Yanni "special projects," keep this in mind: Reflections of Passion is the pick of the litter, a handsome distillation of Yanni's most imaginative period, his Out of Silence and Chameleon Days era. This was before saxophones and sopranos and string sections began cluttering what had been one of contemporary instrumental music's most arresting and thoughtfully energized keyboard-powered sounds. Listen to the commanding-yet-nonaggressive bravura of "After the Sunrise" and "The Rain Must Fall" and recall the days when Yanni infused the "new age" genre with a refreshingly brawny sound, a distinctive style that surged as convincingly as it serenaded. The straightforward approach displayed on this superb sampler is a welcome reminder of the evocative sparks Yanni's compositions could strike before he entered his black-velvet and pink-bow phase. Even the disk's three bonus tracks, particularly "Flight of Fantasy," are aglow with the keyboardist's then-unmistakable style of saintly sexuality. Here's hoping future Yanni works don't merely reflect the passion, but recapture it as well. --Terry Wood