Desert Solitaire (album) explained

Desert Solitaire
Type:	studio
Artist:	Steve Roach, Kevin Braheny and Michael Stearns
Cover:	DesertSolitairealbumcover.jpg
Released:	1989
Studio:	The Timeroom, Crystal Sound and M'Ocean Studios in Los Angeles, California
Genre:	Ambient
Length:	65:12
Label:	Fortuna
Producer:	Steve Roach, Kevin Braheny, Michael Stearns, and Ethan Edgecombe
Chronology:	Steve Roach
Prev Title:	Stormwarning
Prev Year:	1989
Next Title:	Strata
Next Year:	1990

Desert Solitaire is a collaborative album by American ambient musicians Steve Roach, Kevin Braheny, and Michael Stearns. This album was conceived as a follow-up to Roach and Braheny's 1987 collaboration Western Spaces.

The title of the album is named after the eponymous book by U.S. author Edward Abbey, who died the same year and to whom the album is dedicated.

Track listing

1. "Flatlands" (Roach) (4:49)
2. "Labyrinth" (Sterns) (6:56)
3. "Specter" (Roach) (9:34)
4. "The Canyon's Embrace" (Roach, Stearns) (3:35)
5. "Cloud of Promise" (Roach, Stearns) (6:38)
6. "Knowledge & Dust" (Braheny) (3:23)
7. "Shiprock" (Stearns) (4:00)
8. "Highnoon" (Roach, Stearns) (10:30)
9. "Empty Time" (Braheny) (5:51)
10. "From the Heart of Darkness" (Stearns) (3:50)
11. "Desert Solitaire" (Roach, Braheny) (6:06)

Personnel

• Steve Roach (Oberheim OB8, DMX, Matrix 12, Xpander, Emax, Arp 2600, Korg M-1, Kawai K-5, ocarina, Taos Drum)
• Kevin Braheny (The Mighty Serge, Prophet VS, Prophet 2002, soprano saxophone, tin whistle, Diamondback rattlesnake)
• Michael Stearns (Roland S-50, D-50, Yamaha TX-7, Oberheim OB8, Serge Modular synthesizer, 12-string guitar)

with

• Chuck Oken, Jr. (shakers on “Flatlands”)
• Robert Rich (dumbek and gourd drums on “Specter”)
• Goergianne Cowan (voice on “Specter”)
• Miguel Rivera (effects and ghost percussion on “Labyrinth” and “From the Heart of Darkness”)
• Leonice Shinneman (percussion, pakhawaj, manjerra, African berimbau, melodic rattle, claves on “Empty Time”)
• Hyman Katz (flute on “From the Heart of Darkness”)