Mike Post - Message from the Mountains & Echoes of the Delta (2024) (Hi-Res)

He transformed and redefined the sound of music in TV and films over a half-century, and now the Emmy®- and Grammy®-winning American composer and musical man-for-all-seasons Mike Post has realized his own creative challenge in Message from the Mountains & Echoes of the Delta, a unique new recording from Sony Masterworks. The album features a pair of original works by Post that combine the pure sounds of bluegrass (Message from the Mountains) and the blues (Echoes of the Delta) – joined by “dream teams” of soloists who are longtime friends and colleagues – with the expressive power and range of a full orchestra. Post’s musical signatures for The Rockford Files, The A-Team, Magnum P.I., NYPD Blue, L.A. Law, Hill Street Blues and other TV classics – not to mention the Law & Order family of dramas (including the landmark, two-note “stinger” effect he created) – are in the DNA of contemporary television culture.

In nine multifaceted movements, Message from the Mountains uses the sounds of bluegrass to celebrate the mingling of tradition and diverse cultural experience in American music. Collaborators in realizing the work are the soloists – Herb Pedersen (5-string banjo); Gabe Witcher (fiddle); Mike Witcher (dobro); Patrick Sauber (acoustic guitar/mandolin); and Amy Keys (orator).

Echoes from the Delta reflects and explores the exuberant joy and the well of anguish that forged the blues in 14 short, expressive movements. Joining Post and the orchestra as soloists are Sonny Landreth (slide guitar); Eric Gales (electric guitar); Abe Laboriel Sr. (bass); Abe Laboriel Jr. (drums); Robert Turner (organ/piano); Jon O’Hara (keyboards); and Amy Keys (vocalist).

The way Mike Post firmly describes himself – “I am an American musician” – is as grateful and respectful as it is limitless in its compass and its ambition. Message from the Mountains & Echoes of the Delta emerged as his own celebration of the American experience that made him who he is.

Tracklist
1 Message from the Mountains: I. Journeys - The Message
2 Message from the Mountains: II. Onward
3 Message from the Mountains: III. Sunrise Special
4 Message from the Mountains: IV. Redemption Valley
5 Message from the Mountains: V. Campfire Breakdown - Night Sky
6 Message from the Mountains: VI. Fort Smith Waltz
7 Message from the Mountains: VII. Strings Afire
8 Message from the Mountains: VIII. Spirit of the Owl
9 Message from the Mountains: IX. Destined to Dream
10 Echoes of the Delta: I. John the Revelator
11 Echoes of the Delta: II. River Walkin'
12 Echoes of the Delta: III. Just Before Dawn
13 Echoes of the Delta: IV. Highway 41
14 Echoes of the Delta: V. Little Zion
15 Echoes of the Delta: VI. The Gate to Greenwood
16 Echoes of the Delta: VII. Crossed Road
17 Echoes of the Delta: VIII. Riley Smiles
18 Echoes of the Delta: IX. Riffs 'Round the Sun
19 Echoes of the Delta: X. Sunday With Maudes
20 Echoes of the Delta: XI. Boogie Offspring
21 Echoes of the Delta: XII. Backside Middle
22 Echoes of the Delta: XIII. Sonny in the Second Line
23 Echoes of the Delta: XIV. Light the Dark Sky
24 Echoes of the Delta: XV. The Call
25 Echoes of the Delta: XVI. Circle Back Home