Andrew Sterman
The Path To Peace
Orange Mountain Music
By George W. Harris

Here’s some music with a vision. Tenorist/flutist Andrew Sterman has put together an ambitious disc of thoughtful and provocative (in the good sense) music that chronicles the spiritual journey of Mahatma Gandhi. Taking different phases of the pacifist leader’s life as a musical mood, Sterman has put together a gorgeous Raphael-like tapestry of music that is embracing on a myriad of levels. The sextet includes moving contributions from violinist Todd Reynolds, as well as complex yet smooth rhythm work supplied by the rhythm section . Sterman’s tenor, in particular, is warm and room filling in its power. Most of the pieces have a calmness with underlying yearning about them, except for the intense “Satyagraha” which is an aural presentation of Gandhi’s “passive resistance.” Up there Ron Blake’s and Branford Marsalis’ recent forays into the spiritual, this one is a pleasant surprise. But then, so is peace!