David Helfand

In moments of describing the indescribable, of yearning to taste the waters of the deep well and hearing the callings from the quiet grove, I dedicate these pieces to you…. Reflections of moments in time.

Reviews

Lush Celtic harp never goes out of style, and David Helfand’s mastery of this instrument will take you through the gates of Avalon. Meditative and introspective in nature, this collection of 11 songs by Helfand, formerly of the band Mythic Sky, is relaxing and atmospheric and quietly alluring. “Ebbing of the Tide,” “Seven Vaults of Love,” and “Ghost Ships” particularly set the mood with their lovely and timeless arrangements of harp, mandocello, guitars, violin, dumbek and keyboards.

David Helfand is a new artist who can truly do it all: compose, arrange, produce and perform. His debut “Callings From the Quiet Grove,” surrounds the listener in a sphere of mystique and beauty, a full yet delicate sound that builds on a combining of angelic and gypsy-like themes as it offers a vision of a world where magic and peace reign supreme. Helfand plays Celtic harp, mandocello, guitar, mandolin, drums, keyboards, dumbek and assorted percussion, and has help form David Burham on exquisite acoustic and electric violin, and Nick Hall on keyboards and synthesizer. From tracks that recall David Darling or Steve Kindler to those that remind me of peak Popol Vuh pieces, he mixes Celtic and New Age styles with great success, using multiple track techniques to produce complex yet beautiful pieces as he plays several instruments simultaneously. Timeless melodies, alluring and exotic, bring many musical worlds into an amazingly cohesive whole. As outstanding as David Friedman’s “Moonrise,” this recording stands as one of the finest debuts of the year. We heard it first on Musical Starstreams, but soon it should be filling the airwaves from coast to coast.

David Helfand is a gifted American harper and stroker of other assorted strings; his band Mythic Sky came under my admiring scrutiny a couple of issues back, if you recall. Here he assembles a collection of mostly self-composed instrumental pieces that incorporate the wraparound keyboards of Mythic Sky but eschew the bass’n’drums in favour of a largely acoustic sound, highlighting the harp and sprinkling fiddles, guitars, mandolin and mandocello to winning effect. The tracks range from the langorous atmospherics of Ebbing of the Tide and the title track to the Levantine-flavoured Remember and the almost Stivell-like Seven Vaults of Love. An ideal accompaniment to trips down the summer lanes of Derbyshire. I’ve found the cover photo advertises his enviable taste in jackets. Where’d you get’em David? He is also interested in playing in the UK. Any promoters out there?