Firmly rooted in the genre of Downtempo, with a nod to ambient music pioneers, this instrumental album explores the boundaries between electronic and roots-based acoustic music. Beats blended seamlessly with guitars, pianos, bells and other folk instruments with a shifting backdrop of soft tones and textures. Melodies warp into new sounds, and then disappear with little trace.

An over-arching theme of water is the thread that nudges these dreamy tracks in the same direction with a gentle reminder of man's relationship with land and sea.

John Blow's marvellously scintillating and exciting music for the masque Venus and Adonis for violins, viola, and continuo, laced with nobly beautiful songs by Henry Purcell.

Acoustic Journal has truly been a musical journey, a special voyage of the heart to places and experiences that have left an indelible impression on the artists soul.

Every composition is intended to carry the listener across time, across mountains and oceans through a wide array of emotions. Each original piece represents a memory and is intended to capture an impression of a special moment in time.

This project is purely Doug doing what he loves best. It is comprised solely of his original melodies and arrangements while playing his beloved Martin and as such this album gives the listener an intimate glimpse into the very heart of the writer and guitar-stylist. He considers music to be one of life's greatest blessings and each song he has written to be a gift. Growing up surrounded by the coastal mountains and waters of Puget Sound, his writing and even his playing style has invariably been influenced by the beauty of his surroundings. The texture, mood and flow of his compositions reflect his love of nature and gratitude for our Creator. Relax and enjoy the journey.

The album reflects the musical range and versatility of the group, stretching from mainstream jazz, hard bop jazz to more reflective and aggressive fusion, with a few classical guitar influences thrown in for good measure.

Brian's first recording with his working trio of Daniel Fritz and Maurilio Mina was recorded in the winter of 2008 in Los Angeles, CA. The group had been working around the Los Angeles area for months before, and brought in the experience and versatility of Chris Conner to play upright bass on some of the straight-ahead tracks.

This is a collection of mellow instrumental songs anchored by fingerstyle acoustic guitar. The songs express a range of moods that allow the listener to relax, reflect, and enjoy the sounds.

The song "Isle of Elba" was inspired by a bittersweet trip to Italy and stay at a little village on the western coast of the island of Elba, off the Tuscany coast. This song captured the essence of that experience, as well the overall feel of this collection of songs, and thus became the title song of the album.

Bringing in notable guest musicians to fill out some of the songs, the album flows from gentle to more robust moods, and back again. These original songs were drawn from some that have been around for many years, as well as newer ones written especially for this project.

Put this album on and relax into it, or just let it play in your background as you go about your activities.