Medicine Woman III: The Rising

By: Medwyn Goodall

Record Label: New World Music

www.newworldmusic.com

3 ˝ Stars

Reviewed By: Christopher Williams 

Medwyn Goodall is a virtual new age empire at this point. I can remember finding Goodall about a decade ago when I went through my ‘Celtic stage.’ I found his music illuminating and retisent to the time period. A theme song to the Celts, if you will; like Enya, he told their story through their music. So is true a decade later where Goodall has a mammoth career, a plethora of CDs he has created, and now a producer of many other emerging New Age musicians. His music is gentle like rain and yet as powerful and vibrant as the rainbow afterwards.  

The finale to the Medicine Woman Trilogy ‘The Rising’ is no different in concept and execution. If the ancient Mayans had a soundtrack to their spiritual lives, it probably would have been this collection. Gentle songs of rejuvenation, rebirth, and the cycle of life; Medicine Woman III takes the beloved physical being we have journeyed with in collections I and II and now we watch her lift into a higher state and become a Goddess and forever united with her powerful pyramid temple.

This is a romantic collection of songs fitting for a Goddess, or anyone wishing to worship one! Medicine Woman III is currently in the top 5 best sellers on the New World Music website and for good reason. Although the collection imparts only seven songs, they are quite lengthy, ranging from almost six minutes to a little over ten minutes. The tracks are not meant to be singular, they are more akin to a symphony broken into digestible pieces. Anyone who knows Goodalls’ work will not mind that the collection is only seven tracks long.  

Medicine Woman III – The Rising is full of unique pairings of instrumentation. More traditional instruments can be heard such as the piano, guitar and mandolin, but the collections really beauty is in the lesser known instruments, such as the woodwinds like the sicu and the small guitar known as the charango. Of course, what would a Goodall collection be without the pre-requisite synthesizers? Songs like ‘Sherpa’ are upbeat and bring the sense of promise for the future, whereas tracks like ‘Hymn For The Loss Of Innocence’ were evoking and full of depth. 

I do feel that Medwyn Goodall has greater collections to his name, but it would be wise to invest in a trilogy of his, or simply add this final chapter if you already have the first two.  

1. Invocation Part 3

2. Farewell To The Darkness

3. Faith

4. Sherpa

5. Divinity

6. Hymn For The Loss Of Innocence

7. Temple Journey Part 2