A Must Have for the New Year - Leap of Faithby IndieScout

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December 27, 2008: As icons and a brand name in contemporary instrumental music, Tingstad & Rumbel are releasing on Inauguration Day, 2009 what I consider their best collaborative work to date. Imagine, Leap of Faith is launching on the very day this country can begin making the biggest comeback it's ever been challenged with. Symbolically, Leap of Faith is American home-style music at its finest, with eclectic flavors and international spice. From the most-often requested song of their career, "Medicine Tree", to traditional Asian folk tunes, Tex-Mex stylings, Caribbean rhythms, covers from the Great American Songbook and Americana roots, Leap of Faith musically represents the melting pot of America.




Eric Tingstad is a renowned American fingerstyle guitarist and the harmonic half of this Grammy Award-winning duo. Nancy Rumbel is a world premier double reed and ocarina player who provides the melodic balance.

Of the eleven tracks on this recording, it's impossible to pick out just one or two favorites. Tingstad has developed deeper nuance; and the guitar has a more prominent voice in this recording, which is a very welcome sound. When I first heard the CD, Nancy's performance of "Summertime" just melted ...honestly, I've never heard it performed so beautifully.

To illustrate the diversity and variety Tingstad & Rumbel have blended so eloquently, "To Life" is so robust and festive, the imagery it conjures is vividly painted as if a scene from a movie were taking place in your living room. "Chinese Lullaby" is an amazingly poignant folk tune that bears repeated listening whether there are babies in your house or not. "Medicine Tree" just takes you to another time and place with moving and powerful reverence for our Native ancestors and Mother Earth.

Just like picking out the perfect piece of art to accessorize your home and your lifestyle, Leap of Faith is a must have for the New Year and every year beyond. This CD represents who we are and what we're made of. It is about family, it's about relationships, it's about living.