Desert Solitaire is a collaborative album by U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 ambient

Ambient music

Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...

 musicians Steve Roach, Kevin Braheny, and Michael Stearns

Michael Stearns

Michael Stearns is a United States musician and composer of ambient music. He is also known as a film composer, sound designer and soundtrack producer for large format films, theatrical films, documentaries, commercials, and themed attractions....

. This album was conceived as a follow up to Roach and Braheny's 1987 collaboration Western Spaces

Western Spaces

Western Spaces is a collaborative album by the American ambient musicians Steve Roach and Kevin Braheny. This album is the first of Steve Roach’s many musical tributes to the Southwestern Desert....

.

The music consists mostly of subtle electronic textures, tribal percussion and occasional soprano saxophone by Kevin Braheny.

The title of the album is named after the eponymous book

Desert Solitaire

This article is about the book. For the album dedicated to Edward Abbey see Desert Solitaire .Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness is a literary nonfiction work by Edward Abbey , published originally in 1968....

 by U.S. author Edward Abbey

Edward Abbey

Edward Paul Abbey was an American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views. His best-known works include the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, which has been cited as an inspiration by radical environmental...

, who died the same year and to whom the album is dedicated.

Track listing

1. "Flatlands" (Roach) (4:49)
2. "Labyrinth" (Sterns) (6:56)
3. "Specter" (Roach) (9:34)
4. "The Canyon's Embrace" (Roach, Stearns) (3:35)
5. "Cloud of Promise" (Roach, Stearns) (6:38)
6. "Knowledge & Dust" (Braheny) (3:23)
7. "Shiprock" (Stearns) (4:00)
8. "Highnoon" (Roach, Stearns) (10:30)
9. "Empty Time" (Braheny) (5:51)
10. "From the Heart of Darkness" (Stearns) (3:50)
11. "Desert Solitaire" (Roach, Braheny) (6:06)

Personnel

• Steve Roach (Oberheim
  Oberheim
  Oberheim Electronics is an American company, founded in 1969 by Tom Oberheim , which manufactured audio synthesizers and a variety of other electronic musical instruments.-Oberheim Electronics:...
  
   OB8, DMX, Matrix 12, Xpander, Emax, Arp 2600, Korg M-1, Kawai K-5, ocarina
  Ocarina
  The ocarina is an ancient flute-like wind instrument. Variations do exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the body...
  
  , Taos Drum)
• Kevin Braheny (The Mighty Serge, Prophet VS, Prophet 2002, soprano saxophone
  Soprano saxophone
  The soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in...
  
  , tin whistle
  Tin whistle
  The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, English Flageolet, Scottish penny whistle, Tin Flageolet, Irish whistle and Clarke London Flageolet is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is an end blown fipple flute, putting it in the same category as the recorder, American Indian flute, and...
  
  , Diamondback rattlesnake)
• Michael Stearns
  Michael Stearns
  Michael Stearns is a United States musician and composer of ambient music. He is also known as a film composer, sound designer and soundtrack producer for large format films, theatrical films, documentaries, commercials, and themed attractions....
  
   (Roland
  Roland Corporation
  is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on April 18, 1972, with ¥33 million in capital. In 2005 Roland's headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. Today it has factories in Japan,...
  
   S-50, D-50, Yamaha TX-7, Oberheim
  Oberheim
  Oberheim Electronics is an American company, founded in 1969 by Tom Oberheim , which manufactured audio synthesizers and a variety of other electronic musical instruments.-Oberheim Electronics:...
  
   OB8, Serge Modular synthesizer, 12-string guitar)

with

• Chuck Oken, Jr. (shakers on “Flatlands”)
• Robert Rich
  Robert Rich (musician)
  Robert Rich is an ambient musician and composer based in California, United States. With a discography spanning over 30 years, he is widely regarded as a figure whose sound has greatly influenced today's ambient, New Age, and even IDM music.-Early life:At an early age he thought he disliked music...
  
   (dumbek and gourd drums on “Specter”)
• Goergianne Cowan (voice on “Specter”)
• Miguel Rivera (effects and ghost percussion on “Labyrinth” and “From the Heart of Darkness”)
• Leonice Shinneman (percussion, pakhawaj
  Pakhavaj
  The pakhavaj, pakhawaj, pakuaj, pakhvaj or pakavaj is an Indian barrel-shaped, two-headed drum, the North Indian equivalent to the Southern mridangam....
  
  , manjerra, African berimbau, melodic rattle, claves
  Claves
  Claves are a percussion instrument , consisting of a pair of short Claves (Anglicized pronunciation: clah-vays, IPA:[ˈklαves]) are a percussion instrument (idiophone), consisting of a pair of short Claves (Anglicized pronunciation: clah-vays, IPA:[ˈklαves]) are a percussion instrument (idiophone),...
  
  on “Empty Time”)
• Hyman Katz (flute on “From the Heart of Darkness”)