Andreas Vollenweider Biography
4 October 1953, Zurich, Switzerland. The son of organist Hans Vollenweider, Andreas established himself as one of the world's most prominent new age artists in the early 80s. Although he is also proficient on guitar, piano, flute, Vollenweider is primarily known for his virtuoso performances on the harp. After recording three albums with the Poetry And Music ensemble Vollenweider recorded his first solo album, 1979's Eine Arte Suite En Teilen 13, for the Swiss Tages Anzieger label. Later recordings for CBS Records honed his beguiling fusion of pop, jazz and classical styles and helped make him better known in Europe and America, with 1986's Down To The Moon earning a Grammy Award. By 1989, however, the record company were promoting Vollenweider as a world music artist. Dancing With The Lion included guest appearances from singer Patti Austin and multi-instrumentalist David Lindley. This approach deepened on Book Of Roses, where Vollenweider himself played Chinese flute and Greek dulcimer, and on one track performed with South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The symphonic album Kryptos was recorded with the Zurich Symphony Orchestra. The follow-up, Cosmopoly, was a striking world music album featuring contributions from Bobby McFerrin (vocals), Carly Simon (vocals), Ray Anderson (trombone), Abdullah Ibrahim (piano), Carlos Núñez (flute), Mindy Jostyn (fiddle), and Pingxin Xu (dulcimer).
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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