On keyboardist/flutist Nicholas Gunn’s debut album, you spend an Afternoon in Sedona exploring the spirit of the magnificent Southwestern desert landscape. The Sacred Fire captures his reverence for Mother Earth and the sounds that echo from ancient peoples who once tread upon it. On tracks like “Odessa,” lush orchestration punctuated by percussive tribal beats and stirring vocals burn with the intensity of primitive dance, while the romantic tender ballad “Midnight Hour” embraces the listener under the moonlit sky. This album in particular helped launch Gunn into the upper echelons of new age performers who blended their musical spirits with that of the land they love so much. – Jonathan Widran