ReMix:Seiken Densetsu 3 "Summer Tea Time" 4:01

One of my personal favorites from Seiken Densetsu 3: Songs of Light and Darkness is this upbeat & quirky pop/jazz/chip arrangement from audio fidelity (Jay Yaskin) & Abi Coffer (live flute); Jay always delivers musical, inventive, and emotional mixes, and he works particularly well with floutists, based on his (exquisite) Secret of Evermore collaboration from 2012. This mix is decidedly pluckier & non-chalant compared to that previous collaboration, but the synergy is still there, the acoustic details shine through, and the agile & personalized performances on both acoustic guitar and flute contrast nicely with synthetic, detuned chip & electronic drum elements. Album director Rozovian writes:

"Though I wanted to avoid having a lot of synths for this album, I can't fault audio fidelity for his playful combination of blatantly synthetic and acoustic instrumentation. It's just lovely. Abi's flute performance is lovely. The whole thing is lovely. Even the out of tune synths are lovely. If I had to pick a favorite part, it could be the second verse, with the more liberal flute melodies, or it could be one of the many parts with really nice interplay of instruments, like the mostly guitar and percussion part starting one minute in. The remix does indeed invoke feelings of summer and tea time, at some seaside cafe, with blue skies and a fresh breeze. What's not to like?"

Nothing's not to like; this is a feel-good jam that's brought to life by Abi's playful, graceful flute work, Jay's dexterous acoustic accompaniment, and an ear for blending seemingly disparate elements and keeping things light & crispy. Co-director Meteo Xavier adds:

"The performance has a lot of timbre charm that you don't find just everywhere. You can almost taste honey when you listen to it. The subtle drums are extraordinarily well humanized and you almost have to listen to how fast and frantic they're actually playing, because they'll pass you by if you don't.

It's pretty much everything we like about the Secret of Mana atmosphere all rolled up in one cute, excellently executed package."

I like Jeff's culinary imagery; makes sense to me. From the humble opening acoustic guitar riff to the enthusiastic synth bits & syncopated drum bits to the flute... it's like Wes Anderson meets Jethro Tull meets Devo, with the best aspects of each influence. Abi's impeccable, articulate performance reminds me that even though I love some of the flute sample libraries & VSTs I have, they're (very much) not the real thing. Vibes add some additional depth, and the whole thing breezes by in four minutes, making you immediately want to play it again. Sweet, refreshing work from Jay & Abi, adding character and diversity to the album and landing squarely (and confidently) in the "Songs of Light" half of the titular dichotomy. Highly recommended!