“Nick Rowe’s The Fire & the Moon is heartfelt and compelling music. Although it is largely improvised, it has a sense of structure and completeness. It is simultaneously tranquil and engaging.” (Michael Manring - Bass player. Windham Hill - recording artist) “It is rare to hear a flautist who has such a well-developed sense of tone production, superb breath control and who can play with such feeling. The Fire & the Moon is not only great to listen to but its soothing meditative quality can clear the mind and motivate you to your own creativity.” (Steve Kindler - Violinist, former member of John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra and Kitaro’s touring band. C>B>S>/Global Pacific - recording artist) Nick Rowe is no follower of current music trends or styles, and his album and single are testimony to that….the whole recording [has] a haunting atmosphere, similar to the feel created by Enya and Clannad.” (The Wrexham (Wales) Leader) ‘Rowe’s music is unusual and beautiful at the same time… a rhythmical, penetrating and thoroughly enjoyable musical experience. An excellent addition to any CD collection. (The Herald, Allaire, NJ) “Something out of the ordinary, with fresh appeal and some intriguing listening. The flute playing by Rowe is flawless in its expression and the support from Ralf Illenberger is excellent."(The Heartbeats Catalog) “Flautist Nick Rowe has compliled a series of introspective, largely improvised tone poems with a fresh, classical austerity and folk purity. Rowe’s dark atmospheres have a cerebral distance that yields even greater depth. The compositions are sketchy outlines, usually shaped by guitarists Ralf Illenberger and Kostas Timbakianakis in gentle ostinato patterns while Rowe dances on top in flute rhapsodies.This works especially well on the kinetic “Spiral Dance” with the guitar and kalimba playing cyclical counter-rhythms, framing Rowe’s and Illenberger’s solos in a winding tunnel. Indian themes and improvisational modes appear throughout. The aptly entitled “Celtic Raga”, as its name implies, has the shape of a raga, but Rowe infuses it with Celtic rhythms played on percussion and string bass. It’s a stark, compelling piece as he builds his themes over the course of its twelve minutes.(SOUNDSCAPES by John Diliberto - JAZZIZ) “It’s not everyday a new-age genre release appears that is genuinely new, fresh and different, Barry Cleveland’s ‘Mythos’ was one example, this is another. From a commercial point of view, claims of being “improvised music that doesn’t sound improvised” may not do any favours. But personally, this improvised nature is the album’s success - expression on all instruments is given freely, any restraint being imparted by the musicians own sensibilities and interaction with each other. Intuition takes the basic compositional structure, adapts and remoulds it, creating a “spiritual’ music of great evocative quality. Nick Rowe is a superb flautist (one of the best based on this) and is helped out by other musicians on accoustic guitars, percussion and bass. The special nature of Nick’s music is brought to a height on the superb CELTIC RAGA, a great and powerful showpiece of what can be done with such simple instruments as flute, accoustic bass and tabla; whereas THE CRUCIBLE takes us to spacious realms with a piece for flute synth. This is deep and thoughtfully created music - not new-age waffle! Recommended without reservation! (AUDION, Alan Freeman - Pinnacle)