| For a full year, Australian photographer and field recording artist Gino Zardo trekked through North Western provinces of India, the Himalayas in Nepal and Papua, New Guinea. Beginning in January of 1999, he covered a distance of 50,000 miles. His goal was to experience the daily life of the tribes. While camping with families along the way, he was able to take in the full scope of their daily life — their routines, their music, and their customs. On his return, he handed his recordings over to Janek Schaefer who constructed a 21 minute audio diary of Zardo's travels. The sounds on this brief CD range from flocks of birds whooshing by, someone playing a guitar, chants, a chorus of kids playing, waves, a rainstorm, cars, bits and pieces of human dialogue, the sound of someone fixing a bicycle, and general sounds of nature. The CD comes packaged in a beautiful cardboard sleeve, complete with a booklet full of truly humane photographs taken by Zardo on his long journey. [Much of his photography can be viewed at www.ginozardo.com] For all it's worth, this audio documentary should have been two or three times its original length. Hats off to Janek Schaefer for an amazing editing job on original tapes. The flow of the piece is seamless, without a hint of a bad cut anywhere. Walking East turns out to be a true treasure for fans of audio and visual arts.
Tom Sekowski – May 06
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