THROUGH WINDOWS & WALLS

Peter Kater and R. Carlos Nakai have always perfectly married their strengths and weaknesses. Nakai, the acclaimed Native American flute player, brings an austerity of emotion and tone to Kater, who has saccharine tendencies. Kater, on the other hand, focuses Nakai's often-sketchy melodies, refining and placing them in a meticulously produced environment. It's safe to say that their previous collaborations are among the best produced of Nakai's numerous albums. Through Windows & Walls is in the tradition of those earlier Native American chamber works. Fleshed out by the hand percussion of Geoffrey Gordon and Michael Moses Tisch, there's a more dynamic arc to Through Windows & Walls than its more somber predecessors, especially on the heroic cadences of "When Worlds Collide." Although "If Walls Could Speak" and "Recognition" founder due to smothering vocal washes and a hokey, sampled "angelic" choir, Nakai and Kater travel beyond New Age clichés throughout Through Windows & Walls. --John Diliberto