Words with the Shaman

Words with the Shaman is a three-part instrumental suite by the English singer-songwriter David Sylvian. It was recorded in London in 1985 and released as an EP the same year on Virgin Records. It peaked at #72 in the UK single charts.^[2]

"Words with the Shaman"
Single by David Sylvian
from the album Alchemy: An Index of Possibilities
Released	2 December 1985 (1985-12-02)[1]
Recorded	1985, London
Genre	Ambient
Length	14:06
Label	Virgin
Songwriter(s)	David Sylvian, Jon Hassell, Steve Jansen
Producer(s)	David Sylvian, Nigel Walker
David Sylvian singles chronology
"Pulling Punches" (1984) "Words with the Shaman" (1985) "Taking the Veil" (1986)

As Sylvian described in a liner note, Words with the Shaman was "conceived as musical footnotes of themes started earlier on the album Brilliant Trees and [...] developed as a collaborative group effort."^[3]

Words with the Shaman was subsequently re-released with two additional instrumental tracks on Sylvian's compilation album, first only released on cassette Alchemy: An Index of Possibilities. In 1989, the suite appeared on the second of four CDs in the Weatherbox set. The 1991 US-reissue of Sylvian's Brilliant Trees album also contained Words with the Shaman.

Track listing

1. "Pt. 1 Ancient Evening" (Sylvian/Hassell) 5:14
2. "Pt. 2 Incantation" (Sylvian/Hassell) 3:31
3. "Pt. 3 Awakening (Songs from the Tree Tops)" (Sylvian/Hassell/Jansen) 5:19

Personnel

• David Sylvian – keyboards, guitar, tapes
• Steve Jansen – drums, percussion, additional keyboards
• Jon Hassell – trumpet
• Holger Czukay – electronics, noises (radio)
• Percy Jones – fretless bass