"An astonishing accomplishment." "This recording occupies a very special niche in the musical world."

"Tales of a Summer Past is an album of charming pieces written by Australian composer Nick Davis. Lightly scored for strings, woodwind and piano or guitar they rarely outstay their welcome. In another age they would be described as light music and have a secure future being played by the numerous light music ensembles around the country. But musical life has changed considerably in the last fifty years. So now, Nick Davis has performed and produced the music himself, issuing a CD on his own label." "The use of sampling means that the pieces are never over-scored, Davis adds instruments only when he needs them. A piano or a guitar forms the backbone of most of the pieces and many have an attractive chamber-music quality. What I missed, though, was the sense of interaction between musicians which comes from chamber music played by a group of live players. Davis's performances are entirely creditable.... these are delightful pieces and the performances are very successful."." I urge people to buy the CD, if only to encourage Davis to re-record some of them with a group of live musicians."

"Tales of a Summer Past has a very big, symphonic sound." "The music is very structured, both complex and accessible, and a lot of fun to listen to. Most of the tracks are upbeat and sunny, as the title implies, and instrumentation varies from full orchestra to solo acoustic guitar. Elegant and cinematic, Tales is a CD for classical music buffs with an adventurous spirit to savor again and again." " Tales of a Summer Past is a fascinating musical journey!"

"Tales of a Summer Past is resplendently melodic and sounds like a combination of traditional chamber and classical orchestral music." "The mood is, for the most part, spring-like, full of sunny refrains and warm romantic sweeps of strings, lilting flutes and cheerful horns. Davis' piano playing is featured both as solo instrument and also accompanying the other instruments." " Davis does an admirable job balancing all the assorted sampled instruments and has almost universal success in their sonic quality...the solo wind instruments, notably the flute, sound great, as do the massed string sections, especially the violins. All in all, Davis has done a very good job in recreating the sound and feel of romantic classical music, especially from the Baroque period, and many tracks are wonderfully expressive of the warmer emotions: happiness, love, joy, cheer; he is also able to portray regret and longing nicely on a few selections. For new age music fans that enjoy this type of cross-over music (classical performed on electronic keyboards) Tales of a Summer Past will likely reward you with many pleasant hours of listening enjoyment."

"With the first bars of Tales, I was immediately drawn in to this marvellous musical work." "Nick has managed to create an amazing mix of musical styles, both Western and European, all of which blend together with an endearing charm." "One knows that Tales of a Summer Past will certainly not be the last we hear of this dynamic composer. All in all, a delightful introduction to anyone interested in neo-classical and contemporary classical music."

"This music is truly divine. Nick's style combines the timeless feel of the classical composers with a slight hint of New Age. I have added this CD to my list of all-time favorites! "

"Tales of a Summer Past is a journey through a dream world, a world full of those musical colors this Australian is known to transmit with his compositions. This time Nick dives deeply into classicism, from a contemporary viewpoint, after two previous works (Tears of the Moon and Eclipse) which covered various musical styles with allusions to New Age or Celtic music. Although writing in the classical style, he introduces new ideas and sensations, making his music full of textures and transforming sounds into new musical concepts in what can be described as 'New Contemporary Instrumental Music'. Tales represents a journey through the tonalities of a summer's tale, a walk through its musical palette, showing a variety of musical textures. Nick is a composer who takes special care of all these details in order to create those emotional moments that sensitize his listeners. It is music to enjoy on a sunny summer afternoon on a deserted beach, caressed by the sea breeze, watching the waves move gently and feeling the light touch of fine sand on your body."

"Candescence is a true example of dedication. Beautiful melodies, perfectly intertwined, both with respect to the music and the instruments, follow one another without ups and downs, in an album that the followers of Classical and Contemporany Instrumental Music will no doubt appreciate. The piano has a remarkable role, and it is perhaps here where Nick's skills are most outstanding. The music is, on the whole, soft, and with clear romantic

"The melodies here are rich with romanticism and echo any number of composers, e.g. Mozart, Beethoven and, to some degree, Vivaldi." "Davis excels at capturing in a mere four minutes (the average song length here, more or less) what can take a lot longer in some of the 'classics'. No doubt purists would consider this 'classical lite' and I suppose from a certain perspective, they are right. However, I respect what Davis is doing here, in effect bringing classical music into an arena (accessible short-length compositions) and to an audience that may have only heard it as 'longhair music' in the past. Candescence is lovely neo-classical music and a brave attempt at stretching the boundaries of 'traditional' (meaning non-experimental) classical music to allow for compositions that adhere to the 'sound' of the genre without following the inherent constructs of the form itself. As such, I salute him and recommend the CD as an example of melding the old and the new in a most pleasant fashion."

"Candescence is a dramatic work and the most elaborate album in Nick Davis's discography. Each piece has it's own life and identity, very emotional but never to the point of being sentimental. The emotional tension becomes almost palpable. The recording is dynamic, transparent, detailed and smooth. Nick Davis is magisterial , his playing powerful and poetic at the same time. Sit back and savour this uplifting and passionate music."

"A delightful smorgasbord of interesting and eclectic pieces, each quite different, but still bound together by Nick's masterful mixing and arranging." "A beautiful and carefully wrought album".

"Imaginative" ." He has an appealing melodic talent."

"Candescence is a fascinating album filled with impressive and accomplished sounds that will appeal to fans of New Age music in the classical/crossover style as well as many who prefer their music purely 'classical'. Outstanding tracks include the gleeful Forever More, Flight To Freedom, the spare and lovely In My Heart, Yearning, A Lover's Lament (almost a concerto in itself), the brilliant Return of the Brave, Lullaby For Madeline (a sensitive piano solo), and the mighty finale, The Fallen."

"Without a doubt, this work represents a great step forward in the musical career of this Australian composer. A new flame has been lit in his musical career and we hope that it remains alight for a long time." (translated from Spanish)

“Candescence is Australian composer/pianist Nick Davis’ most ambitious project to date, and the most classical." "Although the music is contemporary, it is very classical in structure with lots of strings and brass, and a stately, elegant style. Davis succeeds in melding traditional musical structure and stylings with cutting edge technology." "I find Candescence to be most enjoyable...and quite an amazing musical achievement that I hope will bring Nick Davis the recognition he deserves. Recommended to those who appreciate the scope of a full symphonic orchestra and who enjoy music from the Classical and Romantic eras."

"This (Candesscence) is an object lesson in how modern technology can be employed by a talented and creative musician. With its melodies, elegance and distinctive textures, this deserves to find plenty of hearers. If anybody out there is looking for a composer of film-music who could bring to the job plenty of musical ideas, a gift for melody, an obvious familiarity with a range of musical traditions and high technological skills, Nick Davis is surely your man!"

"On his latest album Candescence Davis does a brilliant job of taking the neo-classical genre of New Age music to new heights." "It is apparent that somewhere along the line Nick fell in love with Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata in C-Minor. There are nuances of Beethoven throughout the album and they are quite beautiful. It is hard to believe that these classical influences are from an era when music was sold to the highest bidder; a time when music was for the affluent. Fortunately, Nick Davis makes music for everyone."