by Jonathan WidranWhile a variety of Michael Gettel's Narada labelmates have in the past years achieved more glory in the smooth realm where pop meets new age, the keyboardist has quietly released some of the genre's most engaging, picturesque projects. On Skywatching, a lush, image laden musical love poem to the Southwest and its Native American culture, Gettel explores the region with as much passion and ambience as Larry Cansler brought to it on 1990's Indian Paintbrush. Gettel's music is catchy, memorable, and highly rhythmic, capable of gently reflective acoustic eloquence on one theme, then explosive plugged-in drive time energy for the next. Richard Warner's lonesome wind playing is exquisite, but it's label pals David Lanz and Paul Speer (with an electric guitar as illuminating and crackling as an Arizona lightning storm) who provide the collection's real spark. A bit of authenticity is added through the annotation that the project was "created in association with Arizona Highways magazine."