"David Darling and Hans Christian had never met and with David's passing in 2021 they never will. But on Ocean Dreaming Ocean you can hear that they were brothers in spirit. On this posthumous collaboration, Christian frames Darling's lyrical cello improvisations with airbrush finesse. Taking raw recordings of those improvisations, Christian creates ambient chamber music explorations, adding lots of his own cello to create orchestrations and imaginary duets. It's a masterful release full of the deep mood and luminous effect that is at the core of both artists. David Darling is gone, but his spirit remains in Ocean Dreaming Ocean." - John Diliberto "I never met David Darling in person; although, I met him many times while listening to his music. Not only did we play the same instrument, but on a more profound level, we were diving for the same pearls in our musical explorations. I recognized the mastery in his playing and the depth of his musical soul, and felt a deep reverence with it. When the phone call came from Mickey Houlihan, David’s longtime producer, with an offer to work on some of David’s unfinished pieces, I accepted without hesitation and an ethereal collaboration was born. Every musical piece of this collection was started with deep introspection. David was a master like no other, and I wanted to support, augment, and serve in the best way possible. Whenever I was facing the question of how to develop one of his musical sketches, I would enter a silent dialogue with him, lay out my strategies, and ask for permission. When my vision was clear enough, permission seemingly was granted and my heart opened, allowing me to proceed with the journey of augmenting and shaping a piece, often with some bold strokes, to bring it into its current form. This process was partly analytic, partly intuitive, and always inspiring. I am most grateful to have had this opportunity". - Hans Christian "David was a true collaborator and inspired others in such relationships to bring forth their best efforts. He did this with other musicians as well as authors, dancers and producers. For me personally, it was a a life changing course correction. We met through Paul Winter and grew closer while rafting the Colorado River during one of Paul’s Grand Canyon recordings. Those were exciting times on the river with everything constantly changing from the sun and water to the layers of the earth revealed in the canyon itself. Exuberant with David’s creativity and the river experience, I invited him to collaborate with author Barry Lopez in a recording of River Notes. I was unprepared for how seriously he took the studio recording process. It was still fun but he was deeply committed to an existential beauty and all of us involved were led to share in that commitment. David was at his best when improvising and I learned to always be in record mode when he was playing. Sometimes the ideas became fully realized as part of larger projects and sometimes the musical ideas were left unfinished. These seemingly unfinished ideas have now found a partner in Hans. I hold dear David’s commitment to beauty. I was waiting to find another artist who could work from their own personal depth while honoring David’s music. Hans has created a true collaboration with David as if meeting through time and space with a shared understanding of the eternal". - Mickey Houlihan