In review--Soaring to Desert Heights

-
R. Carlos Nakai, William Eaton and Will Clipman
Dancing into Silence
Canyon Records


I was down with a cold, miserable, tired and the Canyon Records trio of R. Carlos Nakai, William Eaton and Will Clipman’s new recording, Dancing into Silence landed in my mailbox. I mostly played its music in the background as I struggled to keep up with my correspondence and workload. And while I cannot make the claim that this haunting and slightly melancholic (in a good way), music healed my cold, I can say that it relaxed my tense mind and body.

Most of you are familiar with the Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai and some of you are familiar with luthier William Eaton (I would love to own one of whimsical lutes), and global percussionist Will Clipman—all veterans of Canyon Records. Each of these musicians provides soulfulness to his performances and when combined their energies combine to create a subtle powerhouse of sounds. I say subtle since this music, not just a collection of songs, but an actual soundscape heads straight for the heart and soul, it seeps into the subconscious and probably tells those immune building cells to get to work, at least in my case. And no, you don’t have to feel stressed out or sick to enjoy this musical offering.


It’s not easy to describe either. Haunting vocals weave through lilting plucked and strummed lutes, the murmurings of flute and an array of global percussion applied delicately. If you listen closely to the third track titled Winged Iridescence you will received an earful of this musical tapestry.  Radiance feels playful and even mischevious. And with 13 other similar tracks fusing together to create a musical terrain and an otherworldly quality my guess is that you will keep on listening.


Sadly I have had little time to sit down with Dancing into Silence and give it the heartfelt listen it deserves. Hopefully, I will get a chance to do that this weekend. In the meantime, it is my hope that you will also discover this recording and that you do so when you are feeling well.  And if you happen to feel under the weather, I think this trio will have you feeling better in no time.

Canyon Records

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction to Peyote Songs & The Native American Church

-
Image
Father Peyote: Songs of the Native American Church Introduction to the Peyote Church Ceremony This is an archival article written in 2003.  It's not updated.  For more recent recordings, go to Canyon Records website, http://www.canyonrecords.com When some people speak of Native American ceremonies, the peyote ceremony or the ingestion of the hallucinogen peyote (contains mescaline) usually surfaces. However, there is too much false information being passed around in the non-native community surrounding peyote meetings. The first thing people need to know about the Native American connection to peyote is that the plant is sacred medicine ingested as a sacrament during healing ceremonies of the Native American Church. The second thing, people need to know is that the Native American Church is not a set structure like the Christian Church. The peyote meeting could take place in a Navajo hogan or a teepee. And finally, since the peyote meeting does in part derive from Nat
Read more

21st Century Musical Healer Series--Heather Hannan

-
Image
 Healing with Sound and Reiki Based in Toronto, Canada, Heather Hannan has proven with her own life healing experiences the enormous power of sound frequencies. She acts as a bridge between the mundane world (real estate) to other spiritual dimensions (past life regressions, quantum physics, Reiki, sound frequencies,  and other cutting edge work). I met Heather through my Linked In group Musical Healers and I'm delighted to include her work and insights on this blog. As you know, raising music and sound consciousness takes a world-size village of folks, just like Heather dedicating their lives to working with the healing power of sound.  Whole Music: When did you discover and begin exploring sound healing? Heather Hannan: Ten years ago I was at a crossroads in my life and looking for a group of like-minded people with whom to explore my gifts and talents through meditation. Little did I know that via the meditation group I joined I would be invited to
Read more

Talking about Timbre

-
Image
Wikipedia As I mention in my book Whole Music , when I was a child I fell in love with timbre and the voices of the individual instruments we listened to in music class.  Each instrument conjured a specific emotions or feeling in me.  The French horn caused me to feel majestic and the cello invoked melancholy.  My moods would shift with each instrument that I heard and my moods would shift quickly. Today, I listen to more than timbre, but I have an understanding of how tone, frequencies of the tone and timbre (the color of the tone) affect me on all levels.  And I wonder what listening to an entire symphony does with its many voices, themes, keys, musical passages etc... In the concept of "whole music" I prefer not to separate musical components, but in the case of this post, I will present solo instruments for your listening and feeling pleasure. If you keep a music journal (and I hope that you do by now), write down the emotions that come up with each instrument.  R
Read more