The Whole Music Experience

Best Newcomer, Brianna Lea Pruett, Gypsy Bells, Canyon Records Top World and Traditional Album Ana Alcaide, La Cantiga del Fuego, Arc Music 2. Vieux Farka Toure, Mon Pays, Six Degrees 3. The Idan Raichel Project, Quarter to Six, Cumbancha 4. The Henry Girls, December Moon, independent release 5. Mario Adnet, Villa Lobos, Boranda 6. Maria Ana Bobone, Fado and Piano, Arc Music 7. Nitanas Largo, Serenity, Canyon Records 8. R. Carlos Nakai and Will Clipman, Awakening the Fire, Canyon Records 9. Vasco Hernandez, Luz de Otro Manana, Arc Music 10. Techung, On the Road, Arc Music Honorable Mention: Cheevers Toppah, A Good Day, A Better Tomorrow, Canyon Records

photo by Patricia Herlevi I was unable to round up enough students for my class Exploring Music with Ecological Themes, but I still think it's important for us to connect to nature through sound vibration.  So I'm including a short list of practices you can learn to do on your own.  I feel as humans in the modern world we have lost contact with the natural world.  We have given animals human personalities, treated the earth as a resource rather than a living being, and have forgotten how to communicate musically with the natural world or to truly hear its music. Those are the reasons why I created the class.  Too bad only one student signed up for it. 1) Sit in a natural setting (yes, outdoors), and focus on birds singing or another nature-based sound.  Meditate on this sound for at least 10 minutes.  Follow your body's rhythms and pulses as you listen to this natural sound.  Do you start hearing a melody in it? Harmony? How do you feel?  ...

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 s...

James DeMars Guadalupe, Our Lady of The Roses (opera) Canyon Records Opera, oratorio and music for mass present a variety of challenges to composers and performers. American composer James DeMars, who is no stranger to Canyon Records or indigenous music has combined structure from opera, oratorio and mass with his opera, Guadalupe, Our Lady Of The Roses . He brings in R. Carlos Nakai (Native American flute) and Xavier Quijas Yxayotl (flutes, whistles of the Aztecs) to represent the indigenous people of Mexico at the time of of the Renaissance and conquistadors in the New World. The opera vocalists, chorus and orchestra represent the Spanish, the Indians, The Virgin of Guadalupe and the Catholic Church. The brief synopsis reads, "A story of the three apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe on the hills of Tepeyac above Tlatelolco in 1531, the appeals of Juan Diego-Cuatlatohuac to the Bishop Zumarraga for a temple at the site of the visions, the revelation of the mirac...

R. Carlos Nakai Talisman Canyon Records Twenty-five years ago, a friend gave R. Carlos Nakai a Native American flute to see what the former jazz trumpeter could do with it. Over the years, Nakai along with Kevin Locke, Mary Youngblood and other stalwarts had brought Native American flute to mass consciousness. But similar to an artist such as Mary Youngblood, Nakai took the indigenous flute into new realms, (European classical, jazz, and ethnic world sounds). The 62 year old flautist even journey into the realm of electronica on a couple of his albums. Nakai's 25th anniversary release (with Canyon Records), Talisman travels full circle and we find Nakai once again performing on solo Native American flute on every other track. You will also find flute duos and the thoughtful Sunrise Prayer in Beauty . Talisman harks back to Nakai's first recording with Canyon Records, Changes . And true to its name, listening to Changes certainly brought much needed transformation to...

R. Carlos Nakai & Nawang Khechog Winds of Devotion Sounds True It has been less than a year ago when Tibetan musician and former monk Nawang Khechog suffered injuries from an automobile accident in India. In fact, the musician and two of his family members were on their way to celebrate the Tibetan New Year. The driver of the car and Nawang's niece died in the accident. Nawang suffered a head injury which he miraculously healed. Perhaps that healing reflects on the power of prayer, compassion, and positive thinking. And certainly that former monk experience along with the power of music also proves helpful. Sounds True finally released, Winds of Devotion , a collaboration between the Ute-Navajo flutist R. Carlos Nakai and Nawang Khechog and as you would imagine if you are familiar with these two phenomenal human musicians, that this is a meditative work. American classical cellist David Darling, percussionist Geoffrey Gordon, vocalists Chris White, bassist Wade ...