The Whole Music Experience

Nawang Khechog Tibetan Dream Journey Sounds True Although I’ve not forgotten about the former Tibetan monk/musician Nawang Khechog, it has been four years since the release of his last recording. In 2007, Khechog suffered a head injury from an automobile accident in India. In 2008, the musician suffered a heart attack. Despite these tragedies and long recovery, he published his first book, Awakening Kindness (Beyond Words) and helped with the documentary film The Sound of Tibet . Now, the musician releases Tibetan Dream Journey , recording that offers a powerful sonic experience—no doubt healing. I interviewed Khechog in person during the summer of 2006. The interview appears on this blog and on World Music Central. I don’t take Khechog’s music lightly and listen to it to relieve stress and help me find my spiritual center. Although I’m not a Buddhist, I respect this spiritual path and the people on it. However, Tibetan Dream Journey isn’t just for...

Soname Plateau World Village When Tibetan vocalist Yungchen Lhamo performed at WOMAD USA in 1998, she introduced me to Tibetan music. Her perilous journey across the Himalayas and her stellar vocals captured my attention. Vocalist Soname also hails from Tibet and she also fled Chinese-ruled Tibet, via Nepal, then India and finally landing in Brighton, England where she cleaned houses for a living. In 1998, she made her vocal debut and in 2000, she recorded her first album with borrowed money. Plateau , to be released on World Village this May, showcases this mezzo-soprano’s gorgeous and powerful voice. I could make a comparison between Lhamo and Soname, I would say that Lhamo’s vocals soar in the ethereal realm and Soname’s vocals feel earthy. And on Plateau , table beats punctuate and bansuri flute frames Soname’s amazing vocals. The opening track combines the best of India and Tibet, musically speaking. The closing track features some of the most passionate vocals I have he...

Tibetan Chants for World Peace The Gyuto Monks Tantric Choir White Swan Records The first time I heard, more or less, experienced a Tibetan monk choir was back in the 90s when I attended an event at the University of Washington's Kane Hall. Tibetan consciousness had surfaced among the Buddhists and New Agers. At the time, I did not equate the choir with a musical experience, but a religious experience and a cultural exchange. My friends and I attended the concert out of curiosity, but did not know what to expect. And even though some of us had been exposed to Tuvan throat-singing, the guttural vocals of the monks came off as startling. Fast forward to several years of having been exposed to the music of Yungchen Lhamo, Nawang Khechog, various types of throat singing and various types of spiritual chants, I still find the Gyuto Monks Tantric Choir startling. Here I am at a loss to describe the sound and the experience. Even the producer of Tibetan Chants for World Peace , fo...

  The Spirit of the Tibetan Flute I met Nawang Khechog for the first time on a hot August day while attending the Tibet Festival in Seattle. But this was not my first encounter with the Tibetan musician because I experienced his spiritual teachings through listening to several of his universal music recordings and a lot can be conveyed through heartfelt music. I had also been informed of Khechog's travels with the Dalai Lama, his 11 years spent as a Tibetan Buddhist monk, in which several of those years, he spent as a hermit in a cave on the foot of the Himalayas. Nor is the story of the plight of Tibet new to me. Since I am on a spiritual path myself, I often heard the wisdom of the 14th Dalai Lama. In the past, I saw a concert of Tibetan Buddhist monk choir and I had interviewed the Tibetan "Goddess of Song," Yungchen Lhamo as well as, listened to her compassionate music. Certainly my heart had already been opened to the Tibetan people, to the possibility of kin...