The Whole Music Experience

World/ Folkloric   Techung   Tibet (On The Road)   Arc Music     Many years ago, my first introduction to Tibetan music came when friends and I attended a Tibetan monk choir performance at the University of Washington.   Since that time I have heard Tibetan folkloric, sacred, and operatic songs.   Mostly, I’ve heard new age versions of Tibetan songs by artists such as Nawang Khechog.   Techung (his solo artist name), who now resides in San Francisco where he co-founded Chaksampa Tibetan Dance and Opera Company brings us love, folk and anthemic songs played on traditional and contemporary instruments on his CD, Tibet (On The Road) .   The opener, Lok Dro , a contemporary folk song asks Tibetans to return to the homeland.   The universal themes of the text showed up as the perfect song for the Native American documentary, A Good Day to Die , about the Native American civil rights movement.   The song B...

World   Yungchen Lhamo & Anton Batagov Tayatha   Cantaloupe Music In 1998, I attended WOMAD USA and witnessed an entrancing performance by Tibetan vocalist Yungchen Lhamo on a small stage.   I witnessed a second performance by the vocalist, equally mesmerizing but on the main stage at WOMAD USA in 2001.   Although I acquired Lhamo’s recordings 2nd and 3rd), on the Real World label, I didn’t care for the musical production on the recordings which buried Lhamo’s vocals underneath high-end guitar washes and programming.   Lhamo has one of those voices that works best in an a cappella setting or lightly framed by a single musical instrument. Fortunately for us, the vocalist paired up with Russian classical pianist Anton Batagov on the recording, Tayatha where the musicians read each others' instincts.   Batagov’s piano though light on the keys possesses shades of virtuoso and waxes musical poetry.   The piano and vocals show up...

Techung Songs from Tibet Arc Music (2006) My first encounter with Tibetan music occurred when I attended a concert featuring Tibetan Buddhist choir in 1994.   My friends and I were exploring various “new age” spiritualities and felt curious about the Tibetan Buddhist monks and the Dalia Lama.   In 1998, I saw Yungchen Lhamo perform Tibetan songs a cappella at WOMAD USA and then I saw her perform at WOMAD again in 2001.   Then in 2006, I saw performances by former Tibetan Buddhist monk-turned musical performer Nawang Khechog.   I also interviewed Lhamo and Khechog during those times.   Now, I’m introduced to a new performer to my ears, Techung, who resides in San Francisco and performs mostly secular folkloric songs with traditional Tibetan instruments, Damnyen (a long-necked lute) and Piwang (spiked fiddle). I doubt I would have found this material on a Nawang Khechog recording which leans towards more spiritual aspects of living or on Yu...