The Whole Music Experience

photo by Patricia Herlevi I woke up this morning with thoughts about how I've used music at various times in my life.  While I mainly focus on the healing aspects of music in the guise of sound healing and music therapy on this blog, consider that we heal ourselves by bonding to others, by feeling excepted by a peer group (as in the case with rock and pop music), as a form of identity, as courting ritual, and educational purposes.  We also still use music for ritualistic purposes. If your soul purpose is to heal your mind, soul and body with music then sound healing and music therapy will work best.  If you are working on raising your vibration then sound healing and listening to higher vibrational music such as Mozart, Bach, Brazilian samba, etc will help you reach this goal.  But if you're trying to bond with your teenage son or daughter, then pop, rock, and hip-hop might be the best approach, unless your teenager listens to jazz, classical, and traditional...

Depending on what level you find yourself, meditating with music can foster a relaxed body and a clear mind when done right.  Let's start with the beginner's meditation and end with an advance music meditation. Beginner: First thing you need is a piece of music performed on one instrument such as a piano, flute, or guitar with a duration of 3 to 5 minutes.  If you get easily distracted try listening to the piece of music on low volume through headphones, otherwise listen to the music on another type of device. Similar to breath meditation, you'll employ a singular focus, this time on the music itself.  Ask yourself is the music falling or rising, ascending or descending or are you listening to clusters of notes? Is the music soft, slow, fast, and hard around the edges? Listen for dynamics, tempo, tone, timbre, and emotions. Do you connect with the performer or do you only notice the music? Do you connect with the composer. Next, what images come up into you...

photo by Patricia Herlevi The Sound of Music opens with a nun Maria (Julia Andrews) roaming around an Austrian mountain singing, listening to church bells, and connecting with the natural world.  We would call her enchanted.  Another movie that provides an enchanting blend of nature and music comes to mind, Brother Sun, Sister Moon which chronicles the early life of Saint Francis of Assisi who used songs to connect to nature.  But do we need movies to remind us of the everyday musical sounds that surround us? And do we need these movies to remind us of our musical connection to the natural world? Take a walk on a park or a street with little car traffic and listen intently to all the sounds that greet your ears.  How do these sounds make you feel? Do they remind you of a childhood event? Are you taken to a pleasant place or do you feel dissonance grinding away at your muscles? Take a walk in a wooded park, where most everyday sounds are drowned out and na...

Elio Villafranca and Arturo Stable Dos y Mas Motema Records I’m starting off the year with my first CD review of the delicious Dos y Mas by Cuban jazz pianist Elio Villafranca and Cuban percussionist Arturo Stable.  Certainly the songs on the recording feel inspired, passionate, and innovative, yet familiar.  Agua Marina takes flight with piano runs bursting forth and then alternating like gentle waves lapping a shore.   The opener 1529 features Arabic-Andalusian flavors, which isn’t surprising since the duo provides an expanded musical palette including music from Spain, the Middle East, African, and Cuba. The elegiac Alla takes Cuban jazz to a higher level with Villafranca’s piano portraying melancholy not expected with Cuban music.  En La Colonia opens with Stable playing a kalimba (thumb piano) and off to Africa we head, soon exploring the Arabic side too.   With A Las Millas , the piano riff imprints on the brain in the same ...

These days, I'm practicing what I preach about the healing power of music.  During winter days I have a difficult time waking up, but I like to greet the sunrise at least.  So today, (and I recommend this practice), I pulled out Michel Camillo and the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra's Rhapsody in Blue (a George Gershwin classic) and I listened to it while I watched the sun rise. Of course you have a variety of morning music to choose from, such as Indian morning ragas, kirtans, Gregorian chants for specific times of day, the morning piece of Ferde Groffe's The Grand Canyon Suite , etc...  Basically you need a piece of music that last at least 10 minutes or if you have time up to 30 minutes then meditate on the sun rising as you listen to the music via headphones (if you don't want to wake others up).  You can also choose music for sun set too. If you want to take an afternoon break, pull out Claude Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faun or La Me...

photo by Patricia Herlevi My stress levels have shot through the roof lately.  I jumped into self-publishing a book with no idea the amount of hours I would need to put in or the learning curve that it takes to publish for new media.  Recently I gave advice to my writing colleagues to take breaks, even music breaks.  But I haven't been following my own advice.  So now after I complete my morning meditation, I listen to music for 30 minutes over headphones. Today I gave myself a massage with essential oils sandalwood and geranium in coconut oil.  Then I listened to Bezuidenhout and Von der Goltz "Medelssohn Double Concerto for Violin and Piano," the first two movements.  Since the first movement is lively, usually the case with concertos, I focused on the quick tempo music instead of my racing thoughts.  The adagio movement calmed my mind and I almost fell back to sleep.  For that moment I truly felt relaxed.  But when I returned to my...

I woke up this morning, with a storm slamming against the windows.  I decided to stay in bed longer and listen to Bach keyboard works.  I slipped Murray Perahia's Bach Partitas 2, 3 & 4 into my portable CD player and listened to Bach's solo piano via headphones.  The ostinato (bass line played with left hand), and the counterpoint so skillfully played by Perahia calmed my nerves. My mind was racing at the time with thoughts tripping over each other. So I focused on the music, and listened intently while absorbing every nuance into my cells. About 15 minutes of listening to this recording, plus an eye pillow over my face, gave me the same affect as a half an hour of sitting meditation. I realize that anyone who has read sound healing and healing music books would have seen Bach's music at the top of a healing music list.  Experts discuss the architecture and the mathematics of Bach's ingenuous compositions, not that I comprehend the intricacies of Bach's...

After years of feeling affects of different types of music listened to in different settings, I came up with the concept of tracking responses to music via a journal. The benefits of keeping a music journal include, developing music consciousness (how music affects your mind, body, and spirit), exploring musical genres you wouldn't otherwise, and a journey into sound healing. This exercise is more challenging for people with a short attention span or who live busier lifestyle. But the physical act of keeping a journal divided into columns with the headings Type of Music, Artist, time of day, emotional effects, and physical effects does the job.  You don't need to run out and buy a fancy leather bound journal, a cheap spiral notebook will do the job just as well.  So how do you get started? First you purchase the journal and create the columns.  You can even keep an online journal using Access or Excel, if you spend more time in the typing mode.  Then you need t...

I'm not writing about a new topic.   I write this essay in preparation for two workshops I plan on teaching this winter.  I adapted my course Exploring Music with Ecological Themes into a 2-hour workshop where I feature 5 songs hailing from diverse traditions.  We will explore the Finnish runo-song (sadly a fading tradition), indigenous music (haven't selected the tradition yet), the "wild bird jazz" of David Rothenberg and the sound healing-jazz of the late Marjorie De Muynck.  The exploration reads like a shamanic adventure, but my workshop also focuses on lost healing arts. Sadly as a planet, we have mostly lost touch with the natural world and the purposes of music.  I feel that disconnected from nature and intentional music leads to dis-ease and destruction of the planet. If we perform ignorantly music with ill intentions then we lead ourselves further into dis-ease.  I cannot stress this enough.I see music used purposefully by advertisers who sell...

  The Sound of Music Recently I self-published my second novel, "Agnes et Yves" on Create Space.  This lead me to the library to check out books on marketing.  I ran across Martin Lindstrom's "Brand Sense" and found this section on the psychology of sound and music.  Here is a quote. "A fascinating experiment once took place in a small Australian village. Local residents, alarmed by the increase in street crime got together and decided that the best way to confront the problem was to remove the offenders from the main street at nightfall. Instead of taking the more traditional more-police, greater security, and tough-on-crime stance, they chose to play classical music.  Every single block began piping out sounds of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms.  In less than a week, the town reported a dramatic decrease in crime." Closer to home, the Bellingham Police piped out classical music around the bus station downtown.  It did decrease loiteri...

Cesaria Evora, the Cape Verdean singer, also known as “the barefoot diva,” passed away on Saturday, December 17th (at 11:45 am local time) at Baptista de Sousa hospital in Mindelo Cape Verde, as announced by Cape Verdean minister of culture Mario Lucio Sousa. The world famous singer died at 70 on her native island of Sao Vicente about three months after retiring from the stage. She had been suffering health issues for a while and had had a few surgeries over the past few years, including an open-heart operation in May 2010. “I don’t have the strength, the energy anymore. I want you to tell my fans that I’m sorry but I have to rest now. I am sorry I have to retire because of health issues. I wish I could have given pleasure to those who follow me for much more time” she had told French newspaper Le Monde when she announced her retirement last September 23 rd . She was in good shape on stage at the Parisian venue Grand Rex in April 2011 but her unhealthy heart, which had fai...

Jacques Pellarin Quartet Sup Dude Independent release Accordion is an instrument that gets along well with virtually every genre of music, at least the major genres.  You hear the instrument in bluegrass, Parisian chanson, Italian café music, and world jazz.  French accordionist Jacques Pellarin and his quartet perform music that weds Parisian café with jazz, though this is not Paris Combo.  On the album Sup Dude Pellarin doesn’t include the French gypsy swing element that you would expect from French jazz, but surprises me with a performance style that recalls Galician jazz.   Listen to the intro for the titular track and if you’re familiar with Galician music, you’ll hear those musical strains. I’m reminded of the Spanish band Engado.  So Frenchy sounds Spanish too, leaving me wondering about the ironic title.  In any case, Pellarin’s fingers fly across the keys of his accordion in a way that conjures the image of a global music travel...

Franca Masu 10 Anys Aramùsica Once in a while a new diva crosses my path which is the case with Sardinian jazz vocalist Franca Masu who sings her repertoire in the Catalan language.   So not only am I discovering a new vocal talent (to my ears), but I also discovered a Catalan connection to the Italian island of Sardinia.   If you go back hundreds of years, you’ll discover a goldmine of cultural and language connections in the Mediterranean, but for the sake of this review my goal is to pique your curiosity.   Closet anthropologists similar to me will dig right in. Franca Masu marks the first female Sardinian vocalists I have listened to, but she’s not the first chanteuse that I’ve reviewed that sings in the Catalan language, Mariana Rossell (Barcelona) and Maria del Mar Bonet (Majorca) come easily to mind.   Masu weds jazz vocals with traditional instruments on her live album 10 Anys . Masu’s vocals alternate between sedate/tender on Aquamare and ...

  If you take a look at my classical and early music list for 2011, you'll see that classical music is here to stay and diverse as ever.  I considered including an Indian classical CD on this list then added it to the Best World and Jazz Albums of 2011 list instead.  And yes, I find the music on this list healing. 1.      San Francisco Symphony with Michael Thomas and Emanuel Ax, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, San Francisco Symphony 2.      Stephen Hough and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Grieg and Liszt Piano Concertos, Hyperion 3.      21 st Century Symphony Orchestra, Howard Shore’s Lord of the Ring Symphony, Howe Records 4.     Anonymous 4, Secret Voices, Harmonia Mundi 5.     Trio Mediaeval, A Worcester Lady Mass, ECM 6.      Jerusalem Quartet, Mozart String Quartets, Harmonia Mundi 7.    ...

Top 15 World and Jazz Recordings for 2011 I struggled with compiling a top 10 list of recordings for 2011 so I came up with a top 15 list which made my life easier. The first criteria for an artist or recording ending up on the list was how I felt when I first listened to the recording. I admit I am subjective in my approach as are most journalists.  Yet, each of the recordings on the list possess merit too.  Some of these musicians preserve musical traditions, other musicians have mastered their tradition, and others engage their audience through their love of their tradition as in the case of Ana Moura.  You can't help but fall in love with these performers.  The last question I ask, "Do I find these recordings healing for me?" Most years I find that I'm heavier with African recordings, but this year Latin music from the new and old worlds dominate.  If you have not had a chance to hear these recordings I hope you will get on your favorite sea...

Cristina Branco Live in Amsterdam, Netherlands Arc Music If you’re a fan of Portuguese fado music, then fadista Cristina Branco and lute player-composer Custòdio Castelo are familiar names to your ears.   Arc Music takes us back to 1997 before the fame and before the large musical output of these musicians.   Live in Amsterdam, Netherlands features already mature musicians poised for promising careers.   I’m hearing most of these fados for the first time because I didn’t discover either musician until the release of Sensu in 2003, an album that mixed fado with sensual jazz. Similar to Mariza, Branco takes the Portuguese music tradition into contemporary times. She has covered Joni Mitchell ( Ulisses ) and she brought in jazz piano ( Sensus ).   But the 1997 live album features pure fado with traditional instruments, mainly Portuguese guitar, with crystal shimmering tones accompanying Branco’s emotive vocals.    The album features 16...

Holiday Recordings 2011 Cantus Christmas with Cantus Independent release Elisabeth Lohninger Band Christmas in July Jazz Sick Records Putumayo Presents Celtic Christmas Putumayo World Music Secret Garden Winter Poem Heart of Space Records/Valley Entertainment I find holiday music deeply healing.  Here we are in the midst of the darkest time of year, but like a cup of hot chocolate or lights strung along houses, holiday music offers us warmth and comfort. When I was a child, I couldn't wait for the holidays to arrive because I could pull out the Christmas albums and sing along with them.  I lost all sense of time and space.  I felt joy singing those songs, even the sad ones.  The first song I ever learned to play on the parlor organ was Silent Night and to this day, I still find the melody haunting.  My brother loved the song Do You See What I See? and certainly it was a favorite of mine too. Ther...

Kyle Carey Monongah Independent Release I want to thank Angel Romero of World Music Central for forwarding me American songster Kyle Carey’s self-release Monongah .   The recording which blends Appalachian, light gospel, and Celtic folk sounds refreshing with its compelling stories.   Carey has talent to burn as a songwriter, and a mature, clear voice in which to deliver her stories—more or less tales with some intriguing characters.   Not only that the musician brings luminous musical talent on board with musicians from Lunasa and Cherish the Ladies, among others. Her stories are sung against a lush background of mandolin, guitar, and banjo.   I think I might have heard some strings in there somewhere to, but it’s late in the day and my brain feels exhausted.    I do remember the sweet melodies that climb into my head and I catch myself humming them.   The cadence of Devil at your Back with its lilting guitar rolling along cert...