The Whole Music Experience

Mahsa & Marjan Vahdat   Songs From a Persian Garden   Kirkelig Kulturverksted In 2004 an intriguing CD with the ironic title, Lullabies from the Axis of Evil arrived in my mailbox. Produced by Erik Hillestad for the Norwegian label, Kirkelig Kulturverksted, the recording married the voices of western women with the voices of women from the "Axis of Evil" countries (as dubbed by President Bush in a State of the Union address). The women sang lullabies from their respective countries and while the women such as Lila Downs, Eddi Reader, Sarah Jane Morris, Nina Hagen and Kari Bremnes were the famous names at the time, the vocalists from some of the East countries appear to be gaining international recognition. KKV also released recordings by the Palestine vocalist and composer, Rim Banna to critical acclaim and now two sisters, vocalists from Iran debut in the West. Similar to Banna, Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat sang lullabies on the Axis of Evil CD and in fact, the...

Terence Blanchard A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina) Blue Note So many natural disasters have occurred after the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Yet, with each storm, each flood, each drought or other catastrophic event, we have the opportunity to further awaken ourselves. We can ask ourselves what we can do to live in balance with the planet. And we also need to ask ourselves what we are willing to sacrifice or jettison in order to live in balance? One thing we don't want to do is to turn our backs to musicians with messages about what went wrong and what could go wrong. Musically, New Orleans presents us with so many musical legends. The birth of jazz in the hands of Jelly Roll Morton happened in New Orleans. A variety of musical styles hail from New Orleans and when people visit the city, music is one of the main attractions that grabs their attention. But, now the Crescent City has become the focus of dialogues about racism, earth climate changes, poverty, in...

Freedom of Expression: A Conversation with Axiom of Choice vocalist, Mamak Khadem (This interview was originally published on Cranky Crow Whole Music in 2002. It is one of the articles that led me on the path to exploring the consciousness of music). For many years I have harbored a growing interest in the healing qualities of music. I had read many articles about the healing properties of Mozart and Beethoven and I had read about music from the celestial spheres, but reading expert opinions is one thing and experiencing the healing effects of music even for something as simple as a cold is another story.   I sat in a crowded theatre at Meany Hall at the University of Washington campus fighting off chills and certainly not wanting to deal with a crowd, music enthusiasts or not. However, when the members of Axiom of Choice, a group that blends Persian classical music with Western influences hit the stage, I felt my fever abating somewhat as I absorbed the music that emana...