The Whole Music Experience

New Orleans Jazz Orchestra Book One World Village New Orleans,also known as the Crescent City has a long tradition of jazz and other genres of music. In fact the city's music scene could be called a multicultural spiced stew. While the wake of Hurricane Katrina which hit ground in New Orleans in 2005 curtailed the club scene and the lives of thousands of people, including musicians, these same determined and tenacious musicians helped the New Orleans residents to bounce back. Musicians have been at the heart of the rebuilding effort through giving benefit concerts, producing fund and awareness raising albums, as well as, Terence Blanchard's Requiem for Hurricane Katrina (A Tale of God's Will). The music coming out of the Crescent City simmers on the front burner and Irvin Mayfield, Jr., Artistic Director of New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, composer and trumpeter is among some of the hottest New Orleans musicians. In fact, Book One , which features New Orleans jazz,...

Sequentia Voice of Blood Hildegard von Bingen Deutsche Harmonia Mundi/BMG Anyone interested in the healing powers of music must include at least one recording of the medieval Benedictine abbess Hildegard von Bingen's inspired chants in his or her collection. While I personally have not experienced any healings from Hildegard's repertoire, I am inspired by this beautiful music nonetheless and have read of others experiencing personal healing from Hildegard's divinely channeled music. Others have told me of mystical experiences associated with these sacred chants. Hildegard would in our time be considered an energy or alternative healer. With no training or certification, Hildegard channeled directly from God information on healing with plants, nutrition/diet, sacred art such as mandalas she created and the sacred chants that are still being recorded today by such ensembles as Anonymous 4, Sequentia and other vocal groups. And similar to many healers and mys...

Maria del Mar Bonet Raixa World Village I am quite pleased that labels such as World Village have been releasing and distributing traditional Spanish music recordings in North America. I recently reviewed albums by Uxia from Galicia and Marina Rossell from Barcelona as well as, penning an article on Galician music for World Music Central . I also have a personal connection to Spain which flows in my blood and seeps through my temperament. When we preserve traditional music, we also preserve dances, languages, instruments, poetry and history. We honor our ancestors when we listen to this old music and we find our roots too that help us feel secure in an unstable world. I have listened to the music of my ancestors on both sides of my family and have been enriched by the experience, though I have not heard much traditional Filipino music during my lifetime, I have delved into Finnish, Spanish, and Puerto Rican musical traditions. I find these quests healing and enlivening. ...