The Whole Music Experience

Music as Magnetic Law of Attraction The topic of applying music to lifting vibration is not new to me. I’ve been using music to lift my moods all my life, and consciously since 2005 when I came up with the concept for my book Whole Music , and 2 years before I launched this blog. Then a few months ago I noticed that jazz vocalist Trish Hatley began a project combining affirmations with music to support the law of attraction concept. The other day when I played a Rough Guide compilation for the music of Bolivia, I had this image of the bombo drum and flutes in my mind’s eye and I found this music profoundly uplifting. This brought me to the idea that we all have different genres and instruments that lift our vibration. Perhaps the Andes music doesn’t lift your vibration, though this would surprise me. I’ve never seen a passerby frown when encountering street musicians performing Andes music. Just like I’ve never seen anyone frown around the music of Bob Marley or Cuban son. ...

Ana Moura Coliseu World Village While listening to a fado recording offers a special treat, listening to a live fado CD feels like luxuriating in a hot bath or indulging in chocolate cake. The sensual experience which combines poetry with a rainbow of emotions provides an opportunity for the listener to bond intimately with the singer. The super star Mariza came out with a live CD and DVD documentary several years ago which left a lasting impression. Now, Ana Moura, another Portuguese diva-super star leaves her mark on world music with Coliseu , a recording of a 2008 homecoming concert. The magical evening is captured in 15 tracks in which Moura wraps her mouth around words as if they were delicious morsels. She carefully shapes every musical phrase with emotional nuances ranging from devastating heartbreak to questionable cheeky humor ( And We Came Born of the Sea ). So often the younger generation of fadistas such as Moura and Mariza pay homage to Amàlia Rodrigues, but in ...

Jayanthi Kumaresh Mysterious Duality Just Me EarthSync I first heard veena player Jayanthi Kumaresh perform on collaborative recordings on Sense World Music in 2007. On rare occasions I heard classical Indian music from South India and even more rare that I heard veena recordings. In many ways, the veena resembles the sitar of North India’s classical music tradition, but the veena’s tones sound warmer and resonate deeper than a sitar. On her solo recording Mysterious Duality (Just Me) , Kumaresh layers several veenas, up to 7 overdubs on the 4 tracks that appear on the recording. I thought I read somewhere that she performed on 12 veenas for this recording, but now that I look for that information I’m unable to find it. In the press notes, Kumaresh reflects about how she wanted to bring out the nuances of the veena. “The pieces that emerged once Jayanthi found her footing move from contemplative layered arpeggios to energetic, complex melodies, from percussive grooves to da...

Sara Banleigh The Folk EP Self-Release Not many journalists are going to struggle about whether or not to include a review of a CD on a blog because of dark subject matter. But my blog features the healing power of music and leans towards softer material (even though Sara Banleigh introduces the song All My Trials with Bach’s Prelude #1 in C major ). So I’m reviewing Banleigh’s recording The Folk EP as a culture preservation project and not as a healing music CD. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to review a CD featuring Irish songs from 500 years ago, especially arranged for piano and voice. Banleigh mentions in the press notes that she preferred to give a grittier interpretation of these old murder and love ballads. She’s not the first to accomplish this task since Irish song interpreter Susan McKeown covered similar territory on her 2006 World Village recording Black Thorn: Irish Love Songs. Similar to McKeown, Banleigh provides gutsy vocals instead of the misty-e...

I was looking for an archival article on WME and I saw that I first launched the blog in January 2007.  So that means this year marks the 5th Anniversary of The Whole Music Experience. I never intended on launching a blog and was hosting the website Cranky Crow Whole Music at the time.  I had enrolled in an online marketing class and one of the class projects was creating a blog.  I was the only student who launched a community service blog since I didn't want to post my personal life online, nor did I think anyone would be interested.  I wouldn't even feel interested in reading about my personal life on a blog. Since the creation of WME, I have interviewed fabulous musicians, healers, and promoters, reviewed I don't know how many recordings, and branched out from just world music to traditional, sacred, new age, old age, classical and jazz.  It has been a wonderful journey thus far.  I hope you'll keep traveling with me down this musical road. Yo...