The Whole Music Experience

Aurelio Laru Beya Next Ambiance I had not heard of the Garifuna people until 2007 when Andy Palacio made an international splash with his efforts to preserve Garifuna culture including language and music. Unfortunately, Palacio’s life was cut short in 2008, right at the time when his star ascended. A Garifuna women’s recording project followed the death of Palacio and then the music seeped out of my life, as music tends to do. Now, Aurelio Martinez, a 39-year old Garifuna musician hailing from Honduras, rekindles the sparks of the Garifuna legacy that Palacio left in his wake. His album, Laru Beya distributed in North America by Subpop’s African arm Next Ambiance, promises to entice a few hips. In 2007 I was in no position to describe Garifuna music with its perfect blend of African polyphonic rhythms and rattle and roll of Latin American indigenous people. And I’m no closer to untangling these roots now. The history of the Garifuna people, former African slaves that fir...

Wikipedia Not all Beethoven compositions are created equal, ditto for Chopin’s repertoire and fill in the blank with a composer’s name. To say that all of Mozart’s music increases IQ levels is an overstatement and a false assumption. I feel sad for anyone who only listens to Mozart to increase their IQ because then they miss out on the holistic experience of Mozart’s music. And I doubt any of these composers with the exception of Mozart (after he joined his local chapter of the Freemasons), composed with any healing or energetic intentions. Most classical composers during their time, composed for commissions from the church or an elite patron. After music publishing arrived, the composers earned money through publication of their compositions, which in order to earn their keep, had to appeal to music audiences, as well as, amateur and professional musicians. So we need to keep this in mind when working with music for healing purposes. Classical music goes a long way in heali...

Purposeful Music & Preservation for the Sustainable Age: A Filetta, Wikipedia As I write this essay on bringing back the true intent and purpose of folkloric music, I’m listening to the Corsican polyphony group, A Filetta. In 2006 I co-produced a segment on Corsican polyphony music for “The Old Country,” a radio show produced at the community radio station, KBCS (Bellevue, WA). During my research (which took months), I discovered that this vocal music found its roots in the Corsican shepherds who took their herds up into the Corsican island’s mountains. In fact, I learned that the Corse language was nearly lost because of French bans placed upon it for several decades (I might be wrong about the time frame), and the language was only preserved because of this Corsican vocal tradition and the fact that the shepherds, the ones carrying on this tradition, spent that time in the mountains. The Finnish language also nearly went extinct, but again was preserved through an or...

Caspian Hat Dance We Say No Talk Fishbowl Studios I’ll admit on days like today when I find it challenging to crawl out of bed, I need rousing-kick-me-in-the-butt music. And if the band Caspian Hat Dance’s klezmer-Balkan-Russian extravaganza can’t do it, I don’t know what can. These days, dealing with a high degree of stress and time constraints, I regret that I don’t have time to visit a band’s website, read other reviews, and indulge in those luxuries of the past. Fortunately, this music on the recording, We Say No Talk speaks for itself—a bit wacko, but played with great finesse and enthusiasm. Darn, if these musicians aren’t in love with Eastern European gypsy and Jewish music. The only other band I can think of while listening to this recording is Les Yeux Noirs, though you would need to subtract the French gypsy swing element to get a taste of Caspian Hat Dance. If Fiddler on the Roof meets Romanian gypsies is your thing, then you’d enjoy Caspian Hat Dance’s r...

photo by Patricia Herlevi Employing Music to Untangle Your Nerves We've all had those days where every muscle and tendon in our bodies seems to have tied themselves in knots.  The head throbs, and one more loud noise could send us into a dark place, well, literally, if you end up with a migraine (like I do).  And those of you out there who work in the healing profession or in the arts lean towards oversensitivity to stimuli causing you to feel the stress of this burdened planet more than others.  I know, I'm one among you.  But because of my acute sensitivity, I learned how to employ the healing power of music in my life. The problem is that someone could be extremely sensitive and not know it.  I went most of my life, until my late thirties before I knew why certain stimuli left me with a pounding head and a nauseated stomach.  I thought my jangled nerves were just a normal after-effect of living in the modern world, not that I cared to live in s...

Ballakè Sissoko Vincent Segal Chamber Music Six Degrees Records When we think of the cello, we hear a somber, melancholic sound, mostly attached to European classical music. And when we hear the shimmering sound of a West African kora, the mood that arrives, (though no less sedate than the mood of a cello), feels spiritually uplifting. So pairing these two instruments might seem awkward at first. That is until you hear the beautiful marriage of tones and timbre. While I’m not sure that I would call Ballakè Sissoko (kora) and Vincent Segal (cello) album Chamber Music groundbreaking, certainly it represents one of the most spellbinding albums to come along. The moods of the cello and kora appear to balance each other out, leaving listeners somewhere between melancholy and relaxation. I find this music healing, even powerfully so. Personally, I find Chamber Music deeply relaxing, so relaxing in fact, that I want to crawl back in bed and absorb its warm tones, rather than ty...

I don't know about you, but since I exist in a society that maps out the life experience with calendars, two days in the year act as clean slates for me, January first and my birthday.  On these two days, the first song I listen to makes all the difference in the world to me.  Music is after all energy and energy is the currency we use in the practice of manifestation.  So ask yourself if you want to manifest love or fear in your life. Personally, though I don't feel it all the time, love is my favorite feeling/emotion.  How can you argue with love, a kind of chocolate balm for the soul, not to mention, the mind, heart, and body.  Believe me when I tell you that all the cells in your body prefer to love and be in love with the world, and if you can't find love through any other means, find it through music with loving intention. So ask yourself, what song kick started your year? Did you have control over what song was chosen, or did someone else choose i...

I Love You said to anyone in any language. Say these words and sing these words often.

Marta Topferova, World Village WME Top 20 Folkloric/Traditional Women Vocalists 1. Mariza (Portugal) 2. Cristina Branco (Portugal) 3. Cesaria Evora (Cape Verde) 4. Lura (Cape Verde/Portugal) 5. Savina Yannatou (Greece) 6. Oumou Sangare (Mali) 7. Rokia Traore (Mali) 8. Lila Downs (US/Mexico) 9. Monica Salmaso (Brazil) 10. Tania Libertad (Peru) 11. Mariana Montalvo (Chile/France) 12. Barbara Luna (Argentina) 13. Marta Topferova (US) 14. Sui Vesan (Czech Republic) 15. Jenny Wilhelms (Finland) 16. Julie Fowlis (Scotland) 17. Uxia (Spain) 18. Marina Rossell (Spain) 19. Estrella Morente (Spain) 20. Omara Portuondo (Cuba) Women or Mixed Voice Ensembles 1. Faraualla (Italy) 2. Kitka (US) 3. Corou de Berra (France) This wasn't an easy list to compile.  Many fabulous vocalists weren't included, such as Native American, Indian classical, jazz, blues, bluegrass, or American folk artists.  I'll compile ...

Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon Soul Call Om Namo Narayanaya Self-Release When I first heard about vocalist Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon’s Soul Call , I thought I’d received a kirtan CD in the mail. So I felt surprised when I received a famous healing chant set to Indian pop music. Krishnamurthy Tandon sings the same chant throughout the nine tracks that appear on the invigorating CD. It’s not surprising that the overall feel compares to a Bollywood soundtrack since the producer and musicians recorded it at a soundtrack studio, with orchestral arrangement duties handled by Tejendra Narayan Majumdar. The Grammy-nominated album has received a devoted following at the Soul Chants website (site listed at the end of the review). Visitors cite the healing effects the chants have had on them. According to the liner notes, “The powerful healing mantra translates to, ‘I surrender all to the Divine Protector; I salute the Divine Maintainer of all; I belong to the Divine Grace that ...

I'm compiling a list of songs with references to the moon or have moon in the title.  I can use your help.  Genres I'm looking at are: World, traditional, classical, Broadway musicals, movie soundtracks, jazz, and blues. I'll get us started: "Clare de Lune," "Moon River," "Blue Moon,".... Please leave a comment with the song titles.  Thanks.

Holiday Recordings (In My Collection) I gave most of my holiday recordings to my parents. And the list you’ll find here features Christian and pagan music. I have not received any holiday recordings from other spiritual and religious traditions, but I'm open to recordings featuring music for Kwanza and other religious traditions. But on this list, I’ve included Corsican polyphony, Nicoise and Provencal polyphony, early music, early colonial music from Latin America, polyphony and carols from the United States (early music), choral music from Eastern Europe, and some unique small ensemble music. Of course you’ll also find a recording of Handel Messiah , which is also featured during Easter season. I realize that these recordings don’t comprise a comprehensive collection, (Tchaikovsky’s incidental music for the ballet The Nutcracker is missing from this list). However, the loving spirit of all the recordings comes through loud and clear, especially on a good stereo syst...

Healing with Holiday Music; Practicing Cultural and Spiritual Diversity Depending on your cultural and spiritual perceptions, holiday music can provide healing through nostalgia, relaxation, and joy. However, this includes a few caveats. An overdose of holiday music (heard in shopping malls, banks, and post offices), could lead to overkill and brainworms (a song hook repeating itself incessively).  Nostalgic elements work best with people who have happy memories of the holidays, but those individuals who lost love ones or suffered a tragedy during the holiday season won't find holiday music particularly healing.  They might avoid it entirely. Don't make the mistake of thinking that everyone practices the same religious rituals as you do. Holidays from a variety of religious traditions, including Judaism (Hanukkah), Christianity (Christmas), South African (Kwanza), Islamic, and pagan (Solstice) are practiced by people among us.  Each of these traditions ha...

Gregory Porter Water Motema Music As the flood waters recede in western Washington, debut jazz artist Gregory Porter’s Water plays in the background. Similar to the stormy weather alternating with the sun peeking through thick clouds, Porter’s recording, rides a wave of emotions too. From tender love ballads like the opener, Illusions and  Pretty to the bombastic socio-political 1960 What? that recalls Martin Gaye’s What’s Going On , Porter covers all the bases here. Porter composed and co-arranged the bulk of the recording and his lyrics cut straight through the heart. The arrangements with passionate horns, and saxophone anchored down with piano, bass, and drums, wed to Porter’s visual text. Porter’s vocals hit the spot too, again portraying a palette of emotions, outrage on 1960 What? and sensual on Pretty , when Porter sings, “Her hand strokes the drum. She plays so fast I can’t find the one…” On Magic Cup the musicians introduce Latin jazz funk and Wisd...

1. Jovino Santos Neto, See the Sound, Adventure Music 2. Mario Romano Quartet, Valentina, Alma Records 3. Catherine Russell, Inside this Heart of Mine, World Village 4. Benjamim Taubkin, Piano Masters, Vol. 1, Adventure Music 5. Roberto Occhipinti, A Bend in the River, Alma Records 6. Marcos Amorim Trio, Portraits, Adventure Music 7. Jon Manasse and Jon Nakamatsu, Bernstein, Gershwin, Novacek, and d’ Rivera, American Music for Clarinet, Harmonia Mundi 8. Ricardo Silveira, ‘Til Tomorrow, Adventure Music 9. Estun-Bah (Native American), From Where the Sun Rises, Canyon Records 10. Gregory Porter, Water, Motema Best Folkloric Retrospective: Mike Marshall, An Adventure, 1999-2009, Adventure Music

Happy Holidays from Whole Music Experience!

My article regarding music for early childhood development has been published in the Skagit Food Coop newsletter. http://www.skagitfoodcoop.com/newsletters.html  (click on December 2010), p. 6 & 12. The article features Oran Etkin, Hilary Field and Gary Kvistad of Woodstock Chimes.

Top 10 Classical of 2010 1. Javier Perianes, Blasco de Nebra Piano Sonatas, Harmonia Mundi 2. Valery Gergiev & The London Symphony Orchestra, Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, London Symphony Orchestra label 3. Jon Manasse and the Seattle Symphony, Mozart and Spohr Clarinet Concertos, Harmonia Mundi 4. Anna Prohaska, Bernarda Fink, Akademie Für Alte Musik Berlin, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Harmonia Mundi 5. Dino Saluzzi, El Encuentro Live, ECM 6. Staier and Sepec, Robert Schumann Sonatas for Piano and Violin, Harmonia Mundi 7. Christophe Rosset, Louis Couperin, Harmonia Mundi 8. Stephen Hough, Chopin Late Masterpieces, Hyperion 9. Imani Winds, Terra Incognita, E1 Entertainment 10. Stile Antico, Puer Natus Est, Harmonia Mundi Best Crossover Recording , Altan, 25th Anniversary Celebration, Compass

Adam del Monte Asì lo siento yo Self-release I’ve found over the years that flamenco music must possess authentication, either the musician was born into an Andalusian family of flamenco origins or lived in Andalusia at some point and studied with the flamenco masters. Years of listening, observing and practicing flamenco follow until the flamenco musician is ready to strike out on his or her own with enough passion in tow. Flamenco more than anything revolves around feelings and emotions. A musician might have the chops, but if he or she can’t take you to that place called duende, then the musician loses the heart of flamenco. Today you will find both old flamenco with its rustic pastiche and nuevo flamenco pioneered by Tomatito, Paco de Lucia and others. You’ll even hear flamenco fused to Cuban son, rock and jazz music. So how does someone such as me, not trained in flamenco, review a flamenco album? I’ve probably journeyed to the place of duende several times as a music ...

Best Artist of 2010 Jovino Santos Neto For his vision and versatility