Behind the Mic with Crystal Sarakas

In concert: world fusion with Jami Sieber and Steve Gorn

Tonight's Soundscape features a few tracks from Jami Sieber and Steve Gorn. They'll be performing in Ithaca this coming Saturday, June 14th at 7:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Church, 306 N. Aurora, Ithaca.

I only heard Jami Sieber's music for the first time this week, when I found out about the concert and the promoter was kind enough to send along a couple of CDs to play on the show. I'm really enjoying the music - I'm a fan of cello music in all forms and it's the one instrument I really wish I could take up, even at my advanced age. 

I've also been equally fascinated with elephants my entire life, something that Jami Seiber shares. In the liner notes to her CD, Hidden Sky, she writes about her experience playing music with the Thai Elephant Orchestra:

There, at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center, I met Phong, the young elephant who played a xylophone (renat) and kissed me on my nose with his trunk, and Prathida, the drummer who followed the movement of my bow with her trunk as I played. With them and at least eight other orchestra members, I experienced a mystical collaboration I had never known before. This communion has forever changed the way I see and feel the natural world.

I found this video which shows some of the footage from Jami's visit with the Thai Elephant Orchestra:

Steve Gorn, the other featured musician at the concert, performs on the bansuri flute. Here's a clip of a live performance a few years back.

I'm not sure yet if I'll be able to make the trip up to Ithaca (those darn gas prices!) but if you have the chance to go to the concert, I think you'll really enjoy. If you see me there, say hello. If not, leave a comment and tell me what you thought of the concert.

A little pride ...

I'm really pleased with tonight's show. I experimented with putting it together in a different way (I won't bore you with the technical details) and as I was editing it, really paid attention to the flow from one song to the next. I love it when a song sounds like a natural progression from the track before, even though it's a different artist and CD.

Wow. I am a radio geek.

I got to play a track from a CD I've been listening to a lot lately - In The Name Of Love: Africa Celebrates U2. This came to the station last month and since I'm a big fan of both U2 and of African music in general, I grabbed it. It's a pretty varied list of performers - Angelique Kidjo performs Mysterious Ways, Vieux Farka Toure performs Bullet the Blue Sky, Tony Allen (a Nigerian performer) does his version of Where the Streets Have No Name. I played my favorite track from the CD on the show tonight - the Soweto Gospel Choir performing Pride (In the Name of Love). That's one of my favorite U2 songs and I love the African gospel choir version of it. I also have a feeling I'll be ordering a few CDs by the Soweto Gospel Choir very, very soon.

I also like the liner notes for this album, which is a rarity for me since I seldom even look at liner notes. Each track has a write-up about the artist performing, and includes a little fact sheet about the country in Africa that the artist comes from. I definitely recommend this one if you like the sound of U2 with an African musical approach. Here's a video talking about the album with some samples of the music.

I'm on the radio!

I'm listening to my own show tonight. It's not an ego thing - I actually hit the mute when I come on in between sets, but I just really liked the music I put together tonight. It's like that most of the time and one of the reasons I love Soundscape so much - it doesn't feel like work when it's something you have such a great time doing.

Baird Hersey & Prana with Krishna Das (which is on right now) is a great CD. I'm a huge fan of Krishna Das and to hear his voice with the overtone singing of Hersey and Prana is just really amazing. And I'm wrapping the show with Snatam Kaur tonight - the concert last week was fabulous. Look for the full review later this week.

Another particular favorite on tonight's show is Lanterna's Highways. I really like atmospheric guitar music like this. It's my preferred driving music. Jeff Pearce is another recommendation if you enjoy Lanterna. I just picked this CD up this past week so I'm sure you'll be hearing more of it on future shows.

I hope you enjoy listening tonight as much as I am.

Look at all the colors ...

I just love this video. I also need to track down this music for the show.

we are all made of stars

Tonight's Soundscape is a bit on the mellow side, although I like the last set ending with Sonic Tribe. That's a great CD, upbeat without being obnoxious about it. And you can't go wrong with either Samite or Deva Premal, but I did enjoy the quiet ambient/space music part of the show.

I think the space music set really fit this week after I read the final entry on FUSE sat's blog. A few years back, someone started a blog from the viewpoint of one of the orbiting satellites, giving the piece of equipment a quirky little personality and providing updates from their point of view. Others followed, and there's now a little group of them over on livejournal, including blogs for the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity (although the last update for most of them was a while back).

After 8 years of orbiting the earth and exploring "the Universe using the technique of high-resolution spectroscopy in the far-ultraviolet spectral region," FUSE was put to sleep. The last entry in the FUSE sat livejournal (which, to my knowledge, isn't officially connected to NASA in any way) is bittersweet and melancholy.

Farewell, orbiter, and godspeed.

peace and chanting

There are two events coming up that I think might be of special interest to Soundscape listeners:

10 Questions for the Dalai Lama is a film about the Dalai Lama. It's been described as "Part biography, part philosophy, part adventure and part politics, 10 Questions for The Dalai Lama conveys more than history and more than answers - it opens a window into the heart of an inspiring man."

The creators behind the film have designated October 19-21 as the Weekend of Unity and Peace, timed to coincide with the Dalai Lama's visit to the US and Canada. Part of the events surrounding the weekend are screenings of the film.

The Center in Auburn, NY is one of the host sites for the event and will be showing 10 Questions for the Dalai Lama Friday, October 19th at 8 p.m. and Sunday, October 21st at 2 p.m. If you have the chance to see the film, I'd love to hear what you think of it.

I also wanted to mention that Vishnu's Couch Yoga Studio in Binghamton will host a Kirtan Chant Jam on the second Saturday of every month.

From the organizers of the event:

Kirtan is part of an ancient form of Yoga known as Bhakti, or the Yoga of Devotion.  It is the practice of singing over and over the many names of God/Goddess/All-That-Is, the multi-colored manifestations of the One.  It is said that there is no difference between the name and that which is being named, and as the words roll off our lips in song, the Infinite is invoked, invited, made manifest in our hearts. Kirtan is an invitation to experience the invocational power of the ancient Sanskrit syllables and names in ecstatic song and silent contemplation.  Kirtan is for all people.  There are no experts, no beginners.  The practice itself is the teacher, guiding us to ourselves.  Kirtan allows us to enter into a mystery world, a world where all the logic of our minds, all the conditioning and learning are left outside.  And in this mystery, we create a temple inside of our hearts, a place of refuge, a place of love, a place of just being.

I'm really looking forward to going to this chanting session. I'm fascinated by Kirtan chant and have wanted to experience it live for quite some time. The next Kirtan Chant Jam is on Saturday, November 10th from 7 to 9 p.m. Vishnu's Couch Yoga Studio is located at 61 Prospect Ave, 4th Floor, Binghamton. Bring yourself, your voice and any instruments if you have them.

And finally, there's an Expressive Drumming and Chant class that meets every Friday in Vestal. Drums are provided and each class offers some basic teaching rhythms, meditation, chanting and dancing. I've been to a couple of these and had a great time. You can find out more about these classes at Expressive Drumming. 

evolution of a radio show

Here's a general idea of how Soundscape comes about each week:

Somewhere around Tuesday - I start to think about the next show

Sunday morning - I finally get down to programming it

Sunday morning +5 - I sit blankly in front of the wall of CDs, looking for inspiration

Sunday morning +17 - I'm off to make more coffee

Sunday morning +33 - I stare at the giant pile of discarded CDs that I won't be playing tonight

Sunday morning +48 - I've finally picked out the first CD of the show

Sunday morning +57 - mmmm.... coffee....

Sunday morning +77 - I pause to ponder just how much I rock the world

Sunday morning +95 - I decide this is the worst show I've ever put together

Sunday morning +98 - Who drank all the damn coffee?!

Sunday morning +100 - I sit down to record

Sunday morning +320 - I wrap up this week's show and immediately began to think about everything I did wrong

Somewhere around Tuesday - I start to think about the next show.

Found Sound: William Fitzsimmons

One of the most common questions I get about Soundscape is 'where do you find the music?'

For the majority of the artists I play, they're signed to the major new age or world labels throughout the country and I receive the CDs through the labels and promoters. Some arrive on their own, others I seek out.

Lately, I've been turning to other sources to find independent artists that I'd love to give exposure to. Today, I've spent some time looking through various myspace pages looking for the kind of music that grabs my attention.

This guy grabbed my attention  - I've sent off an email asking for a play copy of his CD and hope to be able to feature his music on the show. It's got that really cool fusion of neo-folk and ambient, mixed in with some electronic beats and blips. His music is similar to The Album Leaf, one of my favorite groups. This is my kind of late-night summertime music - a little trippy, nothing too loud or demanding, but not completely ambient either. It's perfect for a late afternoon drive or just to listen to while watching the stars. I've been listening to "Please Don't Go" for the last half-hour and I just love it more and more as I listen. 

One of the things I do like about myspace is the networking of independent musicians. I've found some really great music through myspace, and can easily spend way too much just exploring what kind of creativity is out there.

Spirits and Samite

I'm in the midst of programming tonight's Soundscape and I'm really enjoying the mix of new and old CDs that are working their way into the playlist.

Spirits of the World is a compilation CD released on Earthtone back in 2000. It's one of my favorite compilations from the 'world fusion' genre. Angelique Kidjo's take on the Gershwin classic Summertime is sensational. This is also the CD that introduced me to Krishna Das, who has since become one of my favorite performers.

Summertime is followed by a track from Samite's latest CD, Embalasasa. His sound continues to mature and grow, even while keeping so many of the qualities that make his music really exciting. What's interesting is that while the music on this CD is full of hope and life, the subject of his songs is much darker. The title track, Embalasasa, in particular, shows the duality between the music and the message:

"When I was twelve years old, living in Uganda, I moved to the countryside to live with my grandparents. This was a memorable time in my life. It was also the time when a colorful lizard - purple, red, blue and yellow - surfaced all over the country. No one had any idea where this lizard came from. It was called "Embalasasa." It was so beautiful it begged to be touched, but it was very poisonous. Whenever an Embalasasa came into the house, we all climbed on top of a table and called my grandfather to come and kill it. We knew we were safe as long as grandpa was around; he used his walking cane to protect us. In this song, I call my grandpa to come with his walking cane and kill the modern "Emabalasasa," AIDS, a deadly disease transmitted through the most beautiful, vibrant and natural act of sex."

I've been very fortunate to work with Samite on a number of projects and he is  one of the most amazing people I've ever met. Visit his website to learn about his work in Africa and check out his music. It's especially perfect for this time of year.