Music » Healing Music

Time will not stand still as you listen to the bamboo and alto flute music of Richard Warner, but it will seem far less relevant as your mind gradually adjusts to the spaciousness and generous silences that adorn the extended notes found in Warner's ethereal improvisations. Urban dwellers should allow themselves a few moments of deep-breathing decompression to detach themselves from their multi- tasking mindsets before tuning in Warner's slow-motion sonic excursions. Otherwise, you may find his music at first to be oddly jarring, so peaceful and gentle is his playing. Yoga adherents and massage enthusiasts should find much to admire in this two-CD set, a remastered repackaging of two releases from 1982's Quiet Heart and 1984's Spirit Wind. The double CD includes four new selections, bringing the set's combined playing time to more than 93 minutes. On the wooden floors beneath giant vaulted ceilings in Seattle's Holy Names Academy, Warner first performed solo, then returned two years later to play with minimal accompaniment from tuned crystal glasses. Both projects, particularly Spirit Wind, succeed by achieving and sustaining moods of stillness and restful clarity that, while well-suited to yoga ideals, can also be appreciated away from the mat. Meditative flute music has the potential to strike Occidental ears as shrill, discordant, brittle, or exotic to the point of distraction. Not so with Warner's projects. He typically avoids piercing high notes and prefers to explore tones in a comfortable mid-range that allow his ambient works, most notably Spirit Wind's 18-minute "Moonlight on the Mountain," to sustain a lovely atmosphere of undisturbed calm. --Terry Wood

Hopes & Dreams is an exquisite musical odyssey. Lisa's Celtic harp is in its finest form on this heartwarming collection of all new, original music. Lisa Lynne is the musician-in-residence at City of Hope National Medical Center, where she created this music during her intimate interactions with people on their healing and spiritual journeys. Celtic harp, enhanced with world flutes and an assortment of rich acoustic instruments, creates an otherworldly experience...a nourishment for the soul.

On top of the spiritual vocal presence of Krishna Das, One Track Heart features the producing and musical talents of Jai Uttal (vocals, dotar, keyboards, percussion) and Tulku's Jim Wilson (programming). This pleasurable album effortlessly blends prayers and chants from the ancient tradition of Bhakti Yoga, with Indian percussion, strings, dumbek, and keyboards. The compositions range from lively, drum-driven pieces to mellower, meditative tracks. Heart benefits from the input of its accomplished guest musicians and the inclusion of gentle harmonium (on "The Krishna Waltz" and other tracks), delicate wah-wah guitar (on "Hunaman Chaleesa"), and unobtrusive programming, which imbues the music with a modern flavor while retaining its organic essence. The album also includes detailed, informative liner notes from the artist. --Bryan Reesman

Perhaps not as pretty as previous studio releases, Krishna Das's Breath of the Heart nevertheless captures the ecstasy, devotion, and life-affirming qualities of chant. Ably abetted by rap and rock producer Rick Rubin, Das joins with a choir dubbed the Kosmic Kirtan Posse, featuring the East and West Coast Posses, a group of some 50 members including Mike D of the Beastie Boys, while instruments as diverse as harmonium, Hammond B3 organ, violin, guitar, cymbals, and drums play backdrop. Das and friends, through their gorgeously imperfect music, manage at once to exalt the divine and spotlight the inevitable suffering of the human condition. The core of Breath of the Heart--the lengthy "Kainchi Hare Krishna" and "Ma Durga"--successfully marry the sacred and profane, the temporal and the fixed. --Paige La Grone

A lush musical journey into Hindu spiritualism, Pilgrim Heart encompasses Shiva chants, Hare Krishna mantras, and chants given a modern twist. Krishna Das and his myriad guest musicians (including a female chorus dubbed the Kirtan Posse) incorporate Indian instruments, African percussion, electronics, even bass and guitar, into serene, richly layered songs that provide good background music for meditation or relaxation. Unlike some of Krishna Das's other recorded music, this album is even-keeled, although the repeated use of Hare Krishna chants wears thin at times, but the music generally provides a satisfying antidote for the stresses of the modern world. One nice surprise is the upbeat, soukous-flavored "Ring Song" that ends the album on an energetic note. --Bryan Reesman

As one of Tibet's foremost contemporary musicians, Nawang celebrates life each day through the creation of his very personal music, culminating in the release of his first recording, produced by Kitaro.

On Karuna, Nawang makes full use of his newest innovation, the Universal Horn. It's a combination of Tibetan long horn and Australian Aboriginal Didgeridoo. Combining Japanese Taiko drums, Tibetan long horns, cymbals, bells, Indian drums, South American rain sticks, flutes and Tibetan chanting, Nawang shares his experience with ancient sounds and the spirituality of Tibet.

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Like his jazz counterpart Jai Uttal, Krishna Das is a U.S. native whose life was changed forever by the discovery of the Hindu religion. Yet unlike Uttal, who has explored the realms of world and jazz music and collaboration, Das has focused his energies toward the art of Indian classical chant exclusively. The result is a long career of spreading the love and spirituality of the Hindustani tradition while gleaning a large following that's included the likes of Sting and Madonna. But this isn't the reason to respect Das, rather his investment in using chant to heal, find the grace of God, and purify the soul. Though Das's voice falls somewhat flat on this two-CD album, he's accompanied by a wonderful gaggle of percussionists, whose layered cadences create a tapestry as rich in color and detail as an Indian ragamala itself. The accompanying choir of some 20 chanters is the other highlight, offering a cold salve to Das's harsh, monotonous tone. But after all, the point of chant is to invoke God, not please the ear, and if this is your goal, Live on Earth well satisfies. --Karen K. Hugg

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Release Date: 2001-09-25, Audio CD, Madacy Records