RockOm

An interview with Airto Moreira
By Tom Crenshaw, tom@RockOm.net

Airto Moreira is one of the most endearing and influential percussionists in the world today. Born in South Brazil he began playing percussion even before he could walk. By the time he was six years old Airto had won many music contests by singing and playing percussion. He moved to Sao Paulo at the age of sixteen and performed regularly in nightclubs and television as a percussionist, drummer and singer.

In 1965 he met the singer Flora Purim in Rio de Janeiro. Flora moved to the USA in 1967 with Airto following shortly after and began playing with musicians such as Reggie Workman, JJ Johnson, Cedar Walton and bassist Walter Booker. It was through Booker that Airto began playing with the greats - Cannonball Adderley, Lee Morgan, Paul Desmond and Joe Zawinul to name a few.

Mr. Moreira's impact in the drumming world has been so powerful that Downbeat Magazine added the category of Percussion to its readers' and critics' polls in 1973 because of his work. Airto has gone on to win this award over twenty times since then. In the past few years he was been voted the number one percussionist by Jazz Times, Modern Drummer, Drum Magazine, Jazzizz Magazine, Jazz Central Station's Global Jazz Poll on the Internet, as well as in many European, Latin American and Asian publications.

Airto Moreira has been advancing the cause of world and percussion music as a member of the Planet Drum percussion ensemble alongside The Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Heart, master conga player Giovanni Hidalgo, tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, Flora Purim, Babatunde Olatunji, Sikiru Adepoju and Vikku Vinayakram. Airto has contributed to two Grammy Award-winning projects, the album Planet Drum, which won in 1991 in the World Music category, as well as his work with the Dizzy Gillespie's United Nations Orchestra, which received the award for Best Live Jazz Album.

In September of 2002, Brazil's President Fernando Henrique Cardoso named Airto Moreira and Flora Purim to the Order of Rio Branco, one of Brazil's highest honors. The Order of Rio Branco was created in 1963 to formally recognize Brazilian and foreign individuals who have significantly contributed to the promotion of Brazil's international relations.

Also, Airto was a professor for three years at the Ethnomusicology department of UCLA and broke new ground in musical concepts and creative energy.

Currently he divides his time between recording studios, workshops and clinics, and creating new projects as well as researching new materials for future releases and live performances in the US, Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Airto's latest album is Life After That and was released on Narada Records.

Airto: No, not really. It probably has nothing to do with the music. There was no music. My parents didn't sing, dance, or play. [Laughs] My father was a spiritist. He, along with about 10 other mediums, would sit around a table and get in touch with the spirits and the spiritual world. They would talk to the spirits and solve problems for people. The medium, acting as a bridge between the spirit and material world, would talk with the spirit of the person and straighten a lot of things up because there's a lot of people who [after they die] feel good about their [past] lives, but most of us, we don’t. We feel like we wasted a lot of time in our life. We feel, "I shouldn’t have done that," or "maybe I should have done this instead of that." We keep those problems and other problems after life. When I say "after life," I mean after our material life. As spirits, we are immortals. We never die; we just spend some time around the spiritual world (which is actually right here) and is the universe. It's God's universe that he is creating. We might have to come back here to solve some problems we left and to learn to do other things and so on.

When I was about five years old I used to watch my father. We weren't supposed to watch but we watched anyway. [Laughs] I saw my father many times writing prescriptions for people. Some of the things he used to prescribe for others to take were from nature, from the forest. Other things he would write were to be taken from a pharmacy. He used to work with a spirit of a deceased doctor who had died 20 years earlier. My father was illiterate. He couldn't read or write but I saw him writing many times. Later on in his life he had diabetes and he lost his vision and was a blind man for about the last 10 years of his life. But he was completely happy! It was really beautiful to see that - the spiritual part of my family.

My sister does a lot of what my father used to do. She learned a lot from him. She is beautiful and happy as well. When others see her they say, "Wow, she is so nice!"

Now talking about death and music, I am in some ways a medium. I also make the bridge between the spiritual and material world. When I play, I do that. The musicians who play with me - including my wife, Flora [Purim] - they know when that comes on me and it's just a beautiful thing. We are helped by the spirits. The music becomes high as far as energy. It doesn't have to be a very fast kind of rhythm. Whatever we do is really rich in energy - universal energy that keeps all the planets and stars together and balanced. This energy is around us too; it's the primal energy that God uses to create the universe. The more you study the more you know. It's not a complicated thing; it's basic, really. I feel the energy when I change, when I am playing something and right at the beginning when it actually happens. I open up for whatever energy is there and then something happens; it clicks and the whole band knows. We look at each other, laugh and smile and we keep playing. It's a beautiful thing, man.

Tom: It seems you were bound for great things as a musician from early on. You had your own radio program in your home city as a preteen and then at 13 you began drumming and singing in local dance bands. Where did this drive, this passion for music come from?

Airto: I don’t know because we didn't have that many musicians in our family. My mother's side of the family was from Italy. I always loved music and I started playing some percussion instruments that my grandmother gave to me and that was it. I just kept playing. My mom gave me other percussion instruments and I just kept playing. This is what I do today; I keep doing the same thing that I use to do when I was a little kid. Now I have a lot of knowledge about different kinds of music - commercial, non-commercial, playing for money or not. Thank God I don't have to play for money. I did when I was younger but if the music wasn't good, if I didn't like it, I didn't play.

Tom: Your wife Flora moved to the USA in 1967 and you followed soon thereafter. Was that a move you intended to make no matter what or were you waiting to see what Flora discovered as far as the music scene was concerned before you decided to leave?

Airto: I had a plan, you see. I was in love with Flora. Really in love with Flora, mainly because she was a fine human being and she had a good education. She was from a family in Rio and I was from a family in South Brazil and we were very poor in our little village. When I met Flora I had never met a woman like her before. She was incredible! She was like a princess. She liked me and we started taking. It was like “Wow.” In the beginning the only thing I would talk to her about would be music. [Laughs] We used to talk a lot about music; she was a singer already. I was thinking this is something very, very special - this is incredible. I couldn’t believe it. We stayed together two years and she decided to go to the States and spend some time there, meet some people, say hello to her friends from Rio who were already there like Sivuca [Dias de Oliveira] who played accordion and was musical director for Miriam Makeba (a great African singer) and Sérgio Mendes. She told me, "I'm going to go and try and sing for a while. I'm really not sure what is going to happen." I said, "Well, I can't go right now. I’m playing with this great band, the New Quartet, and we're successful." I told her I was sorry but I couldn't go.

She went anyway, so we would write to each other. Sometimes we would talk on the phone, but we would write every day. I was so much in love with this woman that I decided to go to California, stay for a couple of weeks, and then bring her back to Brazil. So, I went - and here I am! I'm not in Brazil. [Laughs] Of course, we went back to Brazil often. I don't like the word "career" because I think music is much more than career - music is a lifetime commitment.

Tom: Who were the first musicians you met upon arriving in the states?

Airto: I met Moacir Santos, who was a master teacher from Brazil and a great arranger and tenor saxophonist. I did some gigs with him and studied with him, but not enough. I never really liked study. Unfortunately I can't read music. I started playing in LA with some Brazilian bands and then Flora was invited to go New York to sing with Miriam Makeba.  A few days after Flora went to New York, I followed her there and we lived in New York for almost nine years.

It was in New York that I met everybody. I met Cannonball Adderley and we liked each other so much, even though we didn't understand each other. I was speaking Portuguese and he was speaking English. He was our mentor and sponsor in the states and signed our working papers and told his manager, "I want Airto and Flora here legally." I started playing with Cannonball, Lee Morgan and Paul Desmond. Then everything started to happen.

Two and a half years later I met Miles Davis. I met Miles through Joe Zawinul, who was very close friends with Miles.  One day Miles said to Joe, "Joe, I’m recording this album - a new kind of music. It’s more electric. I need a percussionist that plays something different." Joe said to Miles, "Well I know somebody that I met at Walter Booker's house." Miles asked Joe what kind of person I was - if I was old, young, or what. Joe told Miles, "He's kind of young, but he has some incredible percussion instruments that no one's seen before. He plays them all, plays jazz, bossa nova, samba; he plays anything. He's able to hear something and just play it." So, I started playing with Miles and recorded Bitches Brew with him.

Tom: Did you believe Bitches Brew was going to be the phenomenon it became?

Airto: No. I knew practically nothing. It was all like a dream to me, a movie that I was in. Everything was happening and I didn't speak English. I came to understand English better soon after. The first three years was like I was on an acid trip and being in a crazy movie. It was a very strange feeling; I was not afraid at all. It was like I knew these musicians for a long time and we were just going to play some music - that was it. All the other musicians warned me about Miles and said, "Listen, Miles can be real nasty but go and play with him. He's going to like you. But never get into any kind of negative stuff with him because he likes to play with you and try and scare you." I was careful in that area. I had two and a half years with Miles. One of the greatest experiences in my life.

Tom: The sidemen on Bitches Brew were extraordinary: Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette, and Chick Corea.

Airto: Yeah, I played for probably a year and a half with those guys. Then Miles started changing the sound. He wanted to get into the "funk/wah-wah" thing. He loved Jimi Hendrix actually. They were going to do an album together. Gil Evans was going to write the arrangements but it never happened because Jimi died. Yeah, we used to go down to the Village in New York with Miles, into Jimi Hendrix's Electric Lady Studios and jam there. Miles would be talking with Jimi about the wah-wah pedal; He was crazy about it. He wanted to use it with the trumpet.

Tom: Following your stint with Miles Davis, you jumped right into Weather Report with Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, Miroslav Vitous and Alphonse Mouzon.

Airto: Actually it was during my time with Miles. I was still playing with Miles when Joe Zawinul invited me to form the band. Joe said, "This is going to be the best group in the world. You’re going to play with us." But I told him, "I'm still playing with Miles. Some people are leaving the band and I think Miles needs me." Joe said, "No, Miles doesn't need anybody. Come and play with us." It wasn't that I was skeptical about Weather Report, I just didn't want to leave Miles' band. I wanted to go into that change with him and give him my sounds and soul. I never went on the road with Weather Report. I recorded with them and I played one concert at CBS for the release of our first album on CBS Records. I told Joe after that concert that I was not going to leave Miles.

Tom: In our interview with your wife, Flora gave us her thoughts of Chick Corea and Return to Forever. I want to hear from you about your experience with Chick and Return To Forever. You all pretty much made history in this band.

Airto: Chick had a drummer before me. But he asked Flora to ask me to come in on the next rehearsal they had so I could show some patterns to his drummer and I said, "Sure." I met them all, met the drummer and showed him some stuff. The drummer asked me to take a break with him, go next door to a bar and have a drink. When we got next door he said to me, "Do you want to play this gig with Chick?" I said, "Yeah, I want to play drums for Chick but you're already playing with him." "I’m a jazz drummer; I don’t want to play this gig," he said. I told him, "Well, we have to talk with Chick because he never really invited me to play with him." So we went back to the practice and the drummer said to Chick, "Chick, Airto and I were just talking and you've got a new drummer." [Laughs]

Tom: When we interviewed Mickey Hart and spoke with him about the Planet Drum album and his intention in recording it he said he realized on day he was "sitting on top of the mountain" with regards to his percussion friends. You and Flora joined him on the Planet Drum album and were in fact co-producers, along with the other musicians performing on the album. What are your thoughts on how this all came to be?

Airto: Flora and I met Mickey Hart with the Grateful Dead. We went to see the Dead one time at the Oakland Coliseum just to see what everyone was talking about with this band. That was some "down to earth" music: singing, playing and tripping. It was a big party with thousands of people! Flora and I went backstage after the concert and they were like, "Oh, Airto and Flora!" They invited us to perform with them the next two nights, to jam with them. Ornette Coleman was sitting in with them, playing this crazy stuff on saxophone. Flora picked up a microphone and started singing with Ornette Coleman, doing free-form stuff, really beautiful stuff. That's how we met Mickey. Mickey then called me and Flora to play on the Apocalypse Now soundtrack and we worked in the Dead’s studio in Marin County for six days and nights straight.

Tom: Was this the first time you had worked with Zakir Hussain?

Airto: Yes. [Pause] Maybe I played with him in the Rhythm Devils. I wasn't a part of that group; I just sat in with them. Apocalypse Now was the first time we collaborated and it was just beautiful. Zakir is one of the most incredible players on earth.

Tom: We agree, but I must add that when we spoke with Zakir Hussain last year in San Anselmo one of the first things he spoke about was Bitches Brew and how that was so inspirational to him and everyone, and how it changed everything. He was taken with your work as well.

Airto: Zakir told me he was a classical percussionist playing classical Hindu music, and that's what he did. Then he saw me play with Miles Davis and said, "Wow, I can do that too. I can play some other stuff." Zakir can do anything, really. He's an incredible musician. Then Zakir started opening up, playing with different people. He's one of the most respected musicians in the world.

Tom: Tell me about your album The Other Side of This, from 1988. It was an exploration into the healing powers of music and the spiritual world.

Airto: I always have ideas for sound. I have a lot of ideas for things I haven't played yet. I am young; I'm only 67. [Laughs] Some of the sounds I had been thinking about for many years were sounds for healing, for relaxing and for energy. I never really thought of myself as a shaman to be working with spirits. Spirits are free to come and visit when I am playing and each day when I jump in, they are welcome.

One day when were working on Planet Drum with Mickey and all the great percussionists who performed on that album I said to Mickey, "Remember that project that we talked about of co-producing, that healing music album?" He was about to head out of town and said, "Why don't you start it while I'm gone." So, I stayed in the studio and did about half of the album in five days. When Mickey returned we began rehearsing Planet Drum again and he asked, "Well what have you been doing while I've been gone?" So I had the engineer play the recordings in the studio and Mickey said, "What? What is this?" I said, "That's our project that you are producing." [Laughs] He said, "Oh, you bet I am! Let's keep working on this!" So we would rehearse Planet Drum in the day and then work on The Other Side of This until the early mornings.

Tom: How do you see music and especially percussion evolving in the near future?

Airto: Percussion was probably the first ever instrument. People would play and not even know they were making music. I think it is always going to be a part of humanity. Right now there's a lot of synthesized music and percussion, but at the same time there are percussionists and drummers such as Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, myself and others who are playing all over the world. There is space for acoustic percussion, for the real thing. It will never die. I think that percussion will always grow together with the music. It doesn't matter what kind of music it is because the percussion will always be there. Percussion evolves with the music and with the human race. One doesn't need to be a professional - you can go and play some with the guys and it's OK. Percussion started the music, in the beginning. Percussion is a beautiful exchange, a melting pot. It will always exist and if they keep sampling, they're going to be sampling forever.

LINKS: www.airto.com

An Interview with Brazilian Jazz legend Flora Purim
By Tom Crenshaw, tom@rockom.net

For those who know Flora, an introduction is unnecessary. Her music has interwoven the life fabric of anyone with a passing interest in Latin and American jazz music for over 25 years.

Flora's once-in-a-generation six-octave voice has earned her two Grammy nominations for Best Female Jazz Performance and Downbeat Magazine's Best Female Singer accolade on four occasions. Her musical partners have included Gil Evans, Stan Getz, Chick Corea, Dizzy Gillespie and her husband Airto Moreira, with whom she has collaborated on over 30 albums since moving with him from her native Rio to New York in 1967. In New York, she and Airto became central to the period of musical expression and creativity which produced the first commercially successful electric jazz groups of the 70s.

Shortly after, Flora became instrumental in opening the world up to new notions of what jazz can sound like by linking up with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Joe Farrell to form Return To Forever in late 1971. She went on to contribute to some of the greatest recordings of the seventies - Carlos Santana, Hermeto Pascoal, Gil Evans, Chick Corea and Mickey Hart - with all benefiting from her vocal and arranging skills. In the mid-Eighties, Flora and Airto resumed their musical partnership to record two albums for Concord - Humble People and The Magicians - for which she received Grammy nominations. In 1992 she went one better by singing on two Grammy-winning albums - Planet Drum with Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart (Best World Music Album) and the Dizzy Gillespie United Nations Orchestra (Best Jazz Album).

In September of 2002, Brazil's President Fernando Henrique Cardoso named Flora Purim and Airto Moreira to the "Order of Rio Branco", one of Brazil's highest honors. Her latest album, Flora's Song, was released by Narada Records on June 28th, 2005.

RockOm had the honor and privilege to spend an extended period of time with Flora Purim recently while she was in Lisbon, Portugal touring with her husband. In this in-depth interview Flora Purim speaks with us regarding her early years in America, her close association with the greats in jazz music, how music transcends race, creed, and culture and an upcoming movie and book based on her life and career.

Tom:  Tell us what you, your family and friends felt on that March evening in 1964 when the Brazilian military staged a coup overthrowing President Goulart sending Brazil into a totalitarian regime. There was widespread systematic repression of artistic freedom and free speech. Did this play a role in your decision to become an artist and do you ever regret leaving Brazil for America?

Flora:  Sure I regret leaving Brazil because it is a paradise and the outpouring of Brazilian music is so big that wherever I go, all over the world there is always a group playing Brazilian music. I am very proud to be Brazilian, but Brazil was a military dictatorship and the Government was censoring the lyrics of music and songs. I was only 20 years old and in the beginning of my career then. I felt if I didn’t leave the country I couldn't be a singer. I made the decision and since I loved jazz, I decided to go to the USA.

Tom:  When you arrived in New York City in 1967, you immediately jumped into the American jazz scene with the artists of the day such as Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis. Then a few short years later you met Chick Corea, Stan Getz, Gil Evans, Stanley Clarke, Joe Farrell and others. What did you think when you landed in New York and were able to be yourself and express yourself in the midst of such an eclectic music scene?

Flora: I thought I had died and was in paradise. I didn't know how I was going to find other musicians. I asked around at the hotel where I was staying in New York and was told I shouldn't be going into the heart of Harlem because I was white and it was a dangerous place to go. I said, "Well I come from Brazil and we don't discriminate, so I'm going to take my chance. I must go to Harlem; I have to go." So the concierge wrote an address on a piece of paper and I was dropped off at Club Baron.

I tried to pay my ticket to get in but the doorman started to speak to me and I didn't understand what he was saying. He was laughing, making jokes and wasn't going to sell me a ticket. The only thing I understood was that he called me Snow White. In the meantime, a very tall man was standing in the entranceway going from one side of the bar to the other. He saw the scene, reprimanded the man and he gave me his big hand and told me not to be afraid and to sit down with his lady. He invited me inside and I sat down with a white lady. She was very popular inside of the club. Everyone was arriving and kissing her hand and kissing her on the cheek. Later on, I found out she was a famous Baroness - Baroness Nika. She used to help Coltrane and Charlie Parker when they got sick. She was so loved by everyone because she had no prejudice and loved jazz to the point that she would offer space in her house when musicians got sick from time to time.

Then, when I finally sat down and felt more at ease I looked over at the bar and saw Wayne Shorter sitting there along with Art Blakey, Carmen McRae, Richard Davis, and Mongo Santamaria. I saw the creme of the creme all together in the same place. After Mongo Santamaria played his set - in which Chick Corea was the pianist - the second band came in. I didn't know what Thelonious Monk looked like. He was the guy that helped me get into the club. He walked on stage, sat down at the piano and played. I realized I was the luckiest person in the world. The second day in town I found the place where everyone converged after their gigs, talked with each other and jammed. Afterward, we all went to the house of bass player Walter Booker and played more until the early morning.

Tom: Tell me about the events leading up to meeting Chick Corea and later becoming a part of his fusion band Return to Forever.

Flora: I arrived in the US in December of '67, stayed in New York and later I got a call from an ex-boyfriend, Dom Um Romao, who  went on to perform with Weather Report and he said, "Come to California." So I flew out to California and stayed for about six months. I didn't have a work permit but I was going to the clubs. I saw Miles Davis for the first time along with Gary Barton and several of the young, up-and-coming musicians. Gary Barton was only 16 or 17 years old and he was playing free form jazz. A month afterward, my husband Airto (Moreira) arrived. We both went to see Miles Davis together. It was a dream for Airto.  Something happened to him when he first saw Miles.

I received an invitation from the drummer who was performing with South African singer Miriam Makeba who was singing Brazilian music. She had a choir behind her of three or four girls trying to sing in Portuguese. I went back to New York and was hired by Miriam Makeba to be a backup singer and help the girls learn to pronounce the lyrics correctly. Afterward, I sang two concerts with Miriam and she called me up and said, "You are too good to be just a background singer. I’m going to give you the name of my manager. Please look him up. I’m calling him to say I’m sending  you." Miriam's manger took me in and got me a record deal. I signed with the label that was owned by the comedian Bill Cosby. After the record was recorded and was about to be pressed and released the warehouse caught fire. My work was burned and that record never came out. It was a shock. I thought to myself, "It is not my time yet."

I stayed in New York and continued hanging out at the clubs. In the Village there were a lot of jazz clubs with great musicians and I always managed to get in for free.  I met Chick Corea then. At that time, Chick was playing for Miles Davis and Miles was looking to change the band. Joe Zawinul told Miles there was a Brazilian percussionist who was crazy and that he should check him out. Airto then received a call from Miles' manager. I'll let Airto tell you the rest in his own words and then I’ll tell you how it really was. [Laughs]

Later Chick decided to leave Miles and form a group with Dave Holland, Anthony Blackstone, and Barry Altschul [the group Circle]. They were just playing free form and Chick wanted his music to be more popular. He said that people loved the music but it was hard to duplicate the melodies they heard. He became obsessed to have his music sung and duplicated. He was looking for a person to sing his melodies, because if a person could sing melodies the public would understand that they could sing it too. He offered the music to Ella Fitzgerald and several others vocalists. The vocalists returned the music saying they were already well established on the Bebop jazz scene and didn’t want to take a risk of singing fusion because the music was not mainstream. It was fused with different rhythms.

I met Chick at Walter Booker's apartment after a concert. He asked me to come to his home and try some of his music because he was dying to hear someone sing some of his melodies. I said, "Yes, of course." The next day I went to Chick’s home and the first song he played for me was "What Game Shall We Play Today", and then others. I was overwhelmed with the beauty of the music and couldn’t believe I was having a chance to hear it first hand. So he asked me if I would like to sing those songs with him and to be part of the group that he was forming. He met a very young bass player just out of high School who was 17 years old. His name was Stanley Clarke. He invited flutist-saxophonist  Joe Farrell to join as well. Chick asked me to ask Airto to sit in until he found a drummer so we could keep rehearsing. Airto wasn't doing anything since Miles was taking a break, so I brought Airto in and Chick loved him so much that he decided not to look for another drummer.

"Music has no prejudices. Music does not ask you what color you are, where you come from or what your creed is. Music itself becomes God to us whenever we play it."

It was like magic. Sometimes you put five musicians together and they are great, but the magic doesn't happen. But this time it all melded together and became one. We were very excited to be playing and singing original music written especially for us. From that point on Chick wrote more and more and the music aimed at my voice or Stanley’s bass or Airto’s drumming or Joe Farrell’s flute and saxophone. The first album was called Return to Forever and the second was called Light as a Feather, which happens to contain a composition by Stanley Clark and me.

These two albums defined Return To Forever and in America we were not sure if they accepted us or not. But when we arrived in Japan or anywhere else around the world we were so famous we need a police escort. So many people were waiting at the airports screaming and giving us gifts. From that point on I understood there were certain prejudices and maybe the musicians that were dedicated to swing, mainstream, and Bebop were guardians of that style of music, which prevailed at the time. They were not giving in even if our music was nice. The rest of the world embraced Chick’s music. Some first started listening to jazz after Return To Forever and then started looking for other records that we were involved in as well and learning more and more about the other forms of jazz. You were right about one thing - because of my association with Chick Corea I became very, very popular all over the world.

Tom: In 1973 you released your first solo album, Butterfly Dreams, and went on to work with Carlos Santana on his album Welcome (1973) which also featured John McLaughlin, Tom Coster, Leon Thomas and John Coltrane's widow, Alice. Tell us about the vibe in the air working on that album.

Flora: Well Carlos was incredible. We were playing at the Keystone Korner in San Francisco and one night Carlos walked in for the second show. I saw him come in but I had never met him before. After the show he said he was recording that night and invited us to come to Columbia Studios. He played some of the songs for us and asked if we could do something to enhance the songs. He offered me two songs and Airto worked on another two or three songs. The next week he had a concert at the Museum of Modern Art and I sat in with the band. A very famous writer Ralph Gleason wrote a review of the show and said I was great and raved about me. The next day I got a call from Fantasy Records and they invited me to sign a contract with them.

Tom: You were involved as a co-producer along with Mickey Hart and your husband Airto on the 1992 Grammy Award winning Planet Drum album. In speaking with Mickey Hart and Zakir Hussain they both spoke about the spiritual nature and healing qualities in music. Do you feel the same way? Does rhythm and music have unifying and healing properties?

Flora: I would say yes. When Mickey Hart’s wife was about to have a baby and was in labor for hours nothing would help. Mickey put on a track from Planet Drum and she relaxed and gave birth right away. I also learned from Babatunji Olantundi that drums are not made from just any tree. In Nigeria, to cut the tree to make a drum you have to talk to that tree for months and get an affinity and have the tree recognize you - even tell stories to the tree. You and the tree become friends. So when the time comes to make a drum from that tree, the tree is ready and understands it’s not going to stop "being nature", that it would actually be helping the world to know that the first language between men was drumming.

Tom: Through your close friendship with Dizzy Gillespie, who was a devotee of the Bahá'í faith, you came to adopt that faith. How has Bahá'í influence you?

Flora: Bahá'í was a young religion when I met Dizzy. Dizzy used to carry his praying book, which was different than everyone else's.  All the pages were embossed in gold and his name was written on the front in gold. I used to sit next to him in first class, so once I asked him, "You are always reading this book. What is so good about it." He said, "This book is my Bible and I know every single prayer by memory."  I challenged him and he said, "OK, I’ll give you the book and you can open it to any page and ask me." I took the book, opened it to one page, and by chance it was the Prayer of the Traveler. He said, "Which one out of the five?" I chose, thinking it would be difficult for him. He recited the prayer fluently. I thought  to myself "He’s lucky, the Prayer of the Traveler is one he must read most often." I opened up another page, I challenged him again, and he recited the prayer perfectly. He read that book for 30 years every day. He read to remind himself that men should help other men, that a universal language should be created so that people could communicate and that women should be treated equal to men.

I told Dizzy, "I want to be a Bahá'í." He said, "You can’t be a Bahá'í yet." I asked him why. He said, "Before you decide you want to be a Bahá'í you have to read a couple of books to see if you agree with it." I was given several books to read, loved them and said, "I still want to be a Bahá'í." So we were leaving Australia and the family that was receiving all the Bahá'í in the town ran to the airport and gave me the book of prayers, just like Dizzy's book. Inside of the book was an Australian ten-dollar bill. I said, "Wait, I think you forgot the money." The lady who gave me the book said, "No we, didn't forget. You always keep this note inside of the book because this is to bring you more money and it could save you in a difficult situation." I kept it and never spent that money.

Tom: Sometimes music brings people together in ways that nothing else can. What is it about music that bridges barriers and put us in touch with that which we call the Divine?

Flora: Music has no prejudices. Music does not ask you what color you are, where you come from or what your creed is. Music itself becomes God to us whenever we play it. As musicians we only communicate through notes and rhythms. We hardly talk with each other unless it's to give a new idea for direction. At the time we are playing it doesn't count what color you are, where you come from, or which religion you practice. I love that.

Tom: What does the future hold for you?

Flora: I have lots of work ahead of me. I've been in Portugal working with a screenwriter and with another writer to do a book of my trials and tribulations along with a film based on a Brazilian singer who wanted to sing Jazz. This project is very big, is sponsored by the Brazilian Government, and is entitled "Brazilian Flora". I am singing all Brazilian music by Brazilian musicians. Because of my popularity around the world I can bring the new Brazilian music to the rest of the world as long as I keep singing.

www.florapurim.com

Watch for an interview with Flora's husband, Airto Moreira, next week right here at RockOm.

On this week's podcast episode, out today:

This week's Featured Artist, The Morning Birds, talk about "singing their truth" through music, their new album Inspiration Point and a car accident that changed the band's direction.

Also included is an interview with Inspirational Speaker and Unity minister Rev. Justin Epstein about how music helps focus your energies and channel it toward God.

CLICK HERE to visit our Podcast page to download this and other episodes of the RockOm Podcast.

A RockOm Interview with Rev. Justin Epstein

Justin Epstein is a dynamic inspirational speaker who has given over one hundred and thirty presentations to thousands of people in Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall.  He has shared the stage with such notables as Dr. Maya Angelou, Les Brown, Iyanla Vanzant and Marianne Williamson.

Justin Epstein graduated Magna Cum Laude from James Madison University, where he received a BS degree and double-majored in Communications and Religion/Philosophy.  He is a graduate of Unity School for Religious Studies Ministerial Program in Missouri and was ordained a Unity Minister in 1993.  He also resided at Ananda Village for three and a half years, a prolific school of Eastern thought.

He has produced and hosted the cable television series "Practical Spirituality" that aired in New York City. Justin served as the associate to prolific author and speaker Eric Butterworth, whose book Discover the Power within You was listed in Oprah's first edition of O Magazine as the book that changed her perspective on God and started her on her spiritual journey.

Justin is a student of the best-selling authors Dr. Wayne Dyer, Eckhart Tolle and the personal development gurus Anthony Robbins and Brian Tracy. He is also a graduate of the American Comedy Institute and has performed stand up comedy in clubs throughout New York City including Caroline's on Broadway.  Justin is the president/CEO of Justin Epstein International, presenting seminars on Enlightened Golf: Merging Mind, Body and Spirit through the Game and also speaks to salespeople.  He is the senior minister of the Unity Church of Hilton Head Island, SC.

RockOm: How was music emphasized during your stint at Ananda Village?

Justin Epstein: After I was ordained from Unity I decided to go out to Ananda Village in Northern California and learn more about the understanding of the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, which was a wonderful balance of the teaching of yoga, based on The Bhagavad Gita. It's the science of realizing God and experiencing God, here and now. Yogananda talked about Jesus and quoted the Bible and that really appealed to me.

Part of the teaching at Ananda Village is chanting. Yogananda said that chanting is half the battle, because in chanting you're repeating positive, spiritual words over and over and that's focusing your thoughts and your heart's feelings. The whole point is to take all those feelings in the heart and channel them towards God. Ultimately, it goes beyond feeling uplifted and arousing emotion and sentiment - it helps you to get quiet and to meditate. You take the energy you're bringing inside [from the music or chanting] and you channel it from the heart to the point between the eyebrows - the spiritual eye - which helps you experience not only the subconscious feeling, but the super-conscious level of mind, that level of creativity where we experience that presence of God.

We're talking about music here today and Jesus said that death and life are in the power of the tongue. Every word that you speak has an impact in your life. When we sing, we're taking thoughts and we're crystallizing them into words, singing those words and they impact our heart and change our physiology. They can change our behavior and uplift us. If the words are negative then they can bring us down.

RO: What is it about music that connects us with God?

JE: Music helps to get your feelings and thoughts all channeled towards one focus, to have all your energy moving in the direction of super-consciousness or God. That’s the main thing it does for me. When we’re happy we use words like "up", "uplifted", and "on top of the world."  I believe when we're happy, our energy and focus flow upward. Music can help to take your energy, focus it and move it in an upward direction. You can use that energy to experience a deeper communion.

RO: What is your insights on the spiritual sounds "Om/Aum", "Amen", and "The Word"?

JE: In the teachings of Yogananda there's the transcendent presence of God who is beyond all form. That presence begins to vibrate itself as sound, as energy. It creates this word and creates you and me. It is the consciousness of God vibrating itself. The Om is that movement of sound energy and vibration that creates everything. It is the Amen in Judaism and Christianity, the Ameen of the Muslims, and the Omkar for the Zoroastrians. I believe The Word (from the Bible's Gospel of John) was the presence and activity that vibrates itself. That's the creative Word. It's creating everything. "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God."  You might call it the Holy Ghost or the Comforter. In chanting, ultimately, we want to be able to listen to the Om sound, to open up to that presence and that sound that is within us and to let it vibrate throughout our whole being.

RO: Or resonate with the larger Om.

JE: Exactly, listening to that vibration of Om brings us back into union with that one, transcendent presence. We're in tune with the music of the spheres.

RO: Are there other sacred texts or scriptures that have meant something to you as far as music is concerned?

JE: The Bible verse, "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord", certainly comes to mind. I don't believe the Lord needs our joyful noise, but I think we need it!

Be sure to catch the entire audio portion of our interview with Reverend Justin on Thursday's RockOm.net Podcast.

By Tom Crenshaw and Trevor Harden

Acoustic-reggae rocker Trevor Hall's new self-titled album (Trevor Hall, Vanguard Records) features guest performances by Colbie Caillat, Krishna Das and Matisyahu. Over its 12 fantastic tracks, he explores themes of spiritual lightheartedness ("Internal Heights"), death and surrender ("Who You Gonna Turn To?"), unity between faiths ("Unity"), the story of Krishna ("Volume"), his accepting of all spiritual paths as one truth ("Many Roads") and more.

RockOm met up with Trevor at his CD release party in his hometown of Hilton Head Island, SC to discuss his spiritual practice, a chance encounter in India and themes from the new album.

RockOm: How does it feel to be in the Vanguard Records family now?

Trevor Hall: Vanguard is great. They’ve really been amazing. They’re much smaller than my previous label but it makes it more of a family vibe. They’ve been very helpful with promotion and hooking me up with some nice people and have been wonderful to work with. I’m really looking forward to seeing the rest of what they do with the record.

RO: One of your classic songs, “Lime Tree”, made it’s way back onto your new album. What was the decision to include that again?

TH: That’s such a popular song and it’s only on one EP from a long time ago so we wanted to formally release it and redo it – I’ve grown a lot since then. We had my friend Colbie Callait come in and sing on it which was great and it just fits the record I think. We only redid that one and “31 Flavors” but the rest of the album is all new material.

RockOm: Let’s get into some of those songs. In “Who You Gonna Turn To” you repeat “Surrender to the Most High; surrender, I say surrender.” For people who are not sure how to do that, what would you say to them? What does surrender look like or mean to you?

TH: Well, I’m trying to do that myself! [laughs] But before we jump into the songs it’s important to understand that a lot of the songs aren’t where I’m at presently. They’re all speaking to me too, you know? I’m singing what I’m hearing so they’re all lessons for me too – speaking to me, teaching me. I’m trying to surrender, too, so I don’t know what I could say to other people. But from what I’ve heard from people above me is that surrender is a very powerful thing. Especially in music - music automatically demands a state of surrender when you listen to it. Or if you’re in a live setting, you can’t dance or let yourself go unless you surrender to the sounds. Music is a very powerful instrument in helping with the process of surrendering, I think.

“Who You Gonna Turn To” is a song that is obviously about dying but it’s maybe not bodily death. Maybe it’s more of an ego death or something. Who you gonna turn to at the end of your life when all this is gone? Are you going to turn to your money or your friends? You come alone, you go alone. It’s a song about death but I think it’s a very positive song because it’s saying “I know who I’m going to turn to.” “My mama’s on her lion and papa's home in Zion” – the eternal Mother and Father, that’s who I’m going to turn to.

RO: On your previous albums, images of the divine seemed to be mostly (though not entirely) feminine - such as Durga and Shakti - but it seems like in this album there are some references to a father/masculine divine who often is referenced alongside Zion. I was curious if that's been a new development in your spiritual journey and/or if your friendship with Matisyahu had some influence in that.

TH: I don’t know, I just think that’s what was coming through. Where the Mother is, the Father is too. Where the Father is, the Mother is too. I don’t know if it was another aspect of my inner life but that was just my meditation at the time. I think I had been meditating on the “divine Family” rather than one parent. I don’t know if there’s anything “secret” there or not – I hope so! [laughs]

RO: In the song “House” you sing “far beyond what you call God.” Do you think we limit ourselves sometimes by holding an image in our head of a personification of God when in reality there could be so much broader of an understanding?

TH: I think it can. But there’s so many different ways to love God. They’re all the same goal to me. I don’t know what other people think, but to me it’s one goal. Some people worship God with form, some people worship God without form. Some people say that worshiping God with form is limiting God, but in my experience I think that all ways eventually lead there. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing as long as you love God. That’s what I think. It doesn’t matter if you’re married or not married, it only matters how much you love God. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the city or town or temple, it just matters how much you love God.

I was watching this movie the other day about one of my favorite singers and they interviewed this fruit vendor in India. She sang this devotional song and it just blew my mind. And she’s a fruit vendor – do you know what I mean? She doesn’t have a garb on; she isn’t a nun. Wherever you are, that’s it. I just think that love of God is the highest thing, so whatever helps with that and keeps you open minded is all right in my book.

RO: On “My Baba” - your tribute to Neem Karoli Baba – you have chant master Krishna Das singing on the chorus. I'm sure that was a joy and pleasure to have him agree to back you up on that song. Tell us what having him on the record means to you as well as how that came to be.

TH: That was big time! [laughs] I was very happy. I had only met Krishna Das one time and the way I had met him was kind of funny. I had talked to him on the internet and we have a mutual friend. He was going to India the same time I was and he sent me an email that said, let me know where you’re going and your dates because maybe while we’re there we can link up. I said I would let him know but I never did just because I was so busy and couldn’t remember. It was my first trip to India so I was a little antsy and so I never got around to emailing him. So one night we’re in Rishikesh, which is a little town in the Himalayas right by the Ganga, that is absolutely gorgeous. We went into this little café to eat dinner and my friend said, “Hey, there’s Krishna Das.” [laughs] I turn and over at the next table was Krishna Das and all these people were around him asking to get pictures. He looked kind of bummed out, like he wanted to get away. So I waited until everyone left and I went up to him and said, “Excuse me, Krishna Das?” and he groaned, “Yes?” I said, “I don’t mean to bother you, but my name is Trevor.” And he was like, “Trevor! Why didn’t you email me?!” [laughs] We talked for a little and found out we were going different directions but we saw each other and it was kind of like Baba’s play. It’s just so funny. It’s the only time I’ve seen him physically.

But with the album I had this song called “My Baba.” I really wanted to do a song for [Neem Karoli] Baba because he’s my biggest inspiration. As the song was coming the chorus happened to be “Hari, Hari, Mahadev.” As we were going into the studio I thought, man it would be cool to get Krishna Das to sing on that. So my manager contacted him and they talked for a while. When he heard the song he thought it was great and said “Let’s do it.” He didn’t come to LA because he was busy but we sent the track to him and he recorded it and sent it back. He’s so awesome; he didn’t ask for anything, he’s such a great guy. It was a big thing for me because I love Krishna Das and he’s part of the Neem Karoli Baba family. That’s probably one of my favorite songs on the whole record.

RO: In "Many Roads," one of the lines that resonated with me most is "Are you made from magic? Are you made from wishful thinking?" As people of faith, those questions still come up, don't they? As much of our life and lifestyle are dedicated to serving and loving God, there's still those moments that we have to ask whether it's all a figment of our imagination. What do you do when the doubt comes?

TH: It seems to come often, doesn’t it? [laughs] You just have to have faith. Baba said that many things go into one's spiritual practice but the three main ingredients are faith, devotion and patience. For me it’s hard to remember it’s not an overnight process. You have to plant the seed, you have to water the seed, you have to cultivate the land and cultivate your mind. You get impatient but that’s where you’re growing. You know, there are yogis in India who have been doing this for thousands of lives. They’re up in the caves chanting God’s name 24 hours a day and here we are – you do a mala in the morning and you’re like, “Hey, where is it [enlightenment]?” It’s just you have to be patient. Baba also says that we may forget, but God never forgets about his devotees. God never forgets about us even if we’re doubting so you just have to believe. I mean, where can you go [away from God]?

RO: In the song “Volume” you talk about the silence that can be found. How would you best tell someone to begin finding some silence amidst all of life’s noise?

TH: Oh God, you’re asking the wrong person. [laughs] My mind is like a freakin’ jukebox and I don’t even know what CDs are inside it.

RO: But you find it onstage at times?

TH: Yes, well everybody has a way of finding silence - whether you meditate, whether you sit by yourself and listen to your breath or listen to music. But for me music is very powerful and there’s a place where the sound is coming through and you’re just listening to the sound. When you’re singing you’re listening and you don’t feel like you’re doing anything. It doesn’t happen often but when it does, whew, it’s heavy. Sometimes outside it’s so loud but inside it’s just so silent. Like, I feel that in a lot of places in America, outside it’s silent but inside we’re not very relaxed. But in India it was very different for me – outside there was noise and all of this stuff but inside people have a little bit of silence. So it’s kind of a trick - Mother’s trick, an illusion. You have to be careful, she can trick you. [laughs]

But with “Volume” the chorus is “Close your eyes and hold me and no harm will befall you.” Krishna said that to the gopas, his friends in the field. “That’s what is spoken to me when I turn down the volume.” You can’t hear it until you quiet down.

RO: You’re going to have a lot of young people here at the concert tonight. Some of that is going to bleed over. They’re going to look at you and go, “This cat’s got his act together” – little do they know… [laughs]

TH: Little do they know the TV I watch [laughs] and the things I do in my off time.

RO: But if they listen to the words to that song, it gives them lots to relate to.

TH: The whole song really is about Krishna. “Rain comes down but he holds the mountain; Blue like sky, can you tell me why?” Krishna’s skin is blue and then my favorite story about Krishna is where he holds up the mountain. When he was a young cowherd boy in the fields, his village would pray to Indra, god of rain, to give them rain for their crops. One day Krishna said, “Does Indra accept your offering? Does he come down and eat it with his own mouth? There’s no need to do this. Just believe in me and everything will be fine.” So Indra has a little bit of ego and gets very mad that this little boy is taking away his worship. So he holds the rains and then one day he just lets it flood. All the people in the village are very worried. They think they’re going to drown and that Indra is going to kill them. So they go to Krishna and say, “You have to help us. Save us!” So in Vrindavan there’s a place called Govardhana Hill and you can go there today. And Krishna lifted up the mountain with his pinkie and held it above his head. There are many famous pictures of this. All the villagers come under the mountain and they have a big festival for seven days where they eat and drink and be merry. It really humbled Indra.

So that’s the opening line, but all of the references in “Volume” are about Krishna’s life.

RO: The album’s opening song is “Internal Heights.” What does it mean for you to "maintain internal heights"?

TH: That’s just it right there. That is the goal of my life. Where does your strength come from? The eternal Giver. Maintain internal heights. “To see the transcendent Being, got to keep your hands clean.” Maintain internal heights. Internal heights, always, everywhere you go. It’s hard but this song is a remembering. This is the first song and sets the theme for the whole record.

RO: In last year’s RockOm interview you said, “Everything is meditation.” Is everything still meditation for you?

TH: Yes! [laughs] Sometimes you don’t remember it’s meditation but then it gets you and you’re like. Oh! There it is again – that lesson! Too many lessons!

Links:

Trevor Hall's website

Trevor Hall on iTunes

Vanguard Records

Photography By:

Kellie McCann Photography

"Music does bring people together. It allows us to experience the same emotions. People everywhere are the same in heart and spirit. No matter what language we speak, what color we are,
the form of our politics or the expression of our love and our faith, music proves: We are the same."
[John Denver]

"We are all notes in this eternal song; God plays his flute, we all dance along." So sings Trevor Hall on his latest album - a self-titled release, available today (7/28/09). Trevor is a longtime friend of RockOm, having been featured several times on the site and it's no wonder why. His outstanding music is a blend of the sacred and secular - melding funky, acoustic-reggae jams with deep, spiritually significant lyrics.

Released by the legendary Vanguard Records, Trevor's new album features guest performances by Colbie Caillat, Krishna Das and Matisyahu. Over its 12 fantastic tracks, he explores themes of spiritual lightheartedness ("Internal Heights"), death and surrender ("Who You Gonna Turn To?"), unity between faiths ("Unity"), the story of Krishna ("Volume"), his accepting of all spiritual paths as one truth ("Many Roads") and more.

Despite these heavy themes, however, Trevor's music never comes off as preachy, but rather as humble, gentle and exploratory. The music gently jumps from hard rock to reggae to contemplative ballads and back again. Bathing in these songs of divine love and devotion, the listener is transported both to the transcendent beyond as well as to what lies within.

Fans of spiritually-significant lyrics and up-beat acoustic rock owe it to themselves to pick up a copy of this album. And even if those labels don't fit you exactly, it's nearly impossible to not be moved by this landmark musical accomplishment.  Purchase your copy of Trevor Hall today at iTunes, Amazon.com or other retailers.

In addition, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for an exclusive interview with Trevor Hall, right here at RockOm.net in a few short weeks.

www.TrevorHallMusic.com

A behind-the-scenes look at the song "Unity"

At the Savannah Music Festival, a concert review
By Tom Crenshaw, Tom@RockOm.net

Béla Fleck has taken his music and banjo into almost every genre there is including bluegrass, jazz, pop, country, classical, and Holiday (his most recent Grammy was for his holiday album Jingle All the Way, 2009). He has been nominated for a Grammy in more categories than any other musician in history garnering eight awards in total for his work with The Flecktones and the many collaborators with which he has composed groundbreaking works of music.

Fleck returned to the Savannah Music Festival Saturday night, April 4 for a sold-out performance of The African Project and in support of his film documentary Throw Down Your Heart. The project includes a companion CD, Tales From the Acoustic Planet, Vol 3: Africa Sessions. The Africa Project is heralded by critics and admirers as another soaring height in Fleck’s illustrious and musically adventurous career.

The documentary film follows Fleck on a life-changing trek across Africa, the country in which his adored instrument was essentially invented. The film was directed by Sascha Paladino, Fleck’s younger half-brother and together they take viewers on a five-week journey through Mali, The Gambia, Uganda and Tanzania - a musical Odyssey of the most unusually inspirational kind.

Fleck was welcomed to the stage on Saturday evening with resounding applause and quickly motioned for those rising in ovation to stay in their seats. He opened with an improvisation piece founded on melodies and techniques discovered on his journey in Africa. He then welcomed the concert goers explaining briefly the vision that led him to undertake the Africa Project and introduced blind "thumb pianist" Anania Ngoliga, who was led onstage by guitarist John Kiline (both from Tanzania). Fleck surrendered the spotlight and these two performed several upbeat indigenous songs. Béla then rejoined the duo accompanying them on another song, thus setting the pace for how the evening would unfold with the African soloists being foremost, Fleck providing support.

Following Ngoliga’s light hearted performance on vocals and thumb piano anchored by Kiline’s strong harmonies and jovial guitar came D'Gary and percussionist Xavier-Martial Francois, both from Madagascar. D’Gary, stylizing the traditional music of his childhood, has developed a fascinating finger-picking guitar style. David Lindley, well known for his many years as the featured accompanist with Jackson Browne and leader of his own band El Rayo-X, discovered and recorded D’Gary placing him in the limelight of the World Music stage. Percussionist Xavier accented D’Gary’s guitar, singing intermittently with a strange instrument which was played imaginatively: a tin can on a stick holding broken glass inside.

After a short intermission, Vusi Mahlasela, the Grammy-nominated guitarist and vocalist from South Africa, took the stage. Mahlasela has worked with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Dave Matthews and Peter Gabriel to mention just a few. Mahlasela, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, spoke about his acts and songs of political rebellion from his many years protesting South Africa’s separatist, white government. His song, “Let There be Peace in My Mind” was dedicated to the women of South Africa and to his grandmother who stood strong in the face of many years of Apartheid. He explained how his grandmother once held off security police with a pan of boiling water when they came one too many times to arrest him. After the end of Apartheid, Mahlasela performed at Mandela's inauguration in 1994 and is now an ambassador to Mandela's 46664 Foundation, a campaign to help raise Global awareness of Aids/ HIV. Mahlasela sang his unbending songs mostly in Zulu, often soaring into a humorous falsetto scat while dancing, knocking his knees together as he performed. Mahlasela peppered his between-song repartee with the audience with talk of past and present political unrest in Africa and the power of forgiveness to heal ultimately.

Next came Toumani Diabate - the 2006 Grammy award winner kora master from Mali who has gained international acclaim for his music. Diabate traces his musical heritage back some 70 generations and has collaborated with Taj Mahal and Bjork. The beautiful sounding instrument that is the kora resembles a extremely large, bulbous gourd (a calabash body, half covered in cow skin as Diabate describes) with a neck emerging from the center and rising some three feet. 21 strings are attached to the body of the calabash, spanning a large bridge and meeting at the top of the instrument. Diabate explained how the instrument is played using only the thumb and index finger of both hands. The bass line, melody and “improvisation” are all performed in undulating fashion resulting in a soothing, silky sound very similar to that of a harp.

A special guest was also on hand for the concert - Grammy winner Casey Driessan (member of the Sparrow Quartet, along with Abigail Washburn, Ben Sollee and Bela Fleck). Driessan accompanied Fleck and several of the soloists during the evening, his warm violin lent a familiar voice to the exotic arrangements.  Casey's participation helped create a bridge where bluegrass and African music meet and combine in a uniquely surprising sound.

The evening’s performance ended with all the musicians onstage together performing the title track to Throw Down Your Heart. An encore brought the ensemble back to the stage where an improvised jam ensured, much to the delight of the audience - many whom were dancing and clapping their hands in delight.

Three hours of innovative music uniting two continents, a diverse selection of mysterious musical instruments, and a passion and love for music combined on this night to reveal a side of Africa and music many of us have never been exposed to. Fleck, for the most part taking a backseat and allowing his fellow musicians to shine, proves again his uncanny ability to create with a passion and let the music, in the end, say that which no words can. The spirit which emerged on this night is one that should not be underestimated. When we are moved beyond our threshold of familiarity and individuality to join with others in celebrating the pinnacle of music’s magic, all that is good shines through and the world is made a little smaller and easier to comprehend.

Photography by Tom Crenshaw

This morning at my Unity Church we began the service singing "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and then moved into meditation with “Blue Lotus Feet” by Paramahansa Yogananda:

“Engrossed is the bee of my mind
On the blue lotus feet of my Divine Mother.
Divine Mother, my Divine Mother,
Divine Mother, my Divine Mother.”

The line between secular music and that which is laid claim to by religious and spiritual institutions is both becoming more pronounced and integrated. Often times those very places we go to seek our uplifting are excluding certain music styles and yet, today we are experiencing an awakening of a diversity of what is considered spiritual.

The question we now ask is: Does it really matter who includes what musical style or genre if the music leads you to an awakening and is offered with an honest intention? There is an endless array of music leading us to that place, all we simply need do is open our hearts and minds and sing.

We neared the end of our Unity service with “New Words,” by Maury Yeston from the play History Loves Company, performed by a guest singer. The song itself is not particularly religious or spiritual, but nonetheless moved the congregation to tears. Imagine yourself speaking these words to your child, with the highest of intentions. How can this not be a moment of spiritual sincerity? Does it really matter where we sing our songs of love?

“New word today, say stars…
As they blink all around us, playing starry-eyed games
Who would think it astounds us simply naming their names?
Turn your eyes from the skies now
Turn around and look at me
There’s a light in my eyes now
And a word for what you see
We call it love, my son
Say love
So hard to say, my son
It gets harder
New words today, we’ll learn to say
Learn moon
Learn stars
Learn love.”
[From the play, History Loves Company by Maury Yeston]

“The analysis of beauty by St. Thomas Aquinas helps us appreciate the value of the musician because for Aquinas, the beautiful stimulates not only the pleasure of the ear but the delight of the mind.” [DR. Basil Cole, O.P.]

Discuss this article

[By Tom Crenshaw]

“We have Jewish people. We've had Hindus. We welcome people of all spiritual traditions. We incorporate their traditions to some extent,” Hall said. “We invent our own rituals. We invent our own way of expressing our spirituality. So we're very freewheeling.” RockOm is excited to share with you a story about a Pennsylvania church that has not only grown into a multi-faith site, committed to cross-tradition unity - but also has a strong and unique musical legacy.

Doug Katsaros was only 13 years old when the Rev. Gordon Dragt asked him to play the piano at Pebble Hill Church in Doylestown Township.

“We're atheist,” Katsaros told Dragt then.

“It doesn't matter,” Dragt replied. “It's just all going to be about the music.”

So Katsaros thought of the “churchiest” song he could — “Lady Madonna” by The Beatles — and played it at Pebble Hill Church that Sunday. He stayed and played nearly every Sunday for five years.

Katsaros eventually moved to New York City, where he wrote jingles (“By Mennen” ring any bells?), worked on records and orchestrated and conducted Broadway musicals (“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Altar Boyz”). And Dragt eventually moved on to another church.

But Pebble Hill Church remained, and the congregation maintained its love of music and the arts.

And this week, for the church's 40th anniversary, Dragt and Katsaros and the Pebble Hill congregation joined together to dance and sing and celebrate.

“It's wonderful to know that it's still going,” Dragt said. “I'm quite excited about that, and very excited about going back.”

Dragt was 27 years old when the Reformed Church of America bought the property at 320 Edison-Furlong Road and asked him to start a church there.

“I thought to myself, "Well, so what does it mean to begin a new church?' Normally, the process would be you would buy some property, build a building and go about inviting people to come. But I thought that was kind of establishing a new church in an old way,” he said.

“So I thought, "What would it be like to establish a new church?' So that's what we set out to do.”

Dragt and the early members of the congregation built a yellow barn on an existing barn foundation in 1967 and started having church services there in January 1968.

Dragt wanted the Sunday worship service to be a celebration.

With the then 13-year-old Katsaros as musical director, the church had pop music, dance and theater on Sundays.

“I'd play the piano. My brother started playing a little bass. Ed Dannon started playing a little drums. Johnny Phelps started playing a little guitar. We had a violin, a saxophone and a flute. We had a little orchestra. And we would all sort of make stuff up during the service,” Katsaros said.

They wrote, choreographed and sang their own version of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” and took the performance to other area churches.

“The church was developed from the beginning to be what we called a public church — a church that was very much involved in the community,” Dragt said.

So the church also had musical performances on Friday nights for the local junior high kids, coffee houses for the local teenagers and concerts throughout Central Bucks.

Then Dragt started bringing Arthur Hall and the Afro-American Dance Ensemble from Philadelphia to Pebble Hill a few times a year to perform. And the Pebble Hill congregation would go to Philadelphia to celebrate Kwanzaa with the group.

“It was just an eruption of color and energy on this Central Bucks scene,” said Pebble Hill pastor and celebration coordinator Larry Hall, who was the Central Bucks reporter for The Intelligencer at the time.

The church got involved in protesting the Vietnam War.

And later, in 1974, Dragt performed his first gay commitment ceremony at Pebble Hill.

“That was before people even had that on their minds, especially people in Central Bucks. That kind of became an issue,” Dragt said.

“But Pebble Hill during that time became very much a welcoming place, not only in multi-racial, but in multi-sexual orientation, as well. People were very welcome to be open and so that ended out to be part of our ministry that was unintentional.”

Dragt said he thinks the church filled a needed niche at the time.

He left in 1979 because he felt the church needed to grow on its own and he needed to grow on his own.

Pebble Hill Church severed its ties with the Reformed Church 11 years after Dragt left and swung in a New Age direction. But it kept the traditions Dragt had started — and added to them.

“We have Jewish people. We've had Hindus. We welcome people of all spiritual traditions. We incorporate their traditions to some extent,” Hall said. “We invent our own rituals. We invent our own way of expressing our spirituality. So we're very freewheeling.”

That's one of the things Gail Rocke, of Coopersburg, loves about the church.

“We celebrate all of the faiths. You don't know if you're going to show up and it's going to be a Celtic ritual or a Native American presentation or a Hindi ritual,” she said.

“We are all children of God,” Hall said. “And we want to help one another to fully realize who we were put here to be in a loving context.”

Asked what he thought of the church's current direction, Dragt said, “That's not exactly the direction that I would be in. But we need a variety of religious experiences and I think they fulfill that.”

[By Christina Kristofic. Article originally posted to The Intellegencer and PhillyBurbs.com]