Album Notes

The idea for "Many Paths" came to me during my studies of the wide variety of spiritual and religious systems around the world. People from all cultures and points in history have sought transcendence, or some connection to the Divine, to God, to Goddess, and so on. What struck me in this ongoing study was that while the approaches people take to achieve this are so seemingly different, they are also remarkably similar in essence. The names change, some look within, some look without, but clearly, there are many paths to the top of the Sacred Mountain.

Each track represents one of these many approaches. Some of these of course do not involve a traditional religion at all, since one can seek transcendence through other means than contemplative ones. People can also find it through romanticism, sexuality, simplicity, and so on. The result of this recording, which was tracked beginning-to-end in one continuous stream, is a stirring and deeply thoughtful journey through the psyche of humanity, as well as the individual. The important aspect of recording spontaneous composition in this way is to maximize the integration of the pieces across time, so that while there is a feeling of improvisation, there should also be a clear sense of cohesive motivic development, a clear narrative, and musical consistency, so the effect is very much like one seamless work. "Many Paths" is the first in a series of recordings created in this fashion, and represents the first official release resulting from over 20 years of developing the spontaneous composition concept as a bona fide art form.