Album Notes

NAMMY AWARD WINNING CD FOR BEST WORLD RECORDING 2009. This project is a collection of songs which may not have the same 'main' or 'lead' instrument or the same 'main' feel, but, a connective thread through the subject matter of ceremony. Not all ceremonial songs are from the traditional cultural time. We have many contemporary ceremonial songs alive and well today. Some songs on this release were born from a Native American, or Original Peoples culture, such as The Booger Dance and Chilam Balam. Other songs are from an African culture, the old Mayan and Aztec culture, Japanese culture as well as the Celtic culture. You will find information about several of the songs on this release stemming from the basis of the idea to the different interesting instruments used to create them. I hope this page helps in explaining the concepts behind a musician/writers mind set and reasons for orchestrating what I feel to be very interesting points that keep our cultures moving forward. Ceremony....

Michael Searching Bear has brought forth his best work to date! His artistic talent, ingenuity and passion for detail speaks for itself in his new work titled "Ceremony". Michael has always had a gift for bridging cultures together to unite in harmony the common whole; the human race. Today the real purity lies in your heart, intention and actions. It is for this that Michael's compassion exemplifies the true noble character of the "Good Red Road". Thank you Michael for such extraordinary work...

Eric Wolf-Windseeker

Promontory: It was a strongly evocative piece with a satisfying and original combination of Native American and Irish flavors. The blend of those flavors was well balanced, with the underlying percussion groove and flute sound leaning more towards the Native American and the flute playing and scale used sounding more Irish. The flute work was the most distinctive aspect of the arrangement. The piece had a nice dynamic build to it, subtly adding layers at a time and ramping up the intensity. Great job on this, Michael!!
Craig Streaman, Manager, A&R, TAXI