Album Notes

RED LEAF TAKOJA formerly of Denver, Colorado, then of Taos, New Mexico, and since 2008 known as Heart Beat, are singers/ performers/composers of indigenous music. Comprised of family and friends from South Dakota, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma,Taos, and the Taos Pueblo, the group and some of its individual members are known internationally for melodic compositions of traditional and contemporary Native American dance music.This recording represents a slice of Takoja music spanning a ten-year period from 1975-1985. In early 1985, at a ceremony conducted by Mr. Leonard Crow Dog and held for the Denver Indian Health Board, it was stated that members of Takoja who sang for the ceremony were echoes from the universe, especially when they sang from the heart.The songs on this recording are spirited and enthusiastically sung from the heart, thus the birth of the title to this album. The singers on this recording include: Pat, Alfonso, Dale,Terrie, and Howard Bad Hand;Tom Teegarden; Margaret Tyon; Alice Martinez; Donna and Michelle Concha.The recording took place at Indian House (known now as Rainbow Media),Taos, NM in July 1985.