Album Notes

"Jazz used to be the music of the bad side of town, but increasingly, it's a genre for spiritual matters. ...a hushed and contemplative set. ...softly uplifting" -Karl Stark, Philadelphia Inquirer 07/01/07

"...performance-driven pieces with spiritual inflections. These clearly beautiful beings have the right intentions... the production is clearly well-thought-out... this very sincere offering can be used for yoga rooms" -LA Yoga Magazine 7/07

"We are honored by their tribute to Omega.” - Carla Goldstein, Director of External Affairs, Omega Institute for Holistic Studies, 7/07

Om Namah Shivaya - This was inspired by Marianne's yoga practice. Om Namah Shivaya is an invocation commonly sung by students and teachers as part of their yoga practice.

Sunrise - A musical impression of the feeling of the sun rising over the mountains across a lake in the morning. Randy’s job as a teenager was delivering newspapers in a town on Lake Champlain, where the sun came up over the Green Mountains of Vermont each morning.

Omega Beach - This piece was inspired by the morning tai chi classes at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck NY. The instructor, Jose Figueroa, left a deep impression with us of Asian culture blended with Latin culture. He explained to us that he had also studied Flamenco dancing. The 3/4 section at the end is a depiction of sparks of energy that were flying around the beach as the group practiced.

Shema - A new way to hear an old melody. A little homage here to the fact that many Jews were, in fact, Northern Africans. America may be one of the most pluralistic societies today, but there were others before us.

Sanctuary - Here is a piece about time relationships. 3 against 4 against 5 and so on. It also features a slightly slowed down hip-hop style drum loop buried under it and Randy's first ever vocal recording, albeit not your average "song".

A Walk - This composition exists because Marianne knows Randy so well, she knew that the perfect gift would be a balafon. It is Randy’s impression of a walking meditation. It is true that nobody walks in 3/4, but it has that feel and is intended to break pace up a bit and clear the air.

Lady Dhyana - The oldest original composition on the recording. Randy wrote this as an experiment to see if he could capture the feeling of Eric Satie's “Gymnopedie" in a jazz composition. Probably the only piece that is really a "normal" jazz composition in the suite.

Darkness - Darkness settles in as the day comes to a close. There is some fear, some weariness, and some daydreaming. The marimba has the melody here in an exploration of the close of each day as we mull over that which we did.

Cicada Song - Played on a cedar flute, and inspired by Native American music, this composition is a call into the night, invoking a mood of both loss and surrender.

Amazing Grace - This arrangement of a traditional Christian hymn. It opens and closes with the sound of "Om", the first and universal sound of creation. Marianne has arranged the melody as a duet for silver flute and cedar flute.

Randy is a professional jazz musician in the Philadelphia area, where he performs regularly in clubs, churches and concert settings. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Crane School of Music. He is featured on recent recordings by Barry Sames, Walter Bell, Eddie Green, the Birdhouse Project, and the Tyrone Brown String Ensemble.

Marianne is currently a music educator in the Neshaminy School District in Levittown, Pennsylvania. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Crane School of Music and received her M. Ed. from the College of New Jersey. She has been a student of yoga for over twenty years, and recently has been combining her musical training and spiritual practice by composing original music and performing for yoga classes in the Philadelphia area.

Marianne and Randy have collaborated here to create music which is balanced on many levels, culturally, sonically, and spiritually in the form of a day’s yoga practice.

We hope you enjoy it.

Peace,

Randy and Marianne