Album Notes

THIS CD IS CURRENTLY BEING FEATURED ON CABLE TV'S SOUNDSCAPES CHANNEL

Saggio is a former student of R. Carlos Nakai, a member of the International Native American Flute Association, and an honorary member of the Arizona Flute Circle.

After undergoing Reiki attunements he discovered the primal sound of the Native American flute. It was as if some kind of cellular memory was triggered in him, for the urgency to embrace this voice of the wind was overwhelming.

Although Saggio had never made music before, his first encounter with the flute was a mystical union of wood, flesh, and spirit, a genuine heart-awakening. This was a coming home for both the flute and the flute player, a soulful reunion of long-separated friends.

"I play these flutes without knowing how," says Saggio." It is because I AM what I play. I put my head under my arm and I play from my heart. I PRAY my flutes to carry me to that quiet place deep within where I can experience the thunder of silence."

Saggio walked away from his former career as a high school English teacher to devote full time to performing and recording. He has appeared at Borders Books & Music, The Thunderbird Balloon Classic, Scottsdale Fiesta Bowl Art Walk, Mesa Arts Center, Chandler Center for the Arts, the West Valley Art Museum, and the University of San Diego. Currently, he and his wife, Barbara Ruth, are conducting Sacred Sound Healing Meditations with crystal singing bowls and native flutes at their dome home in Apache Junction, Arizona.

The "Courting the Heart of the World" CD consisting of one-take improvisations with pianist Alex Grant, returns to the trance music of his first album and for the first time identifies this gifted flute player as a healing artist who sees himself as a flute pray-er offering musical sacraments to a spiritually hungry planet. This is Saggio's longest album at 71 minutes and his most native themed body of music, featuring 16 different flutes. Also featured on this album is Saggio's rendition of "Amazing Grace," the only song he has ever recorded that was not an original.

Over the years this healing artist has struck up friendships and acquired flutes from some of the most gifted flutemakers across the country. His collection includes a wide variety of Native American style wood flutes in cedar, walnut, spruce, mahogony, cherry, maple, mesquite, bamboo, rivercane, and kwila.

This self-taught artist describes his music as "...an ideal accompaniment for wellness programs, bodywork, and journeys within."

But it's even more. It's an inspiring, healing, triumphant sound painting with which to journey into the new millennium.