CD Review: Baird Hersey & Prana with Nexus's 'Chiaroscuro'

Baird Hersey & Prana with Nexus
Chiaroscuro
Bent Records

With an album title implying contrasting dark and light imagery, one can quickly determine that this is going to be a wonderful musical journey. From the onset, the deep, meditative tone of the harmonic singers and spacious, resonating tones of vistaphone, xylophone, vibraphone, drums, gongs, glockenspiel, marimba, and a few others, make the album shine beyond belief. Whether one calls it new age, meditation, world music, or some other moniker, Chiaroscuro is highly-textured and mystically magical throughout. It is seemingly inconceivable to compare to anything else, because it is that good. The final three tunes are reserved for mostly vocal medleys without much instrumentation. The beautiful sounds of the instrumental and vocal tracks remind one of a solemn film score. Perhaps, even the film, American Beauty (1999), comes to mind. Still, the album stands alone and above the rest with fanciful, deeply-enriched, and meditative tones that intrigues, as much as it inspires. Great for fans of film scores, meditation music, yoga, throat-singing, and new age concoctions. Excellent! ~ Matthew Forss

CD Review: Baird Hersey & Prana's 'Sadhana'

Baird Hersey & Prana
Sadhana
Bent Records

The multiphonic, yogic, and kirtan-influenced vocal traditions of Tuva, Nepal, Tibet, and India are showcased with a variety of singers from different backgrounds on Sadhana. The new album, which means 'practice,' is a deeply-meditative romp into the yogic center of the universe clearly inspired by vocal traditions and nothing else. However, a few instruments pop up from time to time. Notably, drums, konnakol, ghatam, kanjira, and other percussion. Some of the singers include Amy Fradon, Kirsti Gholson, Baird Hersey, Julie Last, Julian Lines, Julie Parisi, Joe Veillette, Peter Buettner, and Bruce Milner. The trance-inducing vocal melodies are fairly angelic and spiritual with extended vocal-lines and various pitches that flow seamlessly throughout. As a bonus, Krishna Das is featured on the final track, "My Foolish Heart." Fans of world chants, tantric music, Central Asian music, kirtan, yoga, meditation, and spiritual music will find Sadhana divine beyond belief. ~ Matthew Forss