Media Reviews
by Mark Maxwell Abushady • New York City

CDs

Under The Sky
Gerald Starlight
Nirvana Music
www.seaburn.com
Gerald Starlight plays all instruments on this album, which most prominently features the Shakuhachi, a Japanese bamboo flute. The music is haunting, soulful, and meditative in quality. Evidenced in many cuts is an intimacy which almost begs a contemplative state of the listener. Other cuts, such as 'Wild Geese,' with a raucous appearance of said geese intertwined with a number of different instrumental sounds, are livelier. Alto recorder, Tibetan horn, a restrained use of synthesizer, singing bowls, Tibetan bells, chanting Hindu monks, as well as various sounds from nature contribute to the fabric of this offering, and round out this fine album by an accomplished musician.

Twirl
AOMUSIC
www.aomusic.com
You may indeed want to 'twirl' to the boisterous and joyous opening number of this intriguing album. Children's choirs from Beijing P.R.C. and Bangalore, India join primary artists Richard Gannaway (stringed instruments, vocals), Jay Oliver (keyboards, synths) and Miriam Stockley (vocals) for an offering that is truly "world music." Additional artists include Sowmya Raoh (vocals), Andy Georges (stringed instruments), and Kimba Arem (didgeridoo). In searching the liner notes for the translation of the first number, I found the following note: "Lyrics on this CD that do not appear in the booklet are made up phonetics, carefully chosen for their 'shape.'" Interesting. And the second encounter I've had with made up words. Perhaps this is a trend. Other words are fused together from Ancient Polynesian, West African, Central African, Zulu, Arabic, Swahili, North Sotho, Xhora, Nguni, and Hindi languages, most often accompanying playful English lyric passages (We came here to play & we'll not go away until every blue heart has been tumbled & rolled into opals of joy down this big ragin' river of love . . .). The overriding energy of this offering is of joy and uplift. The sounds are unique in their assembly, and I think most will find this a joy to listen to. Well done!

Save the World
Cadence Spalding
Sound Manipulations and JSA Music
www.CadenceSpalding.com
This debut album features "tens of thousands of layered vocal tracks from a single female voice." The effect is of a dreamy, airy ambient and enveloping soundspace. The original compositions are generally hymn or mantra-like, ('Trust in Love,' 'Save the World,' 'Kyrie Eleison'), and have various mixtures of electronic accompaniment. The Enya-like 'Grandma's Song' probably makes the most obvious use of the vocal technology. This technique works well at times when other instruments add contrast ('Hosanna' and 'Kyrie Eleison), but at other times it's hard to understand the words, and one wonders if, perhaps, it's the contrast in different, individual vocal timbres, raised in concert, that adds depth to music. Though the technological aspect is interesting, some of Ms. Spaulding songs, 'un-plugged' might be more effective. A DVD was included in the double album reviewed here, (a single album version exists as well). On this DVD, Ms. Spaulding's songs are reiterated and accompany some truly beautiful photographs by Mars Lasar, co-producer of the album. The double album is definitely worth the additional cost!

FILM

Try It On Everything
Created and Directed by Nicolas Ortner
Try It Productions
www.TryItOnEverything.com
In support of the growing awareness of the connection between the emotional, energetic, physical and spirit bodies, Try It On Everything provides a practical method for an integrated approach to healing issues of pain, addiction, emotional, and psychological issues. Many elements of this technique will be familiar to viewers, including the use of affirmations, sharing/voicing “toxic secrets,” and self-acceptance/ownership of one’s issues. What Try It On Everything introduces into this mix is EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique); a technique where one brings to mind a problem, trauma, issue, and ‘taps’ on the body. The points one taps on are the energy points utilized in acupuncture and acupressure, with the goal of releasing energy that is ‘stuck’ within the body.

Ten people with various issues spend four days with several EFT practitioners in private and group sessions, sharing their pains, fears, and hopes. The group sessions, in addition to underscoring the usefulness of acknowledging one’s problems out loud also serve to demonstrate the universality of the human condition, even when another’s problems seem unrelated to our own. The stories of these people are interspersed with comments and guidance from experts and practitioners in the field of EFT, including Rick Wilkes, Brad Yates, Dr. Norm Shealy, Cheryl Richardson, Bob Proctor and Joe Vitale. Cheryl Richardson proves especially helpful in her explanations and furtherance of the information provided in the sessions.

So many positive and “feel good” self-help DVD’s and books out there leave many feeling that to state anything negative is “a bad thing,” but as Nicholas Ortner, creator and producer of this film, explains in a separate feature on the DVD (‘How to Tap’), it is only through acknowledging the negative that exists in one’s body – the anger, hurt, upset, pain – that we can deal with it; stating it, and releasing it. This was an important aspect of this film. It seems logical, and no doubt
will prove useful in the healing process for many.

Jesus in India
Written, Produced and Directed by Paul Davids
Yellow Hat Productions
Musical Score by Brian Thomas Lambert
www.jesus-in-india-the-movie.com
Edward T. Martin, former Christian Fundamentalist from Texas, embarks on a quest to find out where Jesus was during the ages 12 to 30, a period of time not covered in the Bible as we know it. Under Paul Davids’ guidance, his story comes to life in the form of a well-produced, adventuresome, and highly engaging documentary.

Interviewing religious and spiritual figures from Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist disciplines (including Monsignor Corrado Balducci, The Dalai Lama, The Shankaracharya, Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, Arif Kahn and Brother Chidananda), as well as fellow researchers and authors (including Elaine Pagels, Suzanne Olsson and Paul R. Fleischman), the film takes the viewer on a search through, and for, ancient religious texts, as well as the cities and towns in India thought to have been visited by Jesus Himself, to find out if there is truth to the idea that Jesus did indeed travel to, and study in, India. With an exceptionally well-composed and pertinent score (available on CD) and some fine cinematography, the story unfolds, and though by film’s end the question is not answered to conclusiveness, the journey is a very good one. I think most viewers will have a definite opinion on the subject.

Both DVD and the soundtrack CD are enjoyable, and recommended!

Mark Maxwell Abushady is an actor, singer, designer and photographer based in New York City.