A three song set entitled Expanding Starlight discovered in the archives (recordings from 2009) and released with video in February 2023. Music by Time Travelers.
If Coltrane ever recorded a Music for Airports volume, it may have sounded like this…
In 2009, I lived in Toronto and commuted through the city on the subway. I was studying composition, meditation & qigong (energy work) at the time. The subway was like a colourfully moving meditation hall to me. I could spend time with others in a solitary (while occasionally frantic) kind of way. I always enjoyed these commutes and found them refreshing (I’d often practice qigong by closing my eyes and visualizing energy in sync with my breath). Once a week I’d haul a tonne of gear to northern Toronto to play music with my friends. Paul and Gregg were wonderfully generous and talented musical friends. They were so keen to play my music. I’m very grateful to them for loving the music I wrote and giving their energy towards expressing it. I still feel the power of these friends loving my art.
“Hymn” is an ode to all the musicians I’ve played with or had the great privilege to witness in performance. Live music is a magical transmission whether we are aware of it or not. Here we go.
‘Lento’ is a musical marking meaning to ‘play slowly’. It is also a period of fasting and retreat in the Christian religious tradition (i.e. “Lent”). Going slowly and withdrawing from regular habits helps us pay attention to the details in the gardens of our lives, and to be considerate of what kind of energy we are cultivating. In this performance, like the others in this series, the musicians take a written piece of music, stating the theme in a creative way. From there, we improvise freely, sometimes maintaining the underlying chord structure cycle and sometimes not. At the close of the performance, we often return to the theme.
Credits:
Thomas Silvani ~ guitar, live effects and sampling, composition, art
Gregg Brennan ~ drums
Paul Newman ~ saxophone
My deepest gratitude to Paul Newman and Gregg Brennan for the finest musical companionship.
A deep bow to my composition and qigong teacher David Mott who, above all, showed me the Music of the Heart.
fine.