ASANA

ASANA 3: PEACEFUL HEART

  1/  Invocation                                                               0.42
        Sri K. Pattabhi Jois
  2/  Asha                                       (Laswell)                     5.51
        Bill Laswell
  3/  I've Got a Passion                         (Showard)                     7.14
        DXT
  4/  Aman (Peaceful Heart)                      (Laswell)                     7.28
        Bill Laswell
  5/  Oceanic                                    (Kale)                        5.43
        Karsh Kale
  6/  Om Shanti Shanti Shanti (Mangala Mantra)   (Musso)                       7.48
        Robert Musso
  7/  Samadhi State                              (Laswell)                     16.33
        Bill Laswell

          Recorded at Orange Music Studios, West Orange, New Jersey
          Tracks 2,4,6 and 7 engineered by Robert Musso
          Assistant engineer on tracks 2,4 and 7: James Dellatacoma
          Chant on tracks 1,3 and 5 recorded by Oz Fritz in Cowshika, India
          Chant on track 2 recorded by Kavi Alexander at St. Anthony's Church, Santa
            Barbara, California
          Chant on track 6 recorded by Sharath Rangaswamy in Mysore, India
          Tracks 2,4 and 7 produced and arranged by Bill Laswell
          Track 3 produced and arranged by DXT
          Track 5 produced and arranged by Karsh Kale
          Track 6 produced and arranged by Robert Musso
          Meta support: Bella Rienstra, Rick Rienstra and Gil Friesen
          Conceived by Janet Rienstra
          Sequenced and mastered by Michael Fossenkemper
Sri K. Pattabhi Jois: chant (1,6); Asha Puthli: vocals (2); DXT (3): drums, synthesizers, vocals; Bill Laswell: all instruments (2,4), bass (3,7), beats (7), sounds (7); Damita Miles (3): vocals; Karsh Kale (5): all instruments; G. Hiriyanna (3,5): chant; Robert Musso (6): all instruments; Pharoah Sanders (7): tenor saxophone; Laraaji (7): electric zither; Nicky Skopelitis (7): electric guitar.

          2003 - Meta Records (USA), MT0015 (CD)

REVIEWS :

..."Peaceful Heart" concentrates on the art of yoga and devotion to the gods. Once again, Bill Laswell's hand is all over this project as he plays on and produces over half of the tracks. The chants and invocations especially those by Asha Puthli - were recorded in India and give highest praise to the gods above. Her vocals are heavenly as she soars to the skies and back. The music is heavenly as well, as Laswell's deep throbbing bass is accompanied in places by Pharoah Sander's tenor, along with Laraaji's electric zither that swoons in and out of the pictures like some sort of a moth. Though this is the more danceable of the two compilations, it doesn't mean that it's any less relaxing. Listening to this on repeat mode, I had a feeling like I was listening to waves breaking off on the shores of a huge beach. Call this trip-out music, meditative therapy of cleansing for the soul, "Peaceful Heart" succeeds in letting us shut-down for at least an hour. In the end, both compilations ask an important question - how do you make eastern music more accessible to western ears?

Tom Sekowski (courtesy of the GAZ-ETA website)

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The ancient science of yoga meets modern music technology on this compilation of electronic dance grooves, gravelly chants and meditative soundscapes. Electronic music visionary Bill Laswell produced, arranged or performed on four of the seven tracks and Ashtanga master Pattabhi Jois can be heard offering an opening invocation and the mantra on Om Shantih Shantih Shantih which was recorded in India at the dedication of the Krishnamacharya temple in Cowshika, India. Along with tabla rhythms, Sanskrit lyrics and that unmistakable East Indian drone, are the Jamaican flavors of dub, on I’ve Got a Passion, and the sinuous saxophone wails of avant-garde Jazz great Pharaoh Sanders on the culminating track, Samadhi State. His performance and the track itself are the disc’s crowning jewels, capping a funky, mysterious and ethereal record with unbridled joy.

Adam Skolnick