Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro: #595

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #595 is an hour of visionary acoustic improvised music played by The Gaea Star Band with Mariam Massaro on vocals, Native flute, acoustic guitar, mandolin, ukulele and Celtic harp, Bob Sherwood on piano and vocals and Craig Harris on Native drum and congas. Recorded live at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington, Massachusetts in October 2024, today’s show begins with the beautiful, meditative “Continue On”, a raga-like piece with delicate congas from Craig and gossamer, sweeping piano from Bob framing Mariam’s powerful, soaring vocal. Reaching a tempestuous crescendo, the song is followed by Mariam’s ocean prayer “Yemanja”, written for the “Gaea Star Goddesses” LP. Growing like an incoming tide, “Yemanja” features a show, powerful build, inspired, interweaving vocals from Mariam and Bob and a powerful, fundamental groove. “Celebrate Life” is a beautiful, spacious folk song led by Mariam’s steady, chiming mandolin and revealing a powerful, universal message and “Let’s Slip Away” is a kinetic, sunny piece of modern gospel/classical music with a stately, shifting piano theme supporting an inspired vocal from Mariam. “Bless Our Lives” is a lovely, deeply affecting minimalist groove with shifting meters from congas and piano and a lush, sweeping melody that mutates and evolves through jazz and Afro Cuban grooves and “Mighty Is The Force Of Nature” is a powerful slow anthem led by a powerful duet between Mariam’s prayerful vocals and widescreen Native flute passages. We complete today’s hour with the powerful, shifting journey of “Let’s Dream A New Story”, an imaginative trip through styles bound together by Mariam’s powerful lyric.
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro: #594

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #594 is an hour of improvised acoustic visionary music played by the Gaea Star Band with Mariam Massaro on vocals, Native flute, acoustic guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, Celtic harp, mandolin and shruti box, Bob Sherwood on piano and Craig Harris on congas and Native drum. Recorded live in mid-October of 2024 at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington, Massachusetts, today’s show begins with a spirited, uplifting take of Mariam’s classic “Reborn” from her “Vision Quest” LP which yields to the blustery, unsettled weather of “Have Faith”, a dramatic piece with fine classical piano from Bob and a powerful vocal from Mariam. “Oh The Full Moon” is a uniquely gorgeous, simple ballad brought in by Mariam’s sweeping, swirling Celtic harp and lush vocal and carried by Bob’s granitic, deeply emotional piano motif. “Birch Grove” is a fantastical, magical forest song led by Mariam’s mysterious vocal and chiming mandolin and “May We All Be In The Right Place” is another beautiful melody dressed in lush classical flourishes and swaths of sweeping, soaring Native flute and “Hello It’s Been A While” is a somber, powerful raga based on Mariam’s DADGAD-tuned 12-string acoustic guitar. In honor of World Indigenous Peoples Day we close today’s show with “Honoring The Elders”, another stately raga propelled by Craig’s fundamental pulse and Mariam’s sitar-like 12-string guitar.
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro: #593

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #593 is an hour of visionary acoustic improvised music presented by The Gaea Star Band featuring Mariam Massaro on vocals, Native flute, acoustic guitar, dulcimer, Celtic harp and ukulele, Bob Sherwood on piano and Craig Harris on Native drum and congas. Recorded live in early October of 2024 at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington, Massachusetts, today’s show begins with a lively, energized rendition of Mariam’s “Thistle In The Wind” from her “For The Children” LP. The Gaea Star Band supports Mariam’s retelling of the story of “Painty The Turtle”, another song from the children’s record. “Oh The Rain” is an altogether more grown up effort, a rich, psychedelic cloud of rainy imagery featuring Craig’s heartbeat Native drum and a fine, soaring vocal from Mariam. “Constant Flow” is a funky, Ray Charles influenced workout with fine rain poetry from Mariam and hip, bluesy piano from Bob that settles into an inspiring Native flute feature and “Wind Over The Water” is a delicate Celtic harp fantasy from Mariam supported by Craig’s fundamental drums and Bob’s alternately modern, angular piano passages alternating with deeply European-influenced sections to support Mariam’s gorgeous Native flute work. “Look Into My Eyes” is a sprightly, modal workout led by Mariam’s chiming dulcimer and fine vocal and “Back Us Up Oh Angels” is an energized reading of Mariam’s gospel rocker from the “Gaea Star Crystal” LP. Also from “Gaea Star Crystal” is the operatic, Verdian “Sing Down The Walls” and we complete today’s show with the deeply dynamic “Oh Just Let It Be” featuring another fine vocal from Mariam and imaginative, developing piano from Bob.
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro: #592

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #592 is an hour of compelling, visionary acoustic improvised music played by the Gaga Star Band with Miriam Massacre on vocals, Native flute, acoustic guitar, mandolin, marimba and ukulele, Bob Sherwood on piano and Craig Harris on congas and Native drum. Produced and recorded live at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington, Massachusetts in September of 2024, today’s show begins with the jazzy, effervescent rocker “Celebrate Diversity”, a high-energy workout that earns its title with forays into all the favorite music’s of the Gaga Star Band. “Carry Me Into Your Heart” is a gorgeous, delicate, shimmering ballad led by Miriam’s plaintive acoustic guitar and emotive vocal and “I Am Enough” develops slowly from a beautiful Native flute and piano invention into a rich, sweeping ballad with a lush, echoing vocal from Miriam in conversation with her soaring Native flute. “Double Winged Dragonfly” is a song that often finds its way into the Gaga Star Crystal Radio Hour, always in a radically different form. On today’s show it receives a Northern Appalachian feel with a spry bluegrass rhythm flowing from Miriam’s chiming mandolin, accompanied ably and with energy by piano and congas. “Dream On” is a fine, bright folk song with a true, lovely vocal from Miriam above a driving groove that leans ever more towards the blues. “Freedom” is a rousing protest folk song given an energized reading and a powerful vocal, and “Vision Quest” from Miriam’s LP of the same name rocks with a gorgeous, fundamental power and sense of mystery and adventure that rivals the original, with Miriam’s powerful, driving marimba creating a tight, compelling braid of sound with Craig’s Native drum and Bob’s far eastern piano touches. Today’s show closes with the uncompromising rocker “Trust” and the band hits it with a ferocious, tight attack that sends Mariam’s powerful prayer home.
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro: #591

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #591 is an hour of improvised, visionary acoustic music featuring The Gaea Star Band with Mariam Massaro on vocals, melody harp, ukulele, Native flute, acoustic guitar, mandolin and shruti box, Bob Sherwood on piano, Craig Harris on Native drum and congas and today’s special guest singer and percussionist Robin Rooney. Recorded live at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington, Massachusetts in mid-September, 2024, today’s show begins with the peaceful, relaxed, rich groove of “Wake Up, It’s Morning!”, a prayerful tone poem featuring beautiful call and response vocals from Mariam and Robin and “The Wind, She’s Dancing” is a gorgeous folk song led by Mariam’s chiming acoustic guitar and more fine vocal work from Mariam and Robin. “My Body Is A Living Temple Of Love” is a languid minor exploration with beautiful melodies and fine drum work from Craig and Robin and “Oh, May The Wind Bring You Light” is a fantastical, spacious, hypnotizing song with gossamer vocals, beautiful classical piano flourishes and sweeping Native flute. “Hello, Hello, Oh Beautiful One” is a rich raga based on a drone from Mariam’s shruti box and a call-and-response vocal setup from Mariam and Robin that opens into a spacious musical wonder of space and economy. Mariam strums her bright, dancing mandolin for “We’re Flowing Like Spirit”, a mystical forest song energized by powerful drums and expressive piano. Closing today’s show is a powerful, tight, rollicking take on Mariam’s island song “Lead Me Down” with excellent contributions from the whole ensemble.
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro: #590

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #590 is an hour of dynamic, visionary acoustic improvised music played by the Gaea Star Band with Mariam Massaro on vocals, Native flute, ukulele, dulcimer, acoustic guitar and mandolin, Bob Sherwood on piano and vocals and Craig Harris on Native drum and congas.  Recorded live at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington, Massachusetts in September 2024, today’s show begins with the energized, upbeat folk song “Golden Sun”, a pretty piece driven by Mariam’s fine vocal and dancing ukulele.  “Full Moon” is a laid back, mysterious piece featuring a fine ensemble of piano, congas and acoustic guitar and the driving blues of “Wake You Up, Humanity” features fat-fingered barrelhouse piano from Bob and a fine vocal from Mariam. “Standing Ones Of Peace” from Mariam’s “Vision Quest” album is interpreted as a spacious, beautiful folk song led by fine vocals and authoritatize, defining dulcimer from Mariam and “Many Seeds Have Fallen” from the same album is cast as a swirling, gorgeous, mysterious exploration with expressive vocals and imaginative piano.  “Ladies Of The Lake” from the “Gaea Star Goddesses” album is presented faithfully, a beautiful and deeply mysterious piece with a rich, evocative harmonic framework that flatters the player.  “Coming Home” is a Bob’s song and he presents it with a fine vocal and excellent interplay from the band with Craig’s driving congas and Mariam’s chiming dulcimer and echoing Native flute.  “All Life Unfolds” is a gorgeous raga from Mariam which she leads on her droning, fundamental dulcimer and beautiful, prayerful vocal with imaginative piano from Bob and deep drumming from Craig.  “Spectacular Colors, It’s Your Time To Shine” is a swirling, mysterious autumn piece with mesmerizing piano and a fine, dancing, echoing vocal from Mariam and we finish today’s show with Mariam’s beautiful, simple lullaby “Night Is Near” from the “For The Children” album.  
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro: #589

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #589 is an inspired hour of visionary acoustic improvisational music played by the Gaea Star Band with Mariam Massaro on vocals, Native flute, shruti box, mandolin, acoustic guitar and ukulele, Bob Sherwood on piano and bass guitar and Craig Harris on congas and Native drum and again featuring special guest, prominent Turkish folk artist Ludingirra Ozdemir on vocals and Saz, a guitar-like instrument that incorporates microtonal scales.  Recorded live at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington, Massachusetts in early September of 2024, today’s show begins with the relaxed, mystical strains of “Oh Summer Day”, a beautiful improvisation characterized by a three-way dialogue between Mariam’s vocal and Native flute and Ludingirra’s Saz.  “Early In The Morning” is another staid, spacious piece with a gorgeous vocal from Mariam and imaginative, compelling piano from Bob and Ludingirra takes center stage on vocals with his exotic, deeply reverent “Ela Ciozlu Pirim Geldi”.  Mariam then picks up her chiming mandolin for the lush, magical “Slow Down”, a pretty ballad that increases up in energy until Bob’s gorgeous classical piano coda and “Youldum” is another powerful, meditative, unusual piece from Ludingirra featuring fine backup vocals and Native flute from Mariam.  “Here We Go All Over Again” is a pretty folk song from Mariam led by her lovely vocal and acoustic guitar and featuring Bob on bass guitar and “Reborn” from Mariam’s “Vision Quest” album is given a powerful reading with Craig’s driving congas, more bass guitar from Bob and a fine vocal from Mariam.  We conclude today’s show with Mariam’s powerful Goddess/environmental anthem “Queen Of Heaven” from the “Gaea Star Goddesses” album.
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro: #588

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #588 is an hour of dynamic, visionary acoustic improvised music played by the Gaea Star Band with Mariam Massaro on vocals, Native flute, 4- and 8-string ukulele, shruti box, mandolin and dulcimer, Bob Sherwood on piano and Craig Harris on Native drum and congas and featuring today’s special guest, Turkish singer and folk musician Ludimirra Ozdemir on vocals and playing his richly resonant Saz, a stringed instrument similar to a guitar.  Recorded live at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington, Massachusetts in late August of 2024, today’s show begins with the varied, imaginative “Raise My Voice In Praise”, a rich, evocative song featuring fine instrumental contributions from the whole combo supporting a beautiful, sweeping vocal from Mariam.  “Transform” is a steady, powerful gospel-like song built on a two-chord motif from the piano and “Star Ray” begins as a delicate, tonally floating whisper and builds gracefully into a beautiful cathedral of sound with a lush, emotional ballet between Mariam’s vocal and her Native flute.  “Make New Friends” appropriates a children’s song to spin a musically rich, mysterious tale about rescuing a stuck deer in the deep winter before spinning into a powerful, gospel-pitched coda of rich vocal and stately piano.  The band slips seamlessly into a mysterious, swirling minor and a mirror-image of the previous piece emerges, a night to the day that has passed, lit with moonlight, plaintive and formal.  “Let’s Realign” is an energetic, powerful folk reel led by Mariam’s chiming mandolin that grows in power until settling into a beautiful piano coda supporting a hushed, whispered vocal from Mariam.  Ludimirra’s arresting, powerful song “My Soul’s Deepest Longing” rises unhurried from a beautiful mesh of Saz and Native flute, his powerful vocal performance arriving as if from a great distance.  This piece travels from the Turkish steppes to the frozen north as Bob’s Prokofiev-sourced piano parts push and pull at the eastern modes.  Mariam floats in to close today’s show with the solemn, powerful “Honor Your Spirit”, a concluding prayer that stretches and pulls the music in intriguing Afro-Cuban directions. 
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro: #587

Today on Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #587 we present an hour of visionary acoustic improvisation music featuring the Gaea Star Band with Mariam Massaro on vocals, acoustic guitar, ukulele, mandolin, Native flute and shruti box, Bob Sherwood on piano and drums and Ludimirra Ozdemir on vocals and Saz.  Recorded live at Singing Bridge Studio in Worthington, Massachusetts, today’s dynamic show begins with the driving, syncopated “Know Yourself”, a varied groove with a fine vocal from Mariam.  “Alive In The Beauty” is another driving, swinging piece that finds a powerful confluence between western and eastern modalities and “Find Your Rhythm” features dynamic saz figurations decorated with soaring Native flute from Mariam and driving, unrelenting drums rhythms from Bob.  “Tall Trees” is a gorgeous, languid, reverent tone poem built around Bob’s modernist, minimalist piano work that ascribes interesting variations to Mariam’s fine vocal and lyrical Native flute and “I Found You” is a fantastical, Dyonisian celebration with Mariam’s mystical lyric, circling, diving Native flute, Ludimirra’s winding string work and Bob’s driving, surprising hand drum grooves.  “Tall Trees” is a gorgeous, minimalist folk song with a pretty, repetitive harmonic framework set up by Mariam’s chiming mandolin and Bob’s stately piano that is repeatedly, seductively pulled into the minor with Ludimirra’s eastern modes on the saz.  “I Found You” is a triumphantly successful hybrid of western 12 tone modes and eastern modal drone driven by Ludimirra’s questing, questioning Saz with Gershwinesque piano comments from Bob supporting a powerful, unwinding lyric from Mariam.  One of today’s standouts is Mariam’s “Calling Us Home” from the “Release” album, presented powerfully and imaginatively by the band and supporting a fine vocal from Mariam.   We conclude today’s show with a languid, rich coda of “Calling Us Home” that showcases beautiful Native flute from Mariam and virtuosically rendered Saz from Ludimirra.
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro: #586

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #586 is an hour of visionary acoustic improvised music played by The Gaea Star Band with Mariam Massaro on vocals, Native flute, marimba, mandolin, 8-string ukulele and harmonica, Bob Sherwood on piano and percussion and this week’s special guests Dan Morningstar on acoustic guitar and vocals and Ludimirra Ozdemir on vocals and Oud.  Recorded live at Singing Bridge Studio in Worthington, Massachusetts in August of 2024, today’s show begins with the intensely rhythmic, hypnotic “Oh, May The Music Flow”, a powerful piece built around Mariam’s insistent, tight marimba figures braiding with Bob’s sinuous percussion and ornate, intricate lines from Ludimirra.  “Leyllm Ley” is a Turkish song from Lou, a beautiful, striking drone with propulsive percussion from Bob and Mariam.  “To Reach The Moment” begins with a dramatic, expressive vocal from Mariam above a bed of mandolin and Oud and unfurls into a gorgeous song of steppes and rainbows above a shifting, mind-bending modern classical setting of piano, Oud and mandolin.  “Ten” is a formal structure that features a complex, soaring conversation between Native flute and Oud and Mariam’s sparse, dramatic “I’m Walking” swells from a whisper, building a powerful, psychedelic journey as Mariam leads us through the caves of our souls.   “Youldum”, another rich journey into Turkish folk from Ludimirra, is a rich, powerful exercise with tight, interlocking rhythms from Mariam’s dance of Native flute and marimba.  A tight ensemble and fine vocals from Mariam and Bob create a mesmerizing tapestry on the dancing, racing “Solare” and the lovely, spacious, unhurried “Bring It All Home” wanders and returns, featuring fine contributions from the whole ensemble and lush vocals from Mariam and Ludimirra.
 
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com