Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #379 features songs and improvised acoustic music from The Gaea Star Band with Mariam Massaro on vocals, native flute, acoustic guitar, ukulele and dulcimer, Bob Sherwood on piano and Craig Harris on congas.  We begin with the shaded, bluesy “Love Is For All” an ode to love and devotion featuring Mariam’s visionary lyrics and sweeping native flute.  “Majesty” flares from the embers of the first piece, beautifully melancholy in tone, again decorated with long, hypnotic native flute passages.  A fanfare of distant dulcimer announce the enchanted folk song “Moonlight Symphony”, a magical, dancing piece devoted to the music of the night featuring flurrying, Chopin-inspired piano from Bob.  A coda built around a lush, romantic chord sequence wraps up the piece with flourishes of piano electronics.  “Where Are We Going” is built around Mariam’s stately ukulele and introduces minimalist gospel piano and percolating congas into an airy, gorgeous song devoted to the mystery of the future.  Mariam plays acoustic guitar for “Everything Melts Away”, a vast, floating song that celebrates life and the transience of life with a beautiful ache.  “Lavender Lilacs” a pretty folk song we first explored in 2013 returns in a fine version that blooms around a lively, vivid conga figure.  Closing today is a gorgeous, rich version of Mariam’s sun prayer “Solare” driven by Mariam’s flamenco guitar and dramatic piano and congas.
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #378
Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour was taped in January 2020 at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington, Massachusetts and features the Gaea Star Band with Mariam Massaro on vocals, native flute, acoustic guitar and ukulele, Craig Harris on congas and balaphone and Bob Sherwood on piano.  Today’s opener is Mariam’s charming study in nostalgia“I Wanna Go Back To That Way” featuring her acoustic guitar, rock-steady conga work from Craig and racing, minimalist piano from Bob.  A second, more stately iteration expands the narrative both lyrically and musically.  “Concentration Leads To Liberation” is an elemental piece with evocative words from Mariam and swirling, hypnotic accompaniment from the band.  Soaring native flute opens the next piece, the ravishing ballad “Let’s All Just Settle Down” featuring a narrative between Mariam’s questing, inspiring lyric and her native flute.  This beautiful and sprawling piece weaves through a series of movements and variations where the only constant is the expression of love.  Mariam picks up her ukelele for the jazzy waltz “Magnificent Moonlight” which features bursts of blues and modern classical piano from Bob supported by the driving, solid rhythm section of congas and uke.  Mariam’s beautiful and mysterious raga “Do You Hear The Whisper Of The Forest” flows in the lush languor of Mariam’s ukulele, Craig’s very cool balaphone track and interstellar piano from Bob.  “Just Drifting Away” and “Are We Ever Going To Grow Up” close the show with languid vocals and vast, open piano figures.
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #377 is an hour of inspired visionary acoustic improvisational music featuring the Gaea Star Band with Mariam Massaro on vocals, native flute, ukulele, acoustic guitar, shrudi box and sitar, Craig Harris on congas and native drums and Bob Sherwood on piano.  Recorded live at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington Massachusetts in December 2019, today’s show begins with the mystical, mysterious “Oh The Moon She’s Dancing”, a lush and evocative visionary song that gives way to the lovely, expansive ballad “Sounds Of Peace” featuring lyrical native flute and vocals from Mariam.  “Touch My Soul” is an understated ballad with inspired piano from Bob and more gorgeous native flute from Mariam, and “Graciously We Surrender” is a song of praise and reverence to nature driven by Mariam’s acoustic guitar and Craig’s ever-steady conga work.  “The Grace Of Love” praises the rain and the human heart with a delicate, unhurried ballad feel decorated by lovely piano runs.  “Just In Time” is a triumphant, gospel flavored prayer that drives steadily upwards and “Oh To Know Love” continues the gospel feel with a beautiful prayer to love.  Todays show ends with the meditative raga “Turquoise Ribbon Waving In The Sky” for which Mariam simultaneously wields her sitar and shrudi box with a lovely winding vocal above.
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #376
Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour is an hour of visionary acoustic musical improv recorded live at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington, MA, and features Mariam Massaro and Bob Sherwood of the Gaea Star Band with Mariam on ukuleles, acoustic guitar, native flute and shrudi box and Bob Sherwood on piano and acoustic guitar.  Today’s show begins with the light, lively and pleasantly naïve “Thank You For The Glory Of Life”, led by Mariam on her ukulele as Bob creates simple, repetitive piano figures.  “To The Beauty” is a lush minor ballad with a lovely melody from Mariam and imaginative piano splashes from Bob, and “A Prayer To Return To A Place Of Wonder” begins with an evocative native flute fanfare from Mariam and grows into a solemn tale of a reverie in nature.  “We Love You Mother Earth” follows, with Mariam playing the shrudi box for this stately, unhurried prayer.  “Yemanja” is a lovely, rich take on the “Gaea Star Goddesses” album classic, and “Let’s Hitch A Ride On The Magic Carpet” is a pretty folk ballad featuring Mariam’s acoustic guitar.  “I’m Here Now” is a lush, evocative piece with gospel overtones and we conclude today with Mariam on piano and vocals and Bob on acoustic guitar for the lovely, whispering “Healed By The Beauty”.
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #375 was recorded at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington, Massachusetts on a snowy November day and is an hour of inspired, visionary acoustic musical improvisation presented by The Gaea Star Band with Mariam Massaro on vocals, dulcimer, ukuleles, native flute and acoustic 12-string guitar, Craig Harris on congas and native drums and Bob Sherwood on piano.  Today’s show begins with the lovely, light and very creative “Let’s Sail Into The Essence Of Love”, a driving and upbeat piece heightened by exemplary contributions from the whole ensemble.  “Just Put Down Your Day” is a skipping, Hawaiian-inflected folk song and “Cast Aside” brings in a mystical, reflective mood with swirling piano figures and a reflective vocal from Mariam.  “Oh Let’s Rise” is a rousing anthem to positive unity that gives way to a series of ragas led by Mariam’s sitar-like 12 string guitar; the mystical, spacious “Grateful” features an inspired improvised vocal and lyric from Mariam and “Ganesha” is a song of reverence and praise to the Indian diety.  Today’s show completes with an extension of this lovely tone poem to include Lakshmi and Saraswati.
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #374 Part Two is an hour of compelling visionary acoustic improvisational music performed by the Gaea Star Band with Mariam Massaro on vocals, native flute, harmonium and ukulele, Bob Sherwood on piano and Craig Harris on congas and native drums.  Recorded live at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington Massachusetts in November 2019, today’s show begins with the multifaceted and deeply compelling musical journey “We’re Rising As Colors Shining Brightly”, an epic piece of improvised music that moves through native, minimalist, classical, afrocuban and funk flavors in a restless, deeply evocative mix that comes to land in an elegiac, gentle place as Mariam decorates the mix with her beautiful native flute.  “Let’s All Take Back Our Power” is led by Mariam’s lovely vocal and harmonium and features fundamental native drums from Craig and naïve classical and folk colors from Bob’s piano.  “Lead Me Down” is a classic Mariam song that evokes Hawaii and her powerful volcanoes.  We finish today with another song from Mariam, “Queen Of Heaven” from the 2012 “Gaea Star Goddesses album.  Today’s version evokes the power and deeply spiritual, fundamental environmental message of the original and is delivered with fire and passion.
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #374 was taped at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington, MA in November 2019 and is an hour of visionary improv and songs by Mariam Massaro featuring the Gaea Star Band with Mariam on vocals, acoustic guitar, celtic harp, native flute and ukulele, Bob Sherwood on piano and Craig Harris on congas and percussion.  Today’s first piece is the pretty, affecting Hawaiian folk of “Time To Plant The Seeds” featuring a hypnotic ukulele part from Mariam and a slowly building epic piano accompaniment by Bob.  “We Can All Come Home Now” is a stately ballad with dramatic rolling drums from Craig and Mariam’s always-lyrical, expressive native flute.  “Full Sweep” is a hypnotic, soul-inflected ballad with a mesmeric conga and piano pattern that extends and expands and an inspirational lyric from Mariam.  Next up Mariam picks up the acoustic guitar for the energized folk pop of “Bountiful Blessings Bursting Brightly”, a swirling, mysterious piece characterized by Mariam’s soaring melody and deeply evocative piano from Bob.  “Everywhere” is a jazzy, nuanced epic ballad that pulls in elements of gospel and Beatlesque pop and “So Many Ways” is an aching, triumphant improvisation built around a lush, soaring melody from Mariam, both vocally and on her native harp.
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #373 is an hour of visionary, varied, evocative, lush and accomplished acoustic improvised music and songs featuring the Gaea Star Band with Mariam Massaro on vocals, native flute, tenor ukulele, acoustic 6- and 12-string guitars and percussion, Craig Harris on congas and native drums and Bob Sherwood on piano.  Recorded on an early winter day at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington, Massachusetts, today’s show begins with the hypnotizing, magical ambience of “One With Spirit”, a steady, prayerful ballad built on a relentless groove of piano and congas and draped with lovely improvised melody and native flute from Mariam.  Beginning with a lovely flute fanfare, “Midnight Snack” is a mystical midnight meditation led by Bob’s minimalist, echoing piano and a fun message from Mariam on simple pleasures.  “I Am Happy Now” is a light and unusually pretty ballad that skips and plays to the tune of Mariam’s tenor ukulele like moonlight on the surface of a lake and “Healed By The Beauty” is a powerful, mesmerizing epic that moves through several motifs to express the beauty of the circularity of the seasons.  Mariam plays her chiming Martin 12-string acoustic to set the tone for “Dancing Fingers Of Light”, a relaxed ballad that celebrates beauty and truth with Mariam’s lush vocal and the firm and steady support of the band.  “Waves Of Life” is lush, mystical, pulsing piece with a driving rhythm and we finish today with the hushed, gentle “Potential” featuring a gorgeous vocal and native flute passages from Mariam over Bob’s classical piano motifs.
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #371 Part Two was recorded at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington Massachusetts in September 2019 and is an hour of visionary acoustic improv music featuring the Gaea Star Band with Mariam Massaro on vocals, native flute, acoustic guitar and ukulele, Bob Sherwood on piano and Craig Harris on congas and native drums.  Today’s show begins with the languid “Imanayo”, an gentle, sweet song that invites us to stand in our power with grace and light.  “Reclaiming The Blessings Of The World” is grooving, jazzy song driven by Mariam’s driving acoustic guitar and a fine conga performance from Craig and “Grace Of The Midnight Moon” is a delicate, native/classical hybrid, a lush ballad that showcases Mariam’s native flute and imaginative piano from Bob.  “Stay In Your Own Vibration” is a skipping, driving song built around Mariam’s sprightly ukulele which begins in a light folk vein and gradually shifts into a driving, jazz and afro-cuban based jam that showcases Bob’s speedy, virtuosic piano.  We return to a stately, balladic vibe with the gospel influenced “Oh Rain”, another beautiful piece that features spacious, lyrical native flute from Mariam and “The Dawn Is Calling Me” floats with a lovely, gentle lilt, bringing to an end another varied and inspired hour of unpremeditated, lyrical music.
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com
 

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #271 was recorded with the Gaea Star Band and special guests Gabriel Howearth on percussion and Dave Davenport on tamboura. We present an hour of acoustic live lunar improvisation from the Gaea Star Band with Mariam Massaro on vocals, native flute, percussion, ukulele and acoustic guitar, Craig Harris on tamboura, congas and balaphone and Bob Sherwood on piano and congas. Today’s first piece is the lush, expansive raga “Light Of The Summer Sun” led by Craig’s percussive tamboura and Mariam’s elemental vocals and native flute. For “ “ some musical chairs take place with Bob moving to piano, Craig to congas and Dave Davenport bringing the lush, low drone on tamboura for the dramatic, visionary “Oh The Moon”. A long, contemplative piece led by Mariam’s mystical vocals, “Oh The Moon” flows on a slowly unfolding melodic motif from the piano that meshes hypnotically with drums and tamboura in a dramatic 15 minute journey. The ensemble flows effortlessly into a western harmonic mode with the beautiful major chords of “La Luna”, a piece that features a beautiful, inspired vocal from Mariam along with her chiming acoustic guitar. An aching piano figure provides an anchor for this spacious, unhurried song. “River Of Moonlight” is a calm, lovely ballad filled with cascading percussion and electronic touches. Mariam provides a pretty vocal full of the silvery lunar prayers that define today’s flowing series of pieces. “Rhythm Of Love” leans towards jazzy gospel with a strong conga backing from Craig complementing Mariam’s chiming guitar chords.