Personnel: David Hykes & Harmonic Choir; Peter Biffin (dobro); Tony Lewis, Bruno Caillat, Robert Mann (percussion).
Recording information: The Cistern, Port Townsend, Washington.
Subtitled "Music from the Heart of the Cosmos," HARMONIC MEDITATIONS is another excursion into mind-expanding sacred music from singer, composer, teacher, and theorist David Hykes. Hykes is well known for his work with Gyuoto and Gyume Tibetan monks, and for the incorporation of "throat singing" (in which the singer voices two or more notes simultaneously) into his work.
Hykes's brand of devotional music, rooted in the sacred traditions of Asia, is called Harmonic Chant and utilizes vibration-rich harmonies and overtones that are resonant with spiritual properties. These ten moving compositions are tailor-made for deep meditation, yet they may also be listened to for more whimsical pleasures (the last two pieces, for example, are subtitled "For film travelers and magicians").