My name is Serge Kozlovsky. I live in Belarus (a small state west
of Russia, which was created after the disintegration of the USSR).
I am writing articles and reviews of CDs for leading Belarussian
musical publications and collaborating with local FM radio stations.
My musical interests go off in many directions: jazz, folk, ambient,
but especially new age music.
Why am I attracted by this music? Firstly, it is my deep conviction
that this is the most interesting music of all existing on this
planet. Moreover, it is very forward-looking. New age music includes
the best of various musical styles and trends, and it actively
uses the achievements of modern technology. But the main thing
for which I love new age music is that it is essentially the music
for all humanity, for all of our planet. This is the music of
our mutual home - the tiny planet of Earth, lost in the infinity
of space - so beautiful and so fragile!
And sooner or later (of course, the sooner the better) we will
all come to live together in this mutual home, home for all humanity,
where everyone will be happy; where harmony, aesthetics and love
will prevail. And new age music makes this time come faster! I
am now doing everything that I can to popularize this new age
music. Of course, I also love all good music, which is "living",
in which the inexpressible is present. But it has become my mission
to make sure that this music is known by as many people as possible,
both in my own country and beyond our borders.
Now I would like to offer to you some comments about this music,
the most interesting labels that are now recording it, the brightest
artists, and my perspective of its development. Are you ready?
Then come on!
But before I can tell you anything about new age music, I would
first like to mention that these short and scattered notes (the
magazine has its limits!) do not pretend to completeness, only
some depth and truth. They only show the vision of wonderful new
age music by the author of this article and express his own point
of view. So, let us begin.
In general, the very concept of the New Age, this music is a large
and very beautiful mystification! Of course, I do not mean to
say that the music characterized by the words "new age",
does not exist. By new age we usually understand sometimes sweet,
sometimes not very melodic music of a "background" inclination
(the so-called low-stress art). It is good to relax and dream
with this music. Often used as a background to this music are
various nature sounds, for example the calming sound of waves
or something of this kind.
So, who are the artists making this music? (Let's name it canonical
new age.) For an example I can name such musicians as Karunesh
or Chris Mitchel, really bright and interesting artists. But along
with the most beautiful examples of traditional new age there
are many cheap counterfeits. They are often presented as real
new age music, and one can see multiple "pirate" copies
of this music of the type "Relaxation Music With Natural
Sounds".
"Still, where is the mystification?" you may ask. And
here we come to the most interesting moment. The point is that
new age music is so wide and varied, it includes so much from
other styles and it is so all-encompassing, that it seemingly
does not exist at all. Or perhaps it is more, somehow, than just
another musical style or direction. And, in my opinion, the last
statement is the truest!
This music speaks to everybody in the one all-human language.
It washes away styles, in a way quite unexpected and extraordinary.
It uses both traditional and non-traditional forms of expression.
It takes much from the music of the most various peoples of this
planet. In general, I would describe new age music as the aspiration
of people to express in this music the aesthetics of a totally
new world, free from cultural barriers and stereotypes.
Yet at the same time it is very individual music, being enriched
by very different styles and cultural traditions. New age is the
music of people in creative search, the music not only of the
present, but of the future also. (By the way, albums released
by the famous new age company "New Earth Records" have
the high title "Music for People on the Path".)
Now it's time for a little bit of history. Forerunners of the
new age may be considered, such different artists as Brian Eno
from one side or Deuter from the other. And if the first one is
widely famous, then the second one is worthy of telling about
in more detail. It all started in the
beginning of the seventies, seeming so far away from us now. At
that time Indian Master Osho or Bhagavan Shri Rajneesh founded
his ashram in the city of Poona, to which sunnyasins (read: disciples)
came from all over the whole world. Among these people there were
many perfect musicians. Deuter was one of them. He is famous not
only for his ordinary albums, but also for very specific works,
representing musical accompaniment to the various "Osho"
meditations.
In some documents it is written that "new age music"
first appeared in India in the beginning and middle of the seventies.
I will only say that there in India (at different times) was a
large company of such perfect musicians as Karunesh, Anugama,
Prabodhi, Kamal, Sambodhi Prem, Luna, Sangit Om, Prem Joshua,
Hariprasad Chaurasia, Govi and many others (this list goes on...).
At present they live in different places, record their music in
different studios, but up to now they actively communicate and
collaborate. For instance, Anugama or Karunesh take part in the
recording of Govi's albums (for example, "Cuchama" or
"Passion & Grace"). And in the albums of Karunesh
one can often find Govi, Anugama or Deuter (for example, "Secrets
Of Life"). And so on. In any case, the company of "Osho"
musicians is perhaps one of the most bright and strong in new
age music.
A friend once sadly said to me that he had bought an album by
Karunesh, not having heard it, and was disappointed. I asked him,
what is the album? And it turned out that the name of CD is "Heart
Chakra Meditation". The point is that it is a musical accompaniment
to one Osho meditation, so it is really not so easy to hear it
as normal music - that it is not the goal of this album! With
such music should be made certain practices. The essence of this
tale is that some CDs of new age music are intended for other
purposes than merely listening.
Let us return to the history of new age music. A large influence
on the development of this music was made by the American company
"Windham Hill Records". It was founded in 1975, when
friends of guitarist William Ackerman, quietly going about his
meditator business, persuaded him to make a record for them. Friends
liked his playing very much. And so they (no less than 60 people)
each contributed $5, and collected the sum necessary for William
to make the record. Nevertheless, it turned out that the minimum
edition is 500 copies, so after every friend had got their record,
Will Ackerman and his true friend Ann Robinson still had as many
as 440 copies. They had to do something, so these records were
sent to various radio stations. Here Ackerman's music proved to
be interesting to many listeners across the USA, as well.
This is how the company "Windham Hill Records" was founded.
This name Windham Hill was taken from the name of a little town
in Vermont, which William remembered from his childhood as very
beautiful. At first the founders themselves made covers for the
records and sent them to the nearest radio stations. Not much
time passed, and the annual turnover of the company was many thousands
of dollars. Records of this label found a good place in collections
of thousands of music lovers not only in USA, but also in the
entire world. "Windham Hill Records" has acquainted
its listeners with many remarkable musicians: William Ackerman,
George Winston, Mark Isham, Oystein Sevag, the "Nightnoise"
group, and many others. The tiny company turned into a so-called
"big label", and consequently was bought by BMG.
Here it is important to mention that many companies releasing
new age music (including, of course, "Windham Hill Records")
have their own aesthetics of CD design. The albums released by
"Real Music" or "Oreade Music" are really
not only "delivery means" of music to the listeners,
but also real masterpieces in their own right. That's why multiple
"pirate" counterfeits, which are more likely to have
a rather bad quality and poor design, may cause disgust and a
completely wrong attitude towards the music. New age is all of
a piece, and quality of sound is one of its most important attributes!
This music contains many subtle hues, and if one did not hear
them, he cannot admire the new age music.
Well, I will not "torture" you with much more history
of the development of new age music. I'll just tell you that,
for example, in England the pioneer of this music in the beginning
of the 80s was Mike Rowland. Records of this pianist were released
by enormous numbers of editions throughout the world. And here
there is one important moment. Often while hearing new age music
some people can think: "Ha! This music is so easy to make!".
Really, sometimes (though not always) this music seems to be simple
and unpretentious, it does not contain jazz complication or changing
rhythm, or any unexpected turns, but somehow nobody can create
such music like Mike Rowland or, for example, "Sky".
Therefore, simplicity does not mean primitivism, it certainly
does not mean to be uninteresting. Sometimes, while seeming simple,
it may be very rich internally, deep and interesting. At present
there are so many artists performing really complicated and very
rich music!
Well, that should be enough history. What is new age music at
present, where does it go? Here I should say that this music develops
rapidly: it involves new styles, mixes them actively, creating
many new forms of musical self-expression. Sometimes one can be
very surprised on hearing that famous rock-musicians begin to
play quite unusual or uncharacteristic music. For example, such
artists as Rick Wakeman or Jon Anderson. Performers may very actively
use world music, complicate their music by various effects, nature
sounds, actively use the latest achievements of musical technology.
And here, telling about modern, complicated and rich new age music,
I will reveal to you one secret. A new type of new age music,
which I name visual music, is appearing. By "visual music"
I understand music which actively promotes visualization, i.e.
when a listener starts seeing various images. You can argue, that
every music creates images as accompaniment to some video sequence,
some film, both real and imaginary, appearing in the listener's
mind. As the brightest representatives of this music, I would
name duet "Zeus Faber", Nicholas Gunn, Mars Lasar and
Oystein Sevag.
There are a few companies releasing really high-quality music
that you should know about. I'd like to mention here such companies
as Real Music, Oreade Music, New Earth Records, Hearts Of Space,
Chacra Alternative Music, Narada, Earthtone Records and Windham
Hill Records.
It sometimes happens that I listen to a CD issued by a little,
quite unknown company (like for instance releases of a young independent
Canadian company Gopher Productions), and I was pleasantly surprised
by an interesting, fresh and unexpected music. With all diversity
of artists, many of them know each other and actively collaborate
(as it was mentioned above). So, the number of artists is at the
same time large and small. How true is the famous expression:
it is a small world!
Therefore we can conclude that the development of new age music
leads to the further erosion of styles (though something may be
preserved and exist peacefully, still maybe on a periphery), and
to creation of all-world and all-human music. In general music
came from one source and it returns there, but with a new quality.
And considering the intermingling of styles, how can we characterize,
for example, music of Christopher Franke or David Arkenstone?
And music made by Felix Jay - what is this: new age, jazz, ambient
or, maybe, world music? Try to refer these artists to any one
particular style and you will miss the whole point!
In these short notes it is quite impossible to cover all the variety
of new age music. It is waiting for its chroniclers and researchers.
If you are interested by these considerations about new age, and
are curious to hear more of the music, then I have succeeded.
And of course I shall continue to write about this music and most
bright representatives of new age. So, wait. Yes, I've got a lot
of things to tell you!
Serge Kozlovsky
P.S. I would like to express my gratitude to Alexander Petrov
and Felix Jay for help and support in preparation of this article.
