Maya

Product Description CD Description In 2003, I was hired by my dear friend and longtime collaborator Chip Duncan (duncanentertainment.com) to create a score for documentary he was working on called 'in a just world'. The film dealt with women's rights to choose abortion and contraception in various cultures around the world. It called for a score that reflected cultures in the Middle East, Central Africa, South America, and the USA. In the original score, I featured several women's voices including the ethereal and evocative voices of two of my beloved acquaintances- sacred chant chanteuse Deva Premal (devapremalmiten.com) and R&B singer Martha Redbone (martharedbone.com). In 2004, I was awarded an Emmy for the score. In 2006, I decided to elaborate on several of the themes and create full compositions of them. I enlisted another dear friend, Eric Zang, who added percussion, chant, and flutes to the growing arrangements. At that point life took me in many directions and I shelved the project for the time. In 2010, I was cleaning off a hard drive in my studio, and I discovered the songs that I'd all but forgotten about. Upon listening to them, I felt inspired to develop them further. I composed three new pieces for the project, and for Christmas of 2011, 'Maya (and of the eight illusions)' was complete. I invented words for the titles to these pieces based on how they felt to me. Hopefully, the 'words' are as non-literal as the compositions. Any meaning in any language is purely incidental. Yes, some of the chants are devotional, but I see every act of creation as devotional. The Characters are Chris Spheeris as sound designer & visual designer; Eric Zang as Middle-Eastern Percussion, male vocal chants and flutes; Deva Premal with the most beautiful of 'ahhs' on 'Lanilei' and 'sadoor'; Martha Redbone with soulful voice on 'soulana'; Steven James with Sarod & violin on 'Ghali'; Alan Ames on violin on 'Narabi'; Courtney Yeates on cello on 'Narabi' and John Running for his original portrait of Chris from which cover was designed. About the Artist If you have owned a television or a radio in the past 15 years in any of more than 40 countries around the world, you have probably heard the music of Chris Spheeris. In addition to having been a staple in the new age and smooth jazz radio formats, the music of Chris Spheeris has surfaced in the Olympics, in soap operas, world skating championships, commercials and behind countless documentaries, in his unassuming, yet profound way, Chris Spheeris continues to provide inspiration, joy and beauty to the hearts of millions. Chris's geographic and spiritual odysseys have imbued his music with a quality that is at once, intimate, exotic, passionate and universal, his 17 recordings have found more than one million homes and the 50 documentary films that he has scored have been broadcast globally. In his own quiet and dedicated fashion, Chris Spheeris continues to mature as an innovative and prolific composer and instrumentalist touching the lives of millions in ways that are not always recognized by the media. Living currently in the high desert of Arizona, Chris Spheeris remains a consummate traveler, both creatively and geographically and a student of world cultures. 收缩