Gary Stroutsos' meditative flute music has often drawn from the lands and cultures he has studied over the course of his prolific career. With a mission to promote stewardship of diverse traditions and the natural environment, his evocative music draws listeners into shared contemplative spaces.
Stevin McNamara has been immersed in the guitar since childhood, and studied sitar with Ram Chakravarty after discovering Indian music in the 1970s. The South Africa native's exposure to a broad spectrum of musical genres has helped hone his unique guitar style that celebrates India with subtle elegance as he crafts meditative, relaxing sonic worlds.
Moonlight Meditations is a sequel to the two ambient artists' 2019 collaboration Taj Mahal Reflections, for which producer and White Swan Records label head Parmita Pushman sensed their potential synergy as collaborators. Both were delighted to participate, and McNamara set about sourcing and interpreting raga themes suited to the scales and moods for Stroutsos' songs, creating new and exotic compositions inspired by the original solo flute passages.
On the merging of their respective influences of the American Southwest and India, McNamara says "The new album doesn't bridge two worlds; it creates its own." Gary's bass flute is featured, with its deeply meditative and haunting tone perfect for the Moonlight Meditations concept. McNamara enlisted two longtime collaborators — percussionist and sound healer Christo Pellani, who provided the luxurious beds of healing instruments that underscore the music, and Indian classical singer Mala Ganguly, whose voice graces the beautiful opening Invocation in shimmering counterpoint to Stroutsos' poignant flute.
All sounds on the album were played on real instruments, with no synthesizers or samplers of any kind. The result is a serene, spacious sound world that is perfect for yoga, meditation, sound healing, and deep relaxation.
TRACK LIST
1. Moonlight Invocation (Feat Mala Ganguly) 01:25
2. Moonlight Voyage (Meditation) 04:05
3. Moonlight Voyage (Breathing) 04:37
4. Shibui-Elegant Moon (Healing) 03:18
5. Shibui-Elegant Moon (Movement) 04:12
6. Shibui-Elegant Moon (Savasana) 03:26
7. Cloud Dreams (Savasana) 03:20
8. Deep Pool of Sound (Breath) 04:44
9. Deep Pool of Sound (Deep Sleep) 02:58
10. Moonlight Voyage 08:18
11. Shibui-Elegant Moon (Rag Chandranandan) 10:23
12. Cloud Dreams (Meditation) 04:13
13. Deep Pool of Sound (Rag Bhairavi) 06:43