Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #355 was taped at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington, Massachusetts and features songs by Mariam Massaro and improvisations from the Gaea Star Band with Mariam on vocals, native flute, sitar, acoustic guitar and ukelele, Craig Harris on congas and balaphone, Bob Sherwood on piano. We begin today with the swinging blues folk of “Celebrate Summertime” a celebration of winters’ end, light hearted and jazzy and featuring unbridled blues eighty-eights from Bob. “Nothing Matters Except Living In Peace” expresses gratitude for nature with a gorgeous progressive rock groove and an impassioned vocal from Mariam. Sheets of electronically treated piano usher in the hypnotic “May We All Burst Forth”, a minimalist, sensual piece with poetry from Mariam in praise of creative solitude with a funky rhythm section of acoustic guitar, congas and piano. A climactic chorus section yields to the second movement “Keep On Coming Home”, a lush series of classical passages decorated with native flute, thumb piano and vocals from Mariam. Beautiful, busy and ornate, the gorgeous “Sweet Dancing Of Life” is the soundtrack for a series of dreams from Mariam. The final movement “The New Day Dawning” is impassioned and filled with a beautiful pathos, grooving gently to Craig’s congas and Mariam’s kalimba until it vanishes in a quick series of strange, disquieting piano figures. Mariam sits at her sitar for “Drifty Kind Of Day” and Bob plays the 12-string acoustic. A hip, raga-rock opening section gradually falls away to a hypnotic prayer on “I’m Going Back Around” with lush, visionary vocals from Mariam. We close with Mariam’s beautiful lullabye “Night Is Near”.