Gaea Star Crystal Hour #141

11-27-14 “The Gaea Star Crystal Hour # 141 begins with the dusky, mystical “How To Be Free” with Mariam Massaro on vocals and tenor ukelele, Tom Fair on Nashville acoustic guitar and Bob Sherwood on piano.  We drift into Mariam’s “La Luna”, an improvisation-heavy evening ballad and then into “Powerful Weather”, a late-autumn tone poem.  Next up is “All That I Am” an inspirational prayer to remaining open.  After the break we present the reprise “All That I Am” as a more driving, otherworldly blues.  Tom Fair brings his “Ananda Gi” floating in on modal 12-string and Nag Champa, with gossamer eastern harmonies and shimmering dulcimer from Mariam and shifting, Chinese and Hindustani scales on the piano from Bob.  We segue slowly through a lovely, White Album-esque fragment from Tom to a musical station I.D. from Mariam, coming to rest on one of Mariam’s most beautiful and affecting musical mantras, “Happy I Am”, an entrancing puzzle of a song that presents a simple melody above an asymmetrical measure scheme to bewitching effect.”