02-10-22 Gaea Star Crystal Radio #479 is an hour of visionary improvised music from the Gaea Star Band with Mariam Massaro on vocals, acoustic guitar, ukulele, Native flute and dulcimer, Bob Sherwood on piano and Craig Harris on congas and Native drums. Recorded live in late January 2022 at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington, Massachusetts, today’s show begins with a jazzy Native flute workout before settling into a dynamic version of Mariam’s lovely “Sail On”. Next up is the evocative “Out Of The Darkness”, a bittersweet piece that derives a certain melancholy from a decidedly Eastern European mode and harmonic scheme. Rising from the miasmatic ending is another piece, “Seasons Come and Seasons Go”, a rolling, reverent nature prayer that picks up steam with Mariam’s compelling poetry. “Silent Majesty” is another mystical, hypnotic piece characterized by a distinctive harmonic setup that cedes a very attractive stage to Mariam’s drifting vocal. As tends to happen when Mariam plugs in her dulcimer and lays down a driving, rhythmically upbeat drone, “The Snow Queen She Came” is a driving, kinetic piece of fast folk with inspired piano and a fine rhythm track from Craig. Several iterations, each with its own distinct character spool out from the original harmonic framework, are born from the basic concept and “The Snow Queen She Came” becomes a series of compelling, rocking, unfolding chapters.
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com
