12-29-22 Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #515 is an hour of sublime visionary acoustic improvised music played by The Gaea Star Band featuring Mariam Massaro on vocals, acoustic guitar, ukulele, Native flute, Celtic harp and shruti box, Bob Sherwood on piano and Craig Harris on congas and Native drums. Recorded live in December 2022 at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington, Massachusetts, today’s show begins with the lush, drifting “Reconnect”, a rich song cycle distinguished by a fine vocal from Mariam over imaginative, unusual chordal constructions. “Great Healing” is a driving rock devotion song built on a metronomically tight low drum from Craig that builds in intensity through racing blues piano solos into a percolating, celestial trance. “The Snow Queen” welcomes winter with an icy, crystalline groove defined initially by an interweave of Celtic harp, piano and low drum, followed by drifting flute fanfares from Mariam, followed by a slowly, slowly developing, beautiful, melancholic air adorned with Mariam’s inspiring prose. “Grateful” is another pensive, aching, wintry melody set to Mariam’s capoed acoustic guitar, warm, affecting piano and tart congas from Craig. “I Feel The Glory” is a deeply spiritual lyric that connects the cosmos and the soul, all in a playground of modal acoustic guitar and piano interplay, and “Oh, The Way” is an elegiac gospel song with lyrical flute passages atop piano figures that evoke vast spaces. “Oh Sun” is a standout track from November’s Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour 510, a fine, driving folk song featuring Mariam’s silvery 8-string ukulele, again with Mariam’s gorgeous vocal in conversation with Cevher Demirel’s percussive flute.
Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com
