13th October 2005
Dear Friends –
It’s hard to describe what it’s been like to release this new project. First there was the inspiration to create a 7-minute meditation combining my photography of the Callanish Stones and the instrumental version of “Avalon.” During the past three years, I have taken hundreds of photographs of this ancient Scottish site on repeated visits to the Outer Hebrides. However, it was only when Sheryl Erickson of the Collective Wisdom Initiative suggested that I put music to the images that I was shaken awake to the possibility of sharing this photography with others.
Then came the realization that I could create a brand new soundtrack to accompany the images by remixing tracks we had recorded back in 2001 during the Avalon sessions. What was originally released as a 5-minute solo piano version of “Avalon” evolved – with Stephen Hart’s extraordinary engineering skills – into an 7-minute instrumental arrangement with Mary Fettig’s soprano saxophone, Diane Lindsay’s bass and Jeanette Wrate’s percussion. Tom Christopher, a remarkably intuitive and subtle film editor, took my photographs and the new “Avalon-Remix” and the two of us collaborated to integrate sound and image with the intention of creating a mind-body-spirit encounter with the Stones.
It was quickly apparent that a 7-minute DVD was not marketable on its own. This led me to return to Stephen Hart with a compilation of 9 contemplative piano solos I had been using as a soundtrack for my labyrinth peace walks. Stephen digitally remastered these tracks taken from recordings spanning 25 years and created an entirely new 47-minute sonic experience culminating in the new “Avalon-Remix” track.
Now I had something: a dvd and a cd that were made for each other. This combination of music and imagery could be an entry point for people looking for a contemplative encounter with the Sacred Feminine. The obvious title for this project would be Portal.
Donna Korones, my close friend and colleague, worked side by side with me as associate producer, bringing perspective and solid ground to the complex decision-making that was involved in hundreds of aesthetic choices, from track sequencing to graphic design to packaging, marketing and distribution.
The really amazing thing for me is that the entire Portal process – from inspiration to distribution – has taken only nine months. The effortlessness with which so much of the work has come together is a mystery to me – surely connected at least in part to the depth of my collaborators’ understanding of the material as well as the “rightness” of the timing.
Where things stand right now… Exciting news arrives daily at Pleiades Records as Portal moves out into the world. npr stations are picking up the cd compilation for their play lists, Ovation tv Channel has requested to play the 7-minute dvd on their network, the largest distributor of New Age, health & wellness products has agreed to distribute Portal to stores and outlets of all kinds.
I am so happy to know this work is going to be accessible to viewers and listeners who will recognize it and find it useful. I am full of gratitude for the opportunity to share my music and photography at this time, in this way.
