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The Mishras are a father and son duo living in the holy city of Benares, India, on the Ganges River and are from a musical family spanning seven generations. Deobrat Mishra is the recent recipient of the "Jewel of Sound Award" which is India's equivalent of a Grammy.

With passion and playfulness, the Mishras perform ragas, the ancient patterns of melodic movement meant to evoke a certain mood or feeling. The ragas on this album follow the cycle of a day from morning to night and each one is created to evoke the mood of that time of day. These ragas are also called 'Raja Ragas' as they were once performed only before the royal court and were for the purpose of meditation.

The Mishras have taken the traditional ragas and performed their own remarkable improvisational compositions, adding a spirited call-and-response dynamic to their exquisite musical forms. Evenson's melodious silver flute extends the traditional raga form as it weaves its spell along with beautiful female voices, viola and natural sounds of India to enhance the mood. The music transports the listener on a river of musical conununion that spans millennia, as vibrant in these living hands as it was in the hands of the ancient masters; a rare glimpse into the timeless universality ofhun1an emotion.

The father and son have an amazing connection with each other. They seem to inspire each other as they improvise on the ragas, creating a cascade of sound that sends ecstatic tremors through the space and transforms the listener. The music of Raga Cycle naturally supports the practice of Yoga and Meditation. The sitar, as well as the practice of yoga, both have their roots in the ancient culture of India which is receiving increasing interest in our modern, stress-filled world.

'Pandit' Shivnath Mishra is one of the most respected sitar masters in India ('Pandit' means master musician). He is a master teacher and is Lecturer and Head of the Music Department at the Sanskrit University of Benares. He was born into a well-known musical family in the Benares 'Gharana' (ancestral lineage) and at five years old he began studying vocal music with his father Badar Prasad Mishra.

When he was eight years old he began studying sitar with his uncle. In a family of many fine classical Indian vocalists, he is the first to master the sitar, playing it in 'Thumari' style, characterized by a strong emphasis on melody and deep emotion. He is well known on AI/India Radio and Television and was a gold medal winner in the AI/India Music Conference in Calcutta.

Deobrat Mishra is one of India's premiere and promising young sitar artists. When he was born, his father sang the Indian musical scales to him and at the age of five, hebegan teaching him sitar. He learned tabla from his mother. At age six he gave his first performance, and at age 11 performed for his first time on AI/India Radio. He was chosen by the Indian govemment to receive the award
of Best Young Sitarist in India. He recently received the Jewel of Sound Award, India's equivalent of the Grammy, for his sitar playing.

As seasoned musicians who have played for over two decades throughout India, Europe, Canada, and the United States, the Mishra's have been sharing the magic and joy of their musical presence with a devoted following to critical and award-winning acclaim. They are using proceeds from their albums and tours to provide scholarships at their Mishra School of Music for the children of indigent Indian musicians to continue their training in the classical Indian music traditions.

Dean Evenson is an internationally-acclaimed composer, flautist and sound healing pioneer who has created many successful albums that bridge eastern and western cultures. In 1979, he was among the first to combine his peaceful music with field recordings of natural environments which started a whole new genre of music that has been used to support the healing arts, yoga and meditation. He has traveled the world and collaborated with many master musicians including U Xiangting of China, HH The Dalai Lama ofTibet and Native American Cha-das-ska-dum.

Gina Sata sings in 18 languages and has been lead singer in Cirque du Soleil's highly acclaimed show "0." She has collaborated on several Soundings albums and is part of the Sonic Tribe group. She leads chanting kirtans, teaches "Freeing the Voice" workshops worldwide and is co-director of Sound Healers of Washington.

Rivers Sterling is a healing arts practitioner and sound healer who works in multiple modalities including cranial sacral, massage, acupuncture and sound healing. She is a teacher of oriental medicine, a writer and founder of Cureville, the healing center at the Kerrville Folk Festival.

Phil Heaven is chief recording engineer for Soundings of the Planet. He has co-produced and played viola on many Soundings albums. He also performs with several musical groups in Bellingham including Lydia McCauley and Cedar Moon.

Dudley Evenson is co-founder of Soundings of the Planet and plays tamboura, harp and hand harp. She is art director and co-executive producer for all of the Soundings albums. She and her husband, Dean, perform and teach sound healing workshops.

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Musical Notes

RAGA CYCLE

2004 EntertainmentMagazine.net/AZentertain.com