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About
Neale Lundgren's Music Ensemble "Cypress"
Cypress is a world fusion music ensemble dedicated to the composition and performance
of the sacred poetry of the spiritual masters of the world as well as songs of
spiritual aspiration with transformational themes.
Their debut Cd Pouring Light (2003) is now available. Selected songs from Pouring
Light appear as the soundtrack in two films (2002) on the spiritual master, Meher
Baba, whom Mother Theresa of Calcutta described as one "like Christ."
" You Don't Know How Beautiful You Are," appears on Jane Olivor's Songs of the
Season (Varese Saraband Records, 2001) and was featured in Billboard Magazine
in December, 2001. |
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Neale
Lundgren: (composer, vocals, guitar)
Eric Peterson (left): (udu, tar)
Sheila Gambill: (vocals, tar) |
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Neale
Lundgren has recorded with Columbia, Capitol,
Epic, and Metromedia Records in his youth, including
Manchild 1
(Capitol Records,
1972). He has studied
classical guitar with Elias Barreiro, student of the renown Andres Segovia
(Tulane University).
As a Benedictine monk, he performed in the monastery's schola, participated
in a "collegium musicum" which performed a never-before recorded 14th century "hocket" for
network television. He composed and recorded a collection of original songs
entitled Time of the Harvest: Songs for Three Voices, (Liturgical Press,
1982) and in
1992 a collection of original songs which documented his tenure as spiritual
director for an addictions treatment center entitled Breaking Open (1992).
Neale holds an interdisciplinary doctorate in religion, psychology and literature
from
Emory University(Atlanta ). In 2000, after a pilgrimage to India, Neale began
his collaborative effort with Cypress, composing original music to the sacred
poetry of the spiritual masters.
Eric Peterson is a performer, instructor, and dedicated
student of Arabic and Turkish percussion. He is an active member of the Middle
Eastern music and dance
community in Atlanta. In the Cypress project, Eric blends the cultural percussive
styles of Middle Eastern rhythms on the non-indigenous instrument called "Udu," a
clay-pot drum commonly played in villages of West Africa and Brazil. Eric
has played in a variety of world music ensembles, including the Turkish music
ensembles
Kirmani, and Emrah Kotan and the Sultans (Atlanta). Eric is presently an
instructor of music percussion at Emory University's Evening at Emory program
(Atlanta).
More information on Eric Peterson can be found at http://www.geocities.com/ericnpeters
Sheila Gambill has been making dance and performing with musical ensembles in
Atlanta since 1995. She has performed at the Fringe Festival of Contemporary
Dance and Performance Art at 7 Stages Theatre, the Emory Performing Arts
Center, Beacon Dance Theatre, and Garden House Theatre. She is the organizer
of monthly
Middle Eastern dance and music events in the Atlanta area. She has been collaborating
with the members of Cypress since 2001.
The CD Pouring Light is available here at www.nealelundgren.com or call 404-636-5188.
Meher Baba at Home (1960,1962) is available at bookstore@meherabode.org. |
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Oracle 20/20 Magazine
Volume 13 Issue 5 March 2003
Pouring Light by Cypress features
the work of three outstanding musicians: Eric Peterson on udu
(clay drum)
and tar (frame drum), Neale Lundgren on vocals and guitar, and
Sheila Gambill on tar and vocals, presenting a musical showcase
for Daniel Ladinsky's translations of the classic poetry of Hafiz
and Rumi plus a few original songs.
Their melodies are beautifully
understated and supple, allowing the beauty of the words to come
through.
The ecstatic Sufi poets have become perennial favorites and one
of the inspirations and sources of energy for the renaissance
of poetry in our time.
The use of simple acoustic instruments
fits the words well, and in addition to those mentioned already,
you will notice sweet,
precisely placed augmentation from guest artists playing flute
and violin.
It is a pleasure to hear this poetry set to music in songs like "You
Don't Know How Beautiful You Are," "This Love," "Happy
Moon," and "Pouring Light."
The melodies are all
written by Neale[Lundgren], a psychotherapist and former monk.
It is worth noting that Eric[Peterson] and Sheila[Gambill]
have been producing a showcase in Atlanta for Middle Eastern
music and dance monthly at the Red Light Cafe, for the last three
years. Eric has also become one of the leading local teachers
of Middle Eastern drumming as well.
(The new CD "Pouring
Light" by world-fusion ensemble
Cypress featured in "On the Beat" with Dan Liss
with "The Tao of Cello" by world famous cellist David
Darling and "Acoustic Garden," by long established
Eric Tingstad & Nancy Rumbel.) |
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