Sri Chinmoy (1931–2007) was an Indian spiritual leader who became famous for teaching meditation in the West after moving to New York in 1964. He was a prolific author, poet and musician who played flute and wrote thousands of songs. Among his followers at various times were Carlos Santana, John McLaughlin, and Roberta Flack. Laila Faerman, began immersing herself in Sri Chinmoy’s teachings and music in 2011, appeared as a soloist in the Gandharva Loka Orchestra at concerts in New York City and Amsterdam, and toured with “Concerts for Peace” including performing in the Czech Republic, Italy and Bulgaria. For this project, she enlisted the help of pianist-arranger Misha Tsiganov, they put together a group of creative musicians, and they picked out 13 of Chinmoy’s more enduring songs. Tsiganov reharmonized and modernized the pieces while retaining their essence, added sophisticated chords, giving the vocalist a perfect outlet for her soulful singing.
The result is something which is unsurprisingly incredibly spiritual. I have no idea what Laila is singing about, as many of these are in Hindi (I think), but the musicians are obviously very much in tune with what is taking place, and there is a real feeling of reverence throughout. Given how Chinmoy taught meditation it is of no real surprise that the music is of the same nature, slow and gentle, allowing the listener to relax and reflect life. Tsiganov has obviously been key to the whole process, becoming so involved that at one point he even dreamed he was playing with Chinmoy sat alongside discussing the chords, with Chinmoy blessing him, which shows just how invested he became in the whole project. This is obviously much more than just a single album for Faerman as she has been personally invested in Chinmoy’s teachings for a long time and she is an advocate for his work which comes through clearly in the way this is treated with so much reverence. For a listener such as myself who is not aware of Chinmoy and his teachings this is a pleasant experience, but it will obviously mean much more to those who are followers.
Rating: 7/10
Links:
https://lailafaerman.com/
