CDs

Songs Of Forgiveness & Prayer

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“The work is a wishing tree: a colour wheel, the arabesque of aerial-bound sound, in the high silence, a precise and rousing lift of words. In the roundabout dance of the music, the song abides in absence and presence in the unpatterned lockstep of the stars, birthed of intense sensuality and solitude, a distinctly indigenous voice.”

Jeff Bien’s Songs of Forgiveness and Prayer is the symbiosis of a rare poetic lyricism and poignant music, invoking the spiritus and ingenuity of a distinctly idiosyncratic voice. Influences are subtle and uniquely his own, invoking the interspersion of many traditions: folk, jazz, classical, Arabic, African, and Eastern genres, gifting the music with an unusual breadth, which has been richly requited in the hearts of the musicians and listener alike.

The strong emphasis on lyrical content and the divergence of style have combined to create songs of personality and candor in which the relationship between poet and popular culture is articulated, inspiring and inviting others to enjoin in the musical odyssey.

An inveterate traveler in many traditions, Bien’s life is the quintessential story of exile and return, the poems and the poet finding their inexorable pilgrimage, travelling and witnessing much of the world, and journeying more deeply within, years of experiential seeking, spiritual study and practice. His deep and sonorous voice gives evidence to the life that he has lived: Songs of love and songs to the beloved.

Prison Song

Song of Forgiveness and Prayer

Here’s To You

Kaddish

Answerless

Song of A Broken Man

Adon Olam

Gratitude

Kol Ha’ alom

The Beauty Song

Sufi Prayer

Let It Be

A Taste Of Creation: Poems Of Awakening

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“In an alchemical language, a songbird for the sacred meaning sings a prophetic presence expressing heretical beauty and the awakened song of ‘I am’. In the deeper silence of listening, the heart is awakened through word, rhythm and melody, a mystical odyssey of celestial repose.”

A Taste of Creation is an eclectic compilation of spiritus and spiritual in-gathering, the conjugal dance of poetry and music as a conversation of consciousness in the musical reverie of a poet’s prayer. The poems are the progeny of many traditions, with musical and mystical arrangements and compositions on the album, realized through many world renowned and Canadian artists, borne of a lifelong devotion to poetry, years of meditation, a trinity of study, practice and seeking.

The CD is composed of vocal and musical recordings from Istanbul, Paris, and a 19th century farmhouse near Kingston, Ontario, and engineered by Chris Coleman, with guest appearances and tracks from Mercan Dede, with Hugh Marsh et. al, (“Sufi Prayer”), a vocals track from Hebraic scholar, Michael Kigel (“Kabbalah”), harmonies by a Parisian African ensemble (“Until a prayer descends”), guitar tracks by Christian worship leader Ross Templeton (“Maranatha”), Inuit inspired vocals by Ellen Hamilton (title track), as well as Eastern rhythms, interweaving Buddhist, Hindu, and Yogic influences throughout.

Until A Prayer Descends