Taos Mountain Meditations [Pure DSD]

The Wild West Taos evokes magic, mystery, art, multiculturalism and majesty. Home to the Tiwa-speaking Red Willow people of Taos Pueblo for more than a thousand years, home to Spanish settlers from 1600 and “Anglos” (which means everyone not Native American or Spanish) since shortly after the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, Taos offers not only breathtaking scenery, refreshing air and light and the magnificent smells of adobe earth, pinion and sagebrush, but also the social problems and triumphant collaborations that come from three distinct cultures living together in what is still in many ways the Wild West. This is Yarlung’s third recording in the Imhof Studio in Taos, which was built just south of the Taos Pueblo and looks north to Taos Mountain. Sitar player Paul Livingstone and cellist Pete Jacobson visited Taos to make their debut Yarlung recording titled Sangam in 2021. Blending Livingstone and Jacobson take inspiration from the Hindustani musical tradition and from Paul’s teacher and mentor Ravi Shankar who collaborated so eloquently with Yehudi Menuhin on violin and helped to popularize Hindustani music in the West. Pete and Paul also draw inspiration from American jazz improvisation. “Sangam,” in Hindi, means many things, including “confluence,” or the blending of two people, ideas or traditions into something fresh and new. Paul and Pete chose “Sangam” to be the name of their duo. Recorded using an AKG C24 microphone, pre-amplification by Elliot Midwood. Merging Technologies HAPI as AD with Pyramix software recording DSD 256 to capture this music in a rich two-channel and surround sound immersive environment. For more info about Paul & Pete visit www.paulzlivingstone.com and www.peteplayscello.com

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Featured in blog post Notes on Recent Finds, No. 9 – Endless Bounty from NativeDSD by music reviewer Rushton Paul.

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Paul Livingstone, Sitar Pete Jacobson, Cello