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Alpha Media Films in association with CM3 captivates audiences throughout the country with a electrifying film

"The Forgotten Soldiers." Directed by Chris D, The Forgotten Soldiers is a drama film base on true events of a young lady going through the mental and physical abuse in the military. Actress / model Whitney Gold stars as Jane in the thriller feature film. Over 19 thousand sexual assault cases are recorded annually in the military. Just wait and see what really goes on behind close doors within some of our military system. 

The Forgotten Soldier has captured the attention of various executives from HBO, Starz and Indie film network. Alpha Media films and director Chris D is currently in production and plan to have the film completed and ready for release early fall of 2012. 

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Whisperings Concert

Char and I attended a Whisperings concert on 30 March, 2012. The concert was held at Steven C's house in St. Paul, MN Steven C, Chris Schuette and David Nevue performed their origional compositions. What an excellent performance! I will cherish this for the rest of my life. 10862987300?profile=original

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Sounds from the Circle IV Debuts!

Dear Circle Members,

We are pleased to release the fourth Sounds from the Circle MP3 compilation, aptly titled Sounds from the Circle IV, featuring both new and returning Circle members. 

Produced by Suzanne Doucet, the Sounds from the Circle compilations represent a wide range of musical visions and New Age sub-genres, from World Fusion to Vocals, Nature music to Space music, Channeling to Solo Piano, Harmonics to Chill, Meditation, et cetera…each year brings a new discovery, and new sound.

This extensive MP3 compilation is available in CD form from the participating artists, or via iTunes; please share and re-post the link below!

https://c.itunes.apple.com/us/imix/sounds-from-the-circle-iv-2012/id514793800

Programmers and reviewers can request CD copies by contacting Suzanne Doucet or me with your name, professional affiliation and full snail mail info. 

I will be publishing a press release on the compilation, and as usual, promo copies will be sent to radio, media and retailers worldwide. We've also distributed thousands of past compilations at important trade shows and prestigious industry events such as GATE, finding new fans in the New Age, wellness, music and radio communities.   

Congratulations to all the participating artists, you will receive your copies soon via mail.  Share and Enjoy!

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Kai Miano, a Contemporary pianist from Germany, is very excited to come to the United States.  While here, he'll be performing with internationally recognized New Age pianist Donovan Johnson on a tour of Nebraska, Missouri, Tennessee, and North Carolina.  Cities on the tour will include Lincoln, Omaha, Kansas City, St. Louis (with Richard Carr), Nashville, Chattanooga, Asheville, Greensboro, and Raleigh.  

Kai Miano has toured in Europe, and performed extensively in his home country, but has never been to the United States.  Coming to the US is something that he's wanted to do for a long time, and after talking with friend and colleague, American New Age pianist Donovan Johnson, the plans to bring him here became a reality.  Donovan owns and operates an online radio station called "Enlightened Piano Radio," of which Kai is a part.  Each year, "Enlightened Piano Radio" hosts a concert in Donovan's current city of residence, Omaha NE.  One of the radio station artists is featured at the event, and this year Kai Miano is that artist.   Guest artists in years past have included nationally recognized pianists David Nevue and Richard Carr.  

To make the trip worthwhile for Kai, Donovan has planned a tour that will take the two on a journey to the American southeast.  "It's a beautiful part of the country" states Donovan, "and there are lots of opportunities to play there.  The people in that part of the United States are very open to different styles of entertainment, and have a deep appreciation for music.  I think this trip is going to exceed Kai's expectations."  

After returning from the tour, Kai will perform at this years "Enlightened Piano Radio" concert, which will be held Friday, September 28th at 7:30pm.  The event will be held at it's usual location, the beautiful and historic First Unitarian Church of Omaha NE.  "We're really looking forward to this," Says Donovan.  It's going to be a treat for everyone."

Kai Miano has performed in Zurich, parts of Italy, Budapest, Prague, Kiel, Frankfurt, Sao Paulo, LaRochelle, and London.  He currently has four releases in his diskography:  "Kai Miano Vol. 6(2006)", "Kai Miano Vol. 7 (2007)," "Smile While You Listen (2009)," and "Pure Piano (2010)."  His music is a blend of piano and instrumentation, much of it with an unmistakable European flare.  He can be heard on numerous internet radio stations around the globe, has recordings available on many websites and webpages,  and has quite a following in Europe.  

"This tour is going to give Kai an opportunity to build a following here, and get some exposure.  In addition, those who attend are going to have a great time.  It's a "win win" situation."  Donovan explains further, "Kai's music touches me in a way that's hard to describe.  It's so very different from anything I've been exposed to, and he puts his heart into every note that he plays.  It really feels good to be able to help him to establish himself here in this great country, even in these small ways.  Together, we're helping each other to create something that will be truly memorable to all who are a part.  It's an honor and a privilege to be able to work with him, and to help create this experience."

To stay up to date on tour information, visit Donovan's website at www.donovanjohnson.net.  To "demand" this concert in your town, visit Donovan's "Eventful" page and click "demand."  Then, leave him a message about your demand.  http://eventful.com/performers/donovan-johnson-/P0-001-003610352-7

For more information on Kai Miano, visit his website at www.kaimiano.com.

Both artists have songs available for listening and for download on youtube, CDBaby, myspace, and more!
10862986691?profile=original

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October

Donovan Johnson

2011 / Boxhouse Music Co.

58.9 minutes

October is pianist/composer Donovan Johnson’s fourth release, but is a first for me. I love finding artists who have something a little different to say through the medium of music, and Donovan is just such an artist. Often more energetic than many recordings that fall into the new age/contemporary piano genre, I like the way Donovan has alternated the faster tracks with those that are quieter and more peaceful. Some of the pieces are solo piano and some are more orchestrated with percussion and strong rhythms backing the piano. The eleven tracks include the three-part “Islands of October Suite,” which effectively combines pop, classical, and new age elements. In addition to composing, teaching, and performing, Donovan Johnson owns and operates EnlightenedPiano.com, an internet radio station that features an international roster of new age pianists. He has been playing the piano since the age of two, and started formal lessons shortly after that, continuing into college where studied performance and composition.


October begins with “Summerland,” a joyful and energetic piece that swirls and dances to a lively beat - an enticing opening piece! “Forward In Time” starts out mysteriously with a single repeated note setting the tempo. This theme weaves in and out of the 6 1/2 minute piece, alternating with a contrasting second theme that features a smooth and graceful piano with strings. I really like this one! “Andromeda” picks up the tempo again with a driving percussion track behind the effervescent piano. The title track is more on the wistful, dreamy side with light percussion and atmospheric synth sounds behind the piano. “Forgiveness” is another favorite - a slow, graceful piano solo that comes from the heart. “Resilience” is a beautiful ballad, this time accompanied by flute and strings. The more classical “Islands of October Suite” begins with “The Island of Japan,” a dramatic piano solo with themes that range from very dark and spare to a lively and sparkling flow. The second movement is “Castaway Island,” again a piano solo. Donovan demonstrates some very impressive playing chops in this one! “Isle Du Massacre” sounds pretty grim, but the piece is anything but. In the first theme, the left hand plays a driving rhythm while the right dances all over the piano. The second theme is slower and less structured, and then the first theme returns, taking the album to a joyful and breathless ending.


October is a great find if you like spirited pieces mixed in with the more contemplative music (I do!). It is available from www.donovanjohnson.net, Amazon, iTunes, and CD Baby. Recommended!


Kathy Parsons

MainlyPiano.com


3/7/1210862986472?profile=original

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NEW ARTICLE in The Examiner on Constance Demby, the Space Bass & Upcoming Concert on March 24

“If ever there was a choreographer of the ineffable, Demby is it.”

-Daniel Foster / LA International Travel Examiner   

http://www.examiner.com/international-travel-in-los-angeles/a-new-sound-for-a-new-age

NEW UPCOMING EVENTS with Constance Demby -

10862985701?profile=original"MUSIC from the HEART of LOVE" -March 24 Pasadena area

http://www.constancedemby.com/event.html

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Blessings For The simple Things

Dear friends, thankyou for the gift of music you share! I do enjoy hearing your new and old works. Apologies for not writing. Work has been very busy. I do find time to play guitar still, and am working on several compositions, one ballad and two ambient/trance tracks. On a happy note, Ivy and I are a family unit once again. She had battled severe depression last year. The commercial recording industry is a machine that tries to mould, package and sell artists to audiences for short term profit. Ivy still promotes and composes but will not be dominated by the shallow industry. She is on the road to recoverry. Thankyou for your prayers. Blessed be xxxxxx
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CONGRATULATIONS ZMR AWARDS WINNERS

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR CIRCLE MEMBERS WHO ARE WINNERS OF THE 2011 ZMR AWARDS

Jeff Oster, SAJJAD, Hennie Bekker, Paul Avgerinos, AOMusic, Lorrie Sarafin, Bill Leslie!

Thanks to all radio stations who voted and thank you Daryl and all our friends at ZMR:

http://zonemusicreporter.com/admin/award_finalists.asp


 Album Of The Year

Surrender

    Surrender      

     Artist: Jeff Oster

     Label: Retso Records

 

 

      _______________________________________________________________________

 Best New Artist

Where I Belong

    Where I Belong    

     Artist: Sajjad

     Label: Self Released

 

 

 

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 Best Contemporary Instrumental Album

Spectrum: An Anthology of Relaxing Instrumental Music

 Spectrum: An Anthology of Relaxing Instrumental Music

 Artist: Hennie Bekker

 Label: Abbeywood Records

 

 

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Best Electronic Album

Spectrum: An Anthology of Relaxing Instrumental Music

 Spectrum: An Anthology of Relaxing Instrumental Music

 Artist: Hennie Bekker

 Label: Abbeywood Records

 

 

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Best Relaxation/Meditation Album

BLISS

 BLISS

 Artist: Paul Avgerinos

 Label: Round Sky Music

 

 

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Best Chill/Groove Album

Surrender

 Surrender

 Artist: Jeff Oster

 Label: Retso Records

 

 

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Best World Album

... and Love Rages On!

 ... and Love Rages On!

 Artist: AOMusic

 Label: Self Released

 

 

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Best Native American Album

Many Paths

 Many Paths

 Artist: Lorrie Sarafin

 Label: Lizard Dance Productions

 

 

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Best Holiday Album

A Midnight Clear: Christmas in Mitford

 A Midnight Clear: Christmas in Mitford

 Artist: Bill Leslie

 Label: Capital Broadcasting Company

 

 

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Ancient Future Nominated for Two World Music Awards

About.com World Music Trailblazer Award and ZoneMusicReporter World Music Album of the Year

Ancient Future Receives About.com Reader's Choice Award Nomination

Vote for Ancient Future for the About.com World Music Trailblazer Award

On February 21, 2012, About.com announced that their readers had nominated Ancient Future for an award that seems tailor-made for the pioneering world fusion music ensemble: the About.com World Music Trailblazer Award!

To quote About.com, "This award is the second of our two artist's awards, intended for a band or artist who is breaking new territory in the realm of world music. That could mean an artist combining ancient instruments with modern recording techniques, a band who fuses multiple genres of ethnic music into something completely new, a pair of artists who've made a cross-cultural CD together, or any number of other things."

Formed in 1978, Ancient Future is the world's first and longest-running band dedicated to the creation of world fusion music, and as such it has been doing all of these things for over three decades! Fans of Ancient Future can vote for the band in the World Music Trailblazer category at:

http://worldmusic.about.com/b/2012/02/21/2012-about-com-world-music-readers-choice-awards-vote-now.htm

Fans can vote once daily in each category. Voting closes March 21.

Ancient Future Receives Best World Music Album of the Year Nomination

World Without Walls CD Cover Art

Featured Track: Lakshmi Rocks Me(streaming audio)

The About.com Reader's Choice Award was Ancient Future's second world music award nomination of the month. On February 12, 2012, ZoneMusicReporter announced that World Without Walls by Ancient Future with special guest Zakir Hussain was nominated by broadcasters worldwide for Best World Albumof 2011. The record debuted at #39 on the October 2011 ZMR Airplay Chart, which covers many different radio genres, from Ambient to Folk, Jazz, and World, and at #34 on the CMJ New World Chart in November 2011. Final award winners will be announced by ZoneMusicReporter on March 11th, 2012.

On June 7, 2011, the exact lineup of Ancient Future that performed on the band's influential World Without Walls recording reunited to perform for the first time in over 15 years at Yoshi's San Francisco and other venues. To celebrate the reunion, Capitol/EMI Records released the first ever digital version of Ancient Future's classic 1990 World Without Walls recording. Downloads are now available at all major digital retailers (iTunes, etc.). For those who prefer CDs, a limited number of rare collectible original 1990 edition copies signed by Ancient Future leader Matthew Montfort are on sale exclusively at Ancient-Future.Com.

14 Steps youtube video
Youtube Video of 'Turkish Taffy' Recorded at Yoshi's, San Francisco, 6/7/11

Ancient Future Band Biography

Ancient Future Photo Circa 1990 by Irene Young (Links to 864 x 570 Screen Version)
Ancient Future circa 1990. Pictured: Matthew Montfort (guitars), Jim Hurley (violin), Doug McKeehan (keys), Ian Dogole (percussion).

BILLBOARD calls the group "trendsetters" for contributing to the emerging movement known as world fusion music, a term Ancient Future leader Matthew Montfortcoined at the band’s inception for music that blends musical ideas from many different cultures. Their original music is an exhilarating fusion of exciting rhythms and sounds from around the globe that combines contemporary jazz and rock with the irresistible rhythms of African, Balinese, Indian, Middle Eastern and South American percussion, the rich harmonies of Europe, and the beautiful melodies of Asia.

In the years since the initial CD release of World Without Walls, Ancient Future has expanded from its core lineup through collaborations with noted masters of various world music traditions who are now an integral part of what is today more than just a band. Ancient Future has grown to become a large chamber ensemble of more than thirty performers from around the world with over a dozen smaller ensembles within it, enabling Ancient Future to realize its core mission of creating world fusion music.

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The Universe as a Symphony of Strings

The Universe as a Symphony of Strings

What do Fifth Century B.C. Pythagoreans have in common with modern state-of-the art cosmologists & physicists?  In a word - strings!  For the ancient Greek Pythagoreans it was the lyre string; modern scientists postulate infinitesimally small strings as the ultimate building blocks of the universe.

The Greeks found that the tone of a plucked lyre string corresponded to its length. Changing the length of the vibrating string changed the tone in a precise way; double the length and the tone goes down by a full octave; reduce the length by two-thirds, the note changes by a fifth.  The laws of music and harmonics are discovered and reduced to mathematics.  The Pythagoreans believe everything is based on music and math.

The Pythagoreans extended this thinking in attempt to explain the entire universe.  They partially succeeded but ultimately failed in their attempts.

Modern scientists now feel that they have the theory-of-everything , based on incredibly small strings.  These vibrating strings are the fundamental unit of all matter and energy.  When a string vibrates in a certain way, an electron results; change the vibration of this same string and another particle appears - the electron changes into a neutrino.  As with the plucked lyre, it is the string that is fundamental; the tone (in the musical example) or the subatomic particle, arise from the way that the string is vibrating.

Modern string theory also had its roots in mathematics.  The proposed strings are far too small to ever view directly.  Their existence was slowly recognized as the theory of strings solved formerly impossible problems in physics.  The beauty of the theory is that we eliminate the numerous "fundamental" particles that exist today and unite the formerly conflicting theories of Einstein & the Quantum theory. We potentially have a real theory-of-everything.  Same as the Pythagoreans sought thousands of years ago.

There is another group, growing in popularity today, that share an important links with the ancients & scientists of today, Vibratory Healers.  The string is the primary element with our first two groups, but it is the vibration, more precisely vibrational energy, that modern Alternative Healers utilize to produce wondrous results.

Vibrational energy has been found to be extremely versatile and effective, in its benefits to living things; why is this?  The form of the energy - vibrations - seems to be easily absorbed; frequencies are available for almost any need - in the exact amount of energy required.  The spectrum of vibratory frequencies is immense, offering precise and selective remedies to tune all elements of the Holistic Being... Body, Mind & Soul.

Vibratory Energy of the right frequencies has shown the ability to greatly accelerate the growth and resistance to disease and pests of many plants.  "Melodies" of frequencies derived from plant DNA was studied by French physicist,  Joel Sternheimer, and found to consistently produce accelerated plant growth.

Certain Sound Healing practioners have achieved impressive results "tuning" individuals with the use of unique tuning forks (Hulse).  For example, a tuning fork that emits a single frequency would be placed on the spine, or on key meridians to help loosen subtle energy, or alleviate back pain. Tones, rhythms and harmonics have been associated with chakra clearing, allowing vital subtle energy to enter our systems, producing health and vitality.

Modern Masters, many of them Indian Swamijs and Sufi masters are descendants of a long tradition that use sound to build moral and spiritual development. The master, Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji,  does healing concerts where modern day miracles are reportedly performed.  Many ancient spiritual masters held sound as the most powerful means of achieving & influencing the divine (similar to the Pythagorean tradition above).

Sharry Edwards has spent a lifetime demonstrating that the voiceprint of a human voice is a window on the underlying physical and emotional wellbeing of its owner.  Edwards has learned to read and correct imbalances in the human voice - all with vibratory energy - restoring health in the process.  In Edwards BioAcoustics, frequencies can be used in place of physical substances, such as vitamins, muscles and so on.  These frequency equivalents are noninvasive packets of energy that can selectively restore missing balance to the unharmonious soul.  The circle is complete when the restored frequencies are once more present in a new voiceprint is recording.

The author has studied the vibratory modalities of the Bach Soul Flower remedies and of facial skin and muscle rejuvenation potentials.  These seemingly very different aspects of nature are linked and made available or tuned and revitalized by the use of the appropriate sound energies.

Cousto learned to interpret the motions of the planets and stars into Star Tones, powerful forces for using and understanding Astrological Energies.  He played the music of the Stars - literally!

Fibonacci tones mirror patterns found throughout nature and the cosmic realm.  This set of frequencies is revealed in every aspect of creation, including the human body. The ancients believed that tuning to this pattern not only harmonized their souls and bodies, but connected them to the divine. The Solfeggio tones are mysteriously encoded in the Bible. In history and modern times each tone is reported to have its own healing benefit, such as one frequency used to repair DNA in scientific settings.   

Different scales with related note-pitches also have been touted to produce a variety of healing impacts. Scales such as the Pythagorean and Just intonation are created with different methods than those used in our current musical scale. Different vibratory patterns are associated with different impacts on the body.

Through the ages the idea of a vibrating string has been used again-and-again to help thinkers better understand the universe around us - and to gain insight into unseen mysteries - be that super-submicroscopic strings or the workings of the human body and the chakras... Einstein had it right, matter IS energy, all is vibration, everything is One, all can be shown to be the same - and we will evolve out of matter - and one day, all is united in the divine.

 

Jill Mattson:  Author, Composer

 and Artist

 

 

 

Jill Mattson is an author, artist, musician and widely recognized expert and composer in the emerging field of Sound Healing. She has written three books and produced six CD's that combine intricate Sound Healing techniques with her original musical compositions.  The CD's consist of intriguing, magical tracks that also offer deep healing and growth possibilities.

 

Jill lectures throughout the United States on "Ancient Sounds ~ Modern Healing" taking followers on an exciting journey revealing the healing power of sound.  She unveils secrets from ancient cultures as well as the latest findings of the modern scientific community showing the incredible potential and healing capabilities of sound.  Jill draws on her extensive research of modern Sound Healing, and over 20 year study of ancient civilizations and secret societies in her music, lectures, workshops and writings.

 

Please visit her websites where you can learn more about her in-depth studies and work.  Also available on the sites are additional free mp3's of her Sound Healing compositions, including Solfeggio Tones, Star Energy, Flower Frequencies, Fibonnaci and nature tones. www.jillswingsoflight.com, www.jillshealingmusic.com, You Tube channel: jillswingsoflight.

 

 

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