“Cantelina” by Paul Schwartz [1999]

My attempt at writing about Latin music most days fizzled in my busy winter break. Travels to Minnesota for family, Chicago for a conference, and then (finally!) Costa Rica for a fantastic honeymoon left little time. For now, I don’t plan to write much, but I still want to share all the great music. Plan on seeing posts nearly every day, but with less description or context than in the past. I am also going back to the original format of this blog: click shuffle and post the first song, no matter what. As always, enjoy the music!

First up, a short neo-classical/New Age meditation by Paul Schwartz.

“Sedona Suite: Sunrise” by Tom Barnabas [1992]

Look at these photos while listening.

Since our grand canyon trip failed due to heavy snow, my fiancee and I took a day trip to Sedona. That, in turn, brought to my attention that Music History has never featured any New Age music… 

In 1978 Dick Sutphon, a regional (Southwest) author in the growing New Age movement, published a book called Past Lives, Future Loves. In it, Sutphon described a spiritual experience he had at an “energy vortex” on a red rock mesa in the heart of Sedona. Word about Sedona spread rapidly into other New Age publications and soon to the point that a large New Age gathering occurred there during a major astrological convergence in 1987.  

Although somewhat distinct from the leaderless movement as a whole, New Age musicians have been drawn to the area for many of the same reasons: spiritual and visual inspiration. As you can see in the photos, the red rock buttes and mesas are stunning year-round. One of the more popular (and relatively early) New Age CDs to directly reference the area was Tom Barabas’ 1992 Sedona Suite. The first segment of the four-part title suite is posted above. In the past two decades, many New Age musicians have released music about the area, from unknown local performers to Yanni.