About Lua Maria:
Lua Maria is a multilingual singer songwriter. Her music comes from a place of love and respect for earth and humanity. She offers concerts and ceremonial sound journeys.
luamaria.bandcamp.com/
About Adrian Freedman:
Alongside the musical journey of my life there has been a spiritual quest, and alongside the many professional concerts and recordings there has always been an interest in the world of music for meditation, music for devotional practice, music for sacred rituals and ceremonies, and music for healing.
I was also drawn to the mysterious sounds of faraway places. The term ‘world music’ had not yet been invented, and recordings from around the world were mostly hidden away in music libraries.
When I first came across the sounds of traditional Japanese music I felt an instant attraction. Even though the sounds came from such a distant culture they felt somehow familiar. Later I would come to spend seven years living in Japan, in Kyoto, the ancient capital, where I became absorbed in studies of the shakuhachi - the Zen bamboo flute. I was fortunate to have a great teacher - shakuhachi master Yokoyama Katsuya.
Playing the shakuhachi is very much a solitary activity. Long hours of sitting quietly cross-legged on a cushion, playing the same long notes over and again, going deeper with each breath … into the sound, and through the sound to what lies beyond the sound … into the Ma - the great silence from which all sounds rise and fall.
When I was living in Japan immersed in this contemplative shakuhachi practice, and also engaged in musical collaborations with many other musicians, I met one day some Brazilian singers that came from a spiritual community deep within the Amazon Rainforest. They invited me to take part in sacred ceremonies they were hosting in Kyoto, and this encounter opened up a new musical dimension for me - the simple and sacred music of healing forest rituals.
After many years absorbed in the music of Japanese culture I left Japan to go live in Brazil, where I entered onto a personal path of healing and spiritual practice, taking part in forest rituals where music and song plays a central role. The time I spent in Brazil also brought deeper insights into my understandings of the Zen music of Japan, and of the meditative, healing and devotional aspects of music in general.
The music of the ancient shakuhachi and the music of Brazilian sacred rituals are both rooted in tradition, while being open to new possibilities. Traditions like these flow freely like a river, allowing innovation and renewal to arise, as new music flows naturally from the old forms.
The message of my music has evolved as my own learning and my own healing journey has evolved. In a general sense you could say it’s a message for our times. What seems to be needed is an opening of the heart, an awareness of the subtle vibrations of the heart, and of the simple wisdom that lies deep within. From this place comes a sound that heals, that brings peace and tranquility, that purifies and uplifts… a transcendental acoustic music of the heart.
adrianfreedman.bandcamp.com/