Cycles

“Just as anyone who listens to the muse will hear, you can write out of your own intention or out of inspiration. There is such a thing. It comes up and talks.

And those who have heard deeply the rhythms and hymns of the gods, the words of the gods, can recite those hymns in such a way that the gods will be attracted.”

~ Joseph Campbell, Esalen, 1983

I seem to be circling back to the night in August of 1978 when I met the sound engineer Les Kahn for the first time. Les was creating the live sound mixes for the Common Ground tour of the Paul Winter Consort, and Paul had invited me to the show following an interview we had earlier in the day. During those years Les was also working in a studio with David and friends, creating recordings of David’s compositions, and just last week Les shared one of the tapes with me. There on the track sheet was David’s composition “Cycle Song,” which he later recorded on his album Cycles for the ECM label. Over the years I have heard David reimagine this music many times in concert with the Tai Chi movements of Chungliang Al Huang. 

David and I recorded a new variation of “Cycle Song” in 2007 as “Heaven Here On Earth” for the album Prayer For Compassion.  The music featured in the video below was recorded as David rebuilt the composition one track at a time, listening to his own muse and adding touches with each pass until it began to speak of the moment. 

Judy and I offer it here in the hopes that it might serve in your own journey.

Mickey