The Breath

Hope Is Where We Live
Ra Of Sunshine
Crescent Moon
Be Longing
Jack B. Nimble
Metric Meditation
Summer Stroll
Ocean of Sand (Fixed)
Wind Over Baghdad
Shadows of Courage
Lightness From The Dark

Recorded June 2018 - February 2022
All Compositions by Tom Teasley T2Music
All recording, mixing, editing, and mastering by Jim Robeson Productions.

Instruments:

1. Gon Bops Hybrid Kit Consisting of Djembe, Cajon, Bongos, Pandeiro, Tombali (My adaptation of a timbale-bass drum), Sabian Cymbals
Melodica, Rav Vast Drum
2. Yamaha Hip Gig Custom, Sabian Cymbals, ATV aFrame Drum
3. Cooperman frame Drum, Melodica Sabian Crotales, Sabian Cymbals, Gon Bops Hybrid Kit, Korg Minilogue
4. Rav Vast Drum - G Pygmy Scale
5. Gon Bops Hybrid Kit, Melodica, Hubb Darbuka
6. Gon Bops Hybrid Kit, Sabian Cymbals Hugh Tracy Kalimba, Korg Minilogue
7. Gon Bops Hybrid Kit, Sabian Cymbals, Gyil, Gon Bops Caxixi, Korg Minilogue
8. Gon Bops Hybrid Kit, Sabian Cymbals, Rav Vast Drum - D Celtic Minor Scale Melodica,
9. Gon Bops Hybrid Kit, Sabian Cymbals, ATV aFrame Drum
10. Shadows of Courage – Rav Vast Drum – Arabian Night Scale
11. Gon Bops Hybrid Kit, Rav Vast Drum – D Celtic Minor Scale, Sabian Cymbals, Melodica

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Thank you for listening to my newest release! I hope it provides some listening enjoyment and potential healing, meditative experience. Much of this was recorded before, during, and after the pandemic. There is an intent of hope and healing throughout the collection that permeates every track. This music can serve as a still and moving meditation and reflects my current interest in the functional healing properties of music and sound.
This collection exemplifies my multicultural experiences touring for the US Department of State like several previous releases. Wind Over Baghdad and Crescent Moon are inspired by my tour of Iraq and the magical feeling that the country imparts. I utilized the Arabic Hajiz scale in these pieces. I find the crotales a magical instrument and like them in combination with the melodica. Hope Is Where We Live, Ocean of Sand, and Lightness From the Dark are meditative pieces that feature the Rav Vast Drum combined with the hybrid kit and melodica. These were created as a type of contemplative prayer during the pandemic. I continue to find meditative solace in these pieces. I hope you agree. Be Longing and Shadows of Courage are solo turns on the Rav Vast. Here, I am exploring a variety of percussive and melodic textures on various Rav Vast drums. The latter selection is a homage to the bravery of the Ukrainian people.

I want to combine unusual and ancient instruments with digital and electronic technology. Both Ra of Sunshine, dedicated to the extraterrestrial sonic explorer Sun Ra, and Wind Over Baghdad use the ATV innovative instrument, the a Frame Drum, which has remarkable touch nuance allowing me to change pitches by applying various amounts of pressure to the drumhead. Ra of Sunshine and Jack B. Nimble are examples of my jazz roots.

Within this collection of sonic explorations, I aim to deliver spontaneous and grooving music, meditative and healing experiences, and widen the sonic tent we all live under.

Thank you for taking this journey with me.

Peace,
Tom

Tom would like to thank master engineer Jim Robeson for his great work on this and all my projects. Thanks to Rich Mangicaro at Gon Bops Percussion, Bruce Parry at Sabian Cymbals, John Wittman, and Greg Crane at Yamaha Drums and Percussion.