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Bhajan

by Nicholas Chase

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1.
Bhajan: 1. Bindu 10:55
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2.
Bhajan: 2. Drshti 11:12
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3.
Bhajan: 3. Japa 11:57
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4.
Bhajan: 4. Bhajan 12:44
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about

Bhajan, described by one critic as “a pas de deux between violin and electronics,” is composer Nicholas Chase‘s free-wheeling yet meditative four-part work for electric violin and live electronics. Influenced by musics from around the globe, the work bewitches the ear with a breadth of sounds that ebb and flow as if guided by an elusive but inherent sense of logic. It features violinist Robin Lorentz, with the composer performing the electronics part.

The composer writes about Bhajan:
"When I was four, my dad brought me to his homeland of Syria. I was plunged into an unfamiliar but wildly rich world of sound. Music was everywhere in Damascus and merged continuously with the sounds of daily life. It spilled out of cabs, restaurants, and shop doors and belted down from balconies where young men in pajamas smoked cigarettes and shouted conversations with their friends on the street. Old DeSoto cabs honked cartoon-sounding horns indiscriminately at bell-clad donkeys pulling merchants who advertised their wares in loud, song-like chants. News broadcasts and television shows were as frequently interrupted by advertisements as they were by the latest chart-topper from Egyptian mega-star Fairuz or an old standard by Egyptian singing legend Umm Kulthum or a lively tune by Syria’s own Sabah Fakhri and his orchestra. Even in the otherwise silent hours just before dawn the gentle recitations of the imam hovered over the city, offering prayers of protection and devotion and, as the sun rose, dissolving into choruses of mourning doves cooing over my bedroom window. . . . That experience shaped my understanding of the world as an ongoing, uninterrupted musical experience."

Robin Lorentz, electric violin
Nicholas Chase, computer/electronics


“Sci-fi ambience sets the stage for the full impact of Lorentz’s expressive, lyrical, rhapsodic virtuosity…. An extraordinary arc of pure sound has led to a celestial rainbow.” (Gramophone magazine)

“This new soloist and live processing collaborative release from Cold Blue Music begs the question: Has there been a more effective use of the Eb chord since Wagner’s Ring cycle? It opens the 46-minute Bhajan, and from there, no one looks back. Unlike so much new music, composer Nicholas Chase and former California EAR Unit violinist Robin Lorentz have fashioned a disc whose power and beauty need no garishness for the myriad statements they make.” (Fanfare magazine)

“Characterizing Chase’s quietly provocative Bhajan as a drone piece isn’t wholly accurate, given its foundation in Hindustani music, but it does exude some of the immersive characteristics of ambient-drone material. At the same time, there’s a melodic dimension in play, even if sometimes a subtle one, that puts some degree of distance between this rather bewitching electro-acoustic creation and ambient-drone material in its purest form.” (Textura)

credits

released January 20, 2017

Bhajan was commissioned by and composed for Robin Lorentz
Produced by Nicholas Chase and Robin Lorentz
Recorded, edited, and mixed by Nicholas Chase, Mercer Island, WA, and Eugene, OR
Mastered by Scott Fraser, Architecture, Los Angeles, July 2016
Design by Jim Fox
Cover photo by Nicholas Chase
Interior photo by Andy Futreal

Bhajan © 2013 Nicholas Chase (ASCAP)
CD p & © 2017 Cold Blue Music www.coldbluemusic.com

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Nicholas Chase Eugene, Oregon

Nicholas Chase‘s boundary-stretching music has been described as “brawling yet taut” (Los Angeles Times); “quietly provocative … compelling” (Textura); “brilliant” (The Strad); and “the human brain at its most imaginative” (LA Weekly). He has headlined festivals in Europe and the US as a composer, performer, and improviser, integrating kinetic visuals with strong musical statements. ... more

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