Paul Livingstone and Peter Jacobson offer soulful musical meditations on beauty and tranquility; helping the listener or yoga practitioner balance his or her inner world. Pete and Paul take inspiration from the Hindustani musical tradition and from Paul’s teacher and mentor Ravi Shankar who collaborated so eloquently with Yehudi Menuhin on violin and helped to popularize Hindustani music in the West. Pete and Paul also draw inspiration from American jazz improvisation. You may have heard Paul before on his several classical Hindustani or “ragajazz” crossover recordings, and Yarlung’s Sangam release in 2022.

Pete is a cello rock star, whom you may know from his tours and recordings with Rhye, Dr. Dre, Kamasi Washington and the West Coast Get Down, The Talking Strings, Quartetto Fantastico and Aux Cerna. You may also know him from film and television, including in The Walking Dead, Motherland and The Twighlight Zone. Paul and Pete have performed on GRAMMY-winning records by Ricky Kej, Ozomatli and Quetzal. Taos evokes magic, mystery, art, multiculturalism and majesty.

Home to the Tiwa-speaking Red Willow people of Taos Pueblo for more than a thousand years, Taos is also home to Spanish settlers from 1600, who founded the Spanish village of Taos in 1795. Taos offers breathtaking scenery, refreshing air and light and the magnificent smells of adobe earth, pinion and sagebrush. The area inspired some of the 20th Century’s most creative artists, including Georgia O’Keeffe, Ansel Adams and D.H. Lawrence. The native Red Willow people, the Tiwa Indians in Taos, practice a hybrid religion today, incorporating the conflicting tenants of their native religion with Roman Catholicism superimposed by the Spanish padres over hundreds of years. If one asks a devout Tiwa friend about the conflicts, he or she may shrug and may comment that one can follow both truths.

This ability for people in Taos to incorporate disparate theologies and world views will help us understand the multiple spiritual inspirations for the music on this recording. –Bob Attiyeh, producer

Something magical can happen when two rivers meet, two traditions collaborate, or two talented friends work hard on a joint creation. Paul Livingstone on sitar and Pete Jacobson on cello take inspiration from the Hindustani musical tradition, and from Paul’s teacher and mentor Ravi Shankar who collaborated so eloquently with Yehudi Menuhin on violin and helped to popularize Hindustani music in the West. Pete and Paul also draw inspiration from American jazz improvisation. Sangam, in Hindi, means many things, including “confluence,” or the blending of two people, ideas or traditions into something fresh and new. Paul and Pete focus on the Hindustani tradition in this recording. Hindustani music centered in Northern India after diverging from Carnatic music in the 12th Century. The most basic elements in South Asian classical music are the raga and tala. A raga is traditionally a monophonic melody, though Paul and Peter take liberties, incorporating occasional counterpoint and harmony (often in thirds). Each raga adheres to a strict musical structure, which can be executed vocally or on instruments in their individual styles. The tala is the cyclic rhythmic framework which outlines a beat cycle and provides the glue to bring the instruments together in polyrhythmic play. I love what Pete and Paul do within this classical tradition, blended from time to time on this album with their inspired incorporations of new music and jazz. This is not as far-fetched or radical as it may at first seem; both Indian classical musicians and modern jazz cats focus on improvisation on the main melody or idea, just as European players did in the Renaissance. (Bob Attiyeh, producer)

“Marcus Aurelius, warrior emperor, philosopher and poet during the Second Century AD, reminds us that people with enormous power do not always fall victim to their own vanity. Total power may usually corrupt totally, but not always. I find this heartening, especially in 2022 during another time of war, where titanic egos guiding powerful militaries battle each other with real life consequences for ordinary people and elites alike. Aurelius was indeed a bloodily victorious commander of Roman legions, defeating numerous enemies on the battle field during his reign. But the emperor continued his introspective journey throughout most of his life, honing his “inner world,” to use a modern phrase, as he tried to maintain a balance between being the most powerful person on the planet and a man answerable to his own conscience and higher philosophy.

"Brussels-based classical, jazz, funk and new-age composer Koben Sprengers notes that Aurelius’ “Meditations,” as they are popularly known, were written not for publication but “for himself, as a sort of diary or personal notebook; to frequently remind himself of the important lessons and wisdom he had learned from the ancient philosophers. Since his writings were aimed at himself, I found that these paragraphs had a very intimate, familiar voice to them. Like a grandfather patiently explaining something to his overly curious grandchild, almost soothing….” I hope Marcus Aurelius’ stable intelligent voice and vision, as portrayed in his own words and through music composed by the young firebrand Koben Sprengers, gives you solace and inspiration during this remarkable and troubling period of history.” (Bob Attiyeh, producer)