R e v i e w s

“Gerardo Miguel Maza’s “Rainforest Awakening”
evokes the magic and mystery of a shaman journey”.
Serge Kahili King, author of Urban Shaman

“Poly rhythms and multiethnic instrumentation together with nature sounds make this a fascinating and exotic release.”
White Swan

“Maza”s music is important. It expresses transcendence of differences and calls for
the harmony that is so badly needed among all that occupy this fractured planet.”
Joanne Yamada, Honolulu Weekly Newspaper

“Inspired to save the worlds’ rain forests, the artists create intricate, organically
interweaving, expansive music combined with rich nature sounds, cacophonies
of verdant rainforest life. Ranging from meditative pieces to dynamic tunes, there’s
a free form musical essence that is appropriate to the accompanying random
movement of weather, light, creature sounds and wind. Nature sounds simply weave
through with a great deal more authority than heard in most albums.”
Acacia for Heart song Review

“This album is a celebration of the beauty and importance of tropical rain forests
worldwide, and is intended to draw attention to the insane destruction of rain forests particularly in Asia and South America. The contents offer musical inspiration for personal visions of jungle beauty perhaps even visions of the remaining shreds of virgin rain forests here in Hawaii.”
John Berger, Honolulu Star Bulletin

“Maza is a talented, versatile musician, carrying off a complex Spanish guitar solo with as much ease as a Moroccan frame drum beat; his voice is like warm honey.”
P. J. Birosik, New Age Retailer

“A varied offering this, with many moods to suit many tastes and a little different too. Melodic and interesting at all times, this is one recording that provokes thought, bears repeated listens, and leaves a warm glow.”
“The Sound Mind “ magazine

“Composer /keyboardist Gerardo Miguel Maza used an eclectic squad of performers for a
three year period to realize this imaginative cross-cultural odyssey.”
John Berger,Star Bulletin

“Composer Gerardo Miguel Maza’s new CD The Conscious Flow of Dreams is rich with a variety of contemporary music . He mixes life’s sounds with a roster of talented musicians , and a unique array of instruments.”
Angeline Acain, Ohohia

Through the bells of Tibet, Nepal and Thailand, the wind is blowing not only air but sacred music. Transporting us not only inside a temple but also inside the hearts of African drums and the classical sound of Spain, Argentina, Gypsy music(Roma, Manouch, Gitans) and inside the city of Tokyo. These dreams flow and scream a peace for the world, the language of music slowly fades away with one thousand candles floating on the ocean. This album should be in every persons car or home, its a celebration of dream and hope.
"The Conscious Flow of Dreams" is a dream itself, leading us to only one direction, awareness and hope that music will never die.
PS: please help this artist to realize this dream and to continue this message, its not him that you will help but the message that he is giving freely to the world. A offering to the Goddess and Gods ( the alter of consciousness)
Herve Montagne, visual artist

…This is New Agey world fusion music… Don’t let anyone tell you that nothing good comes from such a touchy-feely genre.
…this music is most emphatically not Yanni/John Tesh material. …the poly rhythms and instrumentation are more often than not fresh and interesting. Even more so are the tracks that stray farthest from genre formula: "Hua Lele Wa Lei Wa," for instance, is an intoxicating multi-tonal chant….
…Maza and company have enough genuine heartfelt performances up their 100 percent hemp sleeves to please the most cynical punk rocker.
Brett McCallum, SPLENDID online music magazine

"Earth Wave Productions Gerardo Maza is a multi-instrumentalist that brings us a rare collection of world fusion music. Over a dozen different musicians from all around the world are included in the collection. Various vocals and styles are also represented on several tracks. World fusion instrumentation includes flutes, chimes, rainsticks, tablas, shekeres, congas, violin, mouth organ, guitar, keyboards, bass, and assorted percussion. A plethora of singing styles, musical rhythms and patterns and instruments are composed on The Conscious Flow Of Dreams. Assorted environmental sounds are also interspersed throughout the album. World fusionists should relish Gerardo Maza’s latest release of world fusion ear candy."
Reviewed by Matthew J. Forss for
INSIDE WORLD MUSIC

Gerardo Maza's newly released world-beat album, Grain of Sand, is an adventurous voyage into the ancient traditions of Middle Eastern music, as well as an upbeat blend of modern jazz fusion, and tribal drum grooves. The predominant lively tracks, replete with non-stop whirling Dervish riffs, provides a captivatingly modern interpretation of ancient Sufi
mystical traditions. This wondrous recording has an awesomely enchanting ambiance, and provokes a wide range of evocative moods. This is the gift that Maza so deftly reveals as he bares his soul to his audience. Launched into orbit by this rich, swirling sound montage, Grain of Sand encourages the listeners to let go and enjoy the bliss of every enthralling moment as we gently return back to the center of healing…our own inner being.
LOREN LEWISOHN, Visionary writer and videographer.

In Rambles, Alicia Karen Elkins calls Grain of Sand "emotionally charged" and "skillfully composed and executed," and adds "…you might love this collection."

“Sky Pilot elevates your mood and settles you with its light, lively beat. The guitar work is fantastic, with a Spanish style.”
"Throughout the selections…the percussion is especially noteworthy. I loved the variety of sounds and techniques.... Time Line has a traditional chant to Shiva and the most outstanding percussion of the entire collection. This percussion is killer!"

ALICIA KAREN ELKINS, RAMBLES Online Magazine

SONGS OF A DISTANT PLANET evoked a tonal experience of an ancient Indian ragina that commingled the creative masculine and receptive feminine elements, and its introduction was like the alap section of the Darbari, a particularly dramatic evening raga.
Your melodic patterns, cyclical cadences, and microtonal shadings were like gamaks, the ornaments upon which sacred raga improvisation were based, and your sustained tones (which I loved) supported and held together a rich vadi/samvadi relationship, a perfected balance of tonal durations and suptle changes, which is only present during the most sacred shruti tunings.
You accomplished what Indian Masters have done by combining musical elements the way a chemist would - by mixing certain properties of medicinal drugs for the best absorption in the body, in order to effect profound curative results

Those who had studied the sacred art knew that blending the exact tonal frequencies could make all the difference in healing various illnesses. Every tone in their ragas was an essential element used to restore the health of a person. They considered which tones were warmer, drier, or more fluid, for instance, and which ones could be combined to produce certain healing effects in the mind, body, and emotions.
Once again, your music nurtured my spirit, allowed me to enter a profoundly beautiful environment, and reminded me of what Leonard Bernstein once said, “Music revives and readapts time and space, - and the measure of its success is the extent to which it makes you an inhabitant of that world - the extent to which it invites you in and lets you breathe its strange, special air." Your music is like that…

Yes, as you’ve said before, “Music is one of the ways to connect to the truth.” It is also how Beethoven described music as “a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy, the only incorporeal entry into a higher world of knowledge.”
You are a gifted musician. May your work continue to bring its beauty and truth into the world for many more years to come.
May God bless you always,

Carole Theaux, BS, RDMS, is a graduate of St. John's University and was a pioneer in the field of education and music. During the 1960’s, she founded and directed one of the first Montessori schools in America, and designed special ‘sound environments’ for children in private and public schools during her many years as a teacher. Her musical background spans over 40 years in western and eastern traditions, and the study of the history of sacred music Her graduate studies at NYU and the New School for Social Research included the science and physics of sound, music composition involving acoustic instruments and electronic synthesizers, ultrasound technology and diagnostic medical sonography, and the healing power of music. In 2000, she presented a program at Brown University on the effects of sound and music on the brain and human development. That year, she was invited to China where she gave lectures to large audiences in Beijing, and participated in a special concert by Chinese and American musicians. She resides in New York.

Through Saturn, the Galaxies and the Infinit
A brief stopover in Hawai, where we find a trio headed by the Argentinian Gerardo Maza. The title of his disc is an agenda in itself, Tribal Warriors Travel Through Space (Earth Wave Productions, 2006)

Along with Maza we find the flutist Mark Weinstein and the percussionist Greg
Pai. It’s not Maza’s first lp, he’s published various works through Earth Wave, all of them inspired by a mystical and pantheistic vision.

With its world music, psychedelica, obsessive and electronic drones, the keyboardist’s work fascinates through a spirited blend of acoustic instruments (ethnic percussion, wind instruments, etc.), electronic texture and sound effects. This world-fusion, psychedelic innovation, long tribal pulsations and jazzy flavor all coexist in an album whose smooth, hypnagogic nuances and LSD temptations (quasi trance) don’t belong to the current space rock trend, but resemble it through a version not far from that of Special EFX.

Udu drum, kaxixi and kalimba sustain a subtle theme of guitar synths and flute, in a dreamy and exotic atmosphere, with frequent use of 7/4 rhythms that lend a touch of suspense and mystery, almost devotional. A disc that fans of the connection between diverse sonic zones and cultures will love, particularly because of the approach to the themes and development typical of ethnic jazz.
A Voyage through Space-Music
by Donato Zoppo
of
MovimentiProg

One way to view Gerardo's music is to acknowledge that the compositions are "freedom psalms."
This interpretive series of 10 lively, yet subtle tracks represents a radical departure from his earlier albums, which are more styalized into readily definable musical forms. While his previous albums were chockfull of Earthen based waves of joy, peace and bliss - reminiscent of a wondrous journey into nature's organic heart space, TRIBAL WARRIORS delves way beyond pre-launch, and orbits listeners into the very heart of change itself. This awareness represents a merging of the best of our primordial, anncestral roots. The present and unborn futures.

LOREN LEWISOHN, Visionary writer and videographer.