Romanzo Divino
This album was recorded in three continents between 2007 and 2009, during which time I left England to be with the love of my life in Argentina, following which we moved to India. It chronicles creative developments in two significant areas of my music. The first is the use of Meher Baba’s words in songs, notably the chant Everything Disappears in the Ocean of Love and his quotes on art in El Arti del Arte. The second is the use of new instruments, the harp and charango. In 1992 I bought a do-it-yourself kit for a Celtic harp, but making it was beyond me, so I tried to find someone to do it for me. To cut a long story short, it was eventually finished by Purple Dave in Oxford, one month before I moved to Argentina. I fell in love with it immediately, as if I had been playing it all my life. Icarus with the Mermaids was recorded after I had been playing it for only 3 weeks. As soon as I arrived in Argentina I bought myself a Paraguayan harp which can be heard on You Are Not Alone and Una Noche Iraní Intoxicada. Shortly after I also bought a charango which has a very sweet sound and complements the Armenian duduk beautifully. On Arte por Amor (Art for the Sake of Love) the charango is played by my wife Carla de Sousa.
I was very fortunate to be able to collaborate with Bob Een on his trip to Meherabad in 2009, and although time was very tight he laid down a couple of cello tracks on Everything Disappears in the Ocean of Love and El Arti del Arte. Thankyou Bob!
Delirio del Corazón, ecstatic chanting of names
of God, features the Argentinian group on backing vocals and Claudio Zanetto on
the dumbek, a Middle Eastern drum. This track is also on the Argentinian group’s
album Muchas Voces, Un Corazón. There is also a video of Meher Baba's Samadhi to the music of Lament of the Troubador.
3 You Are
Not Alone 4 Lament
of the Troubador video of Meher Baba's Samadhi 5 Everything
Disappears in the Ocean of Love 6 Una
Noche Iraní Intoxicada