Citizen Staff Writer
First look: CDs

“Dean and Dudley Evenson present Healing the Holy Land, A Musical Journey of Faith” (Soundings of the Planet)

Grade: A+

Genre: New Age

Remember when hippies believed if we just held hands around the planet for a few minutes and sang the same folk song we would finally have world peace? The married couple Dean and Dudley Evenson are equally idealistic musicians. They started this record label in Tucson in 1979, dedicated to the belief that music could heal the spirit. Soundings of the Planet has since moved to the Northwest, but their dedication remains strong.

In the spirit of this holiday season the Evensons have compiled from the three Abrahamic faiths of Jews, Christians and Muslims this collection of sacred chants and songs that share a common yearning for peace. For 2,000 years these “People of the Book” have claimed and counter-claimed the crescent of civilization we call the Holy Land.

So many centuries of difficult times have inspired a rich musical heritage reflected by these 12 tracks. Many contain the sadness implied by minor chords. Some ride on the loping rhythms we associate with camel caravans. A few reflect the serenity of contemplation in prayer.

To sit quietly and listen with thoughtfulness to all the tracks is to feel the significance of how much the three faiths really do share. And to wonder what has fed so many centuries of hatred and suspicion.

Surely what we have in common is so much greater than our differences.

CHUCK GRAHAM

Tucson Citizen

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 13th, 2007 at 12:00 am and is filed under Calendar Plus. Tags for this post: Arizona, Chuck Graham, First look: CDs, page-L26, Tucson. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.