Songs From The Bardo (LP)
Laurie Anderson , Tenzin Choegyal , Jesse Paris Smith
Amoeba Review
07/28/2020
The initial seed of Songs From The Bardo was planted a decade ago, when Tibetan singer/multi-instrumentalist Tenzin Choegyal and composer/activist Jesse Paris Smith (daughter of Patti) met at a fundraiser to benefit the preservation of Tibetan culture. Along the way performance artist icon Laurie Anderson was added to the fold, and the result is the mesmerizing Bardo, an 80 minute presentation of text from The Tibetan Book Of The Dead. The work is meant to "draw the listener into the present moment and provide a framework for inner exploration," and works beautifully on multiple levels, transformative both musically and mentally while incorporating a rich verbal and instrumental heritage into a contemporary and accessible setting.