Zazen

Zazen is world music. By that I mean that it's instrumental -- nobody is excluded from the music because they don't speak a particular language. In addition, the themes of our music create a conjunction of understandings between cultures by intermixing musical traditions in new ways.

Initially I met the members separately, introduced them to each other and conceived of the idea for the band Zazen.

I am the producer for the music of Zazen, and I also write a great deal of the music itself. Initially I come up with the title and the central theme of each album, the title and central theme of each song, and a large number of the guitar melodies and percussion sequences in the music itself. The majority of the guitar music is then written by our guitarist, Joaquin Lievano. As a producer it is my job to make sure that the initial melodies are entertaining and exciting and then to add different levels of instrumentation, counterpoint, and very often alter rhythmic structures. So in a sense, I come up with the initial idea for the album and the songs within the album, work with the band members in the composition phase and then I am the critical member of the band who is charged with changing, reformatting, rewriting and determining the overall mix. In addition it is also my job to keep everyone in the band happy. So you might say I also do a bit of management.

The inspiration for the diverse Zazen albums comes from both within and from without. I travel a great deal to countries around the world and am very interested in both classical composition and structure and also in ethnic music. So very often I may be in Fiji, the Caribbean, or in the Far East and be influenced by rhythm structures and melodies I hear there. But by and large, my compositional background is classical -- that is to say, I draw heavily from Beethoven, Bach, Berlioz, Vivaldi, Handel, and many other less well known classical composers.

I think it is the responsibility of each of us who is a citizen of the planet Earth, to recognize both the fragility and the beauty of our environment. Very often I write songs about places in the world that are still perfect, pure and magical in order to draw attention to these areas which need to be safe-guarded and preserved for future generations. In contrast to that, in some of the techno and rock compositions that I have been involved with, I have explored some of the darker themes, tensions and rhythm structures of the inner cities in which many of the inhabitants of our planet live.