Laraaji - The visionary of free-form ambient

Peaceful and level-headed enough to keep his distance from the chatter of current affairs, in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan lives a sage by the name of Edward Larry Gordon, known by his stage name Laraaji or, to be precise, Laraaji Nadabrahmananda. Born in Philadelphia in 1943, he has revealed very little about his life, preferring to let a generous discography speak for him instead, one that has expanded the timbral and interpretive possibilities of ambient and new age.

Laraaji, let's start with one of your earliest recordings, “Celestial Vibration”, 1978: what were you searching for back then?

In the days of “Celestial Vibration”, I was seeking a connection with people through music, a connection on a level where eternal celestial unity could manifest itself, alive and responsive to my call.

Does the timbre of a musical instrument influence composition?

The timbre of the instrument definitely affects the direction of my musical improvisations; depending on how I manage to handle the various timbres, the piece emerges from the depths of imagination, and I adapt to that particular type of sound, whether it's soft, dark, open and bright, sustained or brief.

Which timbres bring out the best in you?

The sounds of strings, flute, harp and certain synthetic orchestral timbres heighten creativity and spontaneity in my improvisations. In particular, acoustic, natural timbres make me feel an almost palpable vitality and passion. In short, with certain instrumental timbres I manage to access a greater intimacy and to express myself more incisively.

Are you working on any new material?

I've just completed a series of eight compositions for a BBC program that uses the nature-focused field recordings of Chris Watson, former member of Cabaret Voltaire.

Natural sounds aside, what inspires you?

My boundless inspiration comes through meditative understanding and contemplation of the present moment, conditions in which I feel myself within a vastness that transcends me, within an eternal whole. These sensations are translated, effortlessly, into inspiration and, consequently, into flowing improvisations.

What happens during your Laughter Meditation Workshops?

These sessions begin with guided call and respond chants, with various laughter exercises aimed at the body's inner energy centers, followed by the opportunity to lie down and create, each in their own way, a liberating laugh, which we can then use every morning before getting out of bed. It concludes with a specific call and respond chant, a bioenergetic dance, another chant, and a moment of reflection and sharing.

Are there scientific publications confirming the beneficial power of laughter?

Self-induced laughter opens up the potential of our inner laughter to more spontaneous episodes of laughing, and ideally sets us up for a better life. Moreover, self-induced laughter allows us to benefit on a deeper level from the healing powers attributed to it, such as the dilation of blood vessels, the strengthening of the immune system, the release of stagnant air in the lungs, the massaging of the abdominal organs, and the stimulation of hormone release. Indian physician Madan Kataria and his wife Madhuri have studied and documented the health benefits of intense laughter, finding that 15 minutes a day is a good practice for freeing the mind, heart and body from harmful tension and stress.

Many composers view new age music with suspicion. What do you think this is due to?

I think this attitude toward new age music, often regarded as "muzak," developed because of the flood of this kind of music used as background filler everywhere by the media, tracks lacking compositional enthusiasm, vitality, passion, or any real sense of pleasure.

I'll ask you the same question I asked Iasos, Constance Demby and Steven Halpern: does sound have undeniable therapeutic value?

I would say that consciousness has the capacity to heal itself through an experience that transcends it, that is, without the filters imposed by the Self. The eternally pervasive current of cosmic sound has the capacity to allow the consciousness that inhabits us to remain in the eternal present, integrating us into a state of continuous expansion of our being-unity, a state of wholeness with no more limits.

Your style favors acoustic instruments: so what role do you assign to electronics?

In my early school years I was part of orchestras, bands and choirs. Then, as a musician, I started out with acoustic instruments: violin, piano, trombone, voice and wind instruments in general. During my exploration of inner meditation and contemplation, I receive new sonic visions and an expanded focus on space and time. These updates inspire new sound paintings each time, paintings that convey a blissful lightness, a deep harmonic flow and, precisely, sketch a portrait of this indefinitely expanded space-time. In my musical creativity, electronics function as an inclusive element, allowing me to mirror these ethereal, transcendent places through innovative sounds. Reverb, delay and looper effects let me play with that specific space-time awareness during performances.

Listening back to an album like "Lotus Collage", a precise conception of rhythm emerges, one that's foreign to many ambient composers.

The sense of rhythm that manifests in me most likely stems from the many experiences tied to dance, or simply to the life I've lived. I conceive of rhythm as the temple of a communion I know I'm part of, a unique celebration I'm allowed to dwell within whenever I evoke this specific celebratory form.

The most important teaching given to you by one of your masters, the Indian guru Satchidananda Saraswati?

Swami Satchidananda confirmed to me that the object of yoga meditation is nothing other than a serene life. To this day, he continues to communicate to me the sacredness of self-induced inner trance and the power of Nada yoga.

You've also studied the writings of Guru Dev: what do you consider his most revolutionary teaching?

From Guru Dev's words I gained a less rigid attitude toward yoga asanas, so that I no longer use them as bodily structures to be reproduced statically, but according to a current that flows fluidly.

Krishnamurti: "Without Love, the acquisition of knowledge only increases confusion and self-destruction". "Amore" is perhaps the most misunderstood word in our societies, don't you think?

I suppose Krishnamurti is referring to the cosmic unity I've already mentioned; Love is the experience of this cosmic unity. Without the non-intellectual understanding of this unity in which we are all immersed, we move in the opposite direction to the flow of cosmic Law. From this, confusion and inner conflicts are generated.

Can Awakening really occur through breath control alone?

I believe that conscious control of the breath, of Prana, offers the opportunity to translate oneself from a dense bodily form entangled in gravity into weightlessness, a state of particular lightness, a dimension in which, once reached, Awakening is spontaneously observable.

Today you're 80 years old: what is the best form of meditation for this age?

My body isn't 80 years old, it's 80 years young. I find that the best form of meditation, at this stage of my evolution, is awareness of the unified field or, better, absorption into the Consciousness of the unified field, focusing within this current of cosmic sound, generally called the inner Nadam, which is experienced during Nada Yoga meditation, as well as in my own cosmic sound meditation. Nada Yoga allows one to feel the sense of unity and bliss that pervades everything, everywhere and now.

Every religion promises the revelation of an incontrovertible Truth; but what is Truth, exactly?

My idea of Truth is this limitless present, unbound by any conceivable constraint, unsegmented, uncompromised, which is perceived through specific forms of "immersion", of Baptism. In my case, it came through initiation into the inner cosmic nadam (sound). This is how one arrives beyond words, and before the mind's linear language.

What is the most sacred thing you possess?

Possessing something means, first of all, taking on a precise responsibility toward the object we own. So what you're really asking me is what is the most sacred thing whose responsibility I'm taking on, and I believe it's my awareness in the eternal here and now.

Do you get the sense that younger generations are interested in music that elevates the spirit?

Certainly. It seems to me that a wave of young composers with clear spiritual intentions is emerging on the Internet; I find them on Pandora, Spotify, Calm, Endel and the like, and I'm glad to discover some sound creators with a fresh, innovative approach, whose work touches listeners in a particularly deep and nourishing way.

Has the world of rock given you any essential names?

I've found that, generally speaking, good pop and rock music, when well performed, strikes me as interesting and engaging. I like spotting excellence, discipline, devotion projected through any art form, and wherever they're present, that artistic manifestation draws me in. Naturally I've listened, and still listen, to popular names like the Beatles, but also Heart, saxophonist Kenny G, the 5th Dimension and the Motown artists. I'm drawn to the prospect of a new age pop, a genre where the themes and stories on offer are conveyed through a genuine surrender to Love.

Among your collaborations, one of the lesser-known ones is with the Medicine Singers.

I've performed with them only twice in recent years, but I've found that their energy heightens mine too, raising it to an unprecedented dimension of fullness. Their singing and the sound of the drum have a very intense effect; it's as if I manage to find within myself a space where an overwhelming sonic energy and volume are generated, before pouring it out with them into the outer space, where I find a shared joy that is comforting to dwell in.

What role did Brian Eno play on "Day Of Radiance"?

Besides handling the album's recording and production, Eno gave me some advice on how to achieve an effective sonic representation of my electrified table zither, which is indeed the main instrument on "Day Of Radiance". He gave me all sorts of advice, even very simple things, like opting, in the studio, for professional microphones to record the zither with, instead of the low-quality electric pick-up I usually used. He also suggested overdubbing a second zither track, to give it more presence, and finally, he encouraged me to take part in creating the cover artwork.

What does the ambient music composed by the genre's own theorist give you?

My experience as a listener of the early ambient music Brian produced is one of a stillness evoked by fluid, non-imposing soundscapes, pieces conceived to support a range of specific activities, from moments of waiting to creative work to motionless contemplation.

Doesn't it bother you that someone might regard your music as nothing more than background sound for some massage parlor?

Every time my music is listened to, what manifests within it is the intention to serve the inner essence of our whole civilization. You ask me about massage. Looking closely, massage is an extremely important activity, one that involves connection with touch, warmth, embrace, emotional nourishment. So when my music can effectively support that, or even simply serve as its backdrop, I'm happy for it to fulfill that function.

In order to evolve, must a human being free themselves from every taboo, or do some of them hold a sacred, and therefore inviolable, value?

I accept evolution when it means surrendering to the unknown, to the new, and the new can simply be an unprecedented version of oneself, a self without the old titles, the old labels, the old names. So when we talk about taboos, I'd say evolution isn't so much about overcoming every taboo as it is about letting them all go, moving beyond the realm where taboos were even our concern. If we want it, we're already in a new world, a trans-taboo world.

What must remain inviolable, for a human being?

Their right to be blissfully present in the here and now. In the old world we belonged to, being blissful and in a constant state of gratitude was the main taboo, whereas what dominated instead was the body with its pains.

Laozi claimed that "The more prohibitions you impose on the people, the more miserable they become." Today we live in times of great prohibitions: how can we face them with serenity?

You know, my view when it comes to bans, to prohibitions, is that if you're receptive to the calls of higher cosmic wisdom, you feel skillfully guided around them, above them, outside of what you perceive as external prohibitions which, at that point, no longer even feel like your own prohibitions. Honoring the one true inner call, the one that asks me to surrender to serenity and bliss, that's the only thing that truly concerns me. A call that happens, secretly, every time I simply gather myself in silence.

Your greatest fear?

Fear is nothing but the lack of a sense of unity with the eternal present. This fear can be unconscious or dormant, staying in the background until some crisis brings it to the forefront of consciousness; at that point we realize that the sense of security which served as our foundation was never based on incontrovertible facts. And attachment to what is, by its very nature, impermanent opens the door to emotions such as anxiety and fear. So the greatest fear arrives when we invest too much time and energy in the objects of impermanence that lie outside of us, instead of staying focused on our eternal nature.

What's the most extraordinary aspect of being an artist?

Good question. Right now, I'd say the most beautiful part is the intimate, conscious, and constantly reliable communion we can establish between ourselves and divine cosmic creation. In such a state, one no longer perceives oneself as an artist or any other category but, simply, as wholeness.

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