Into the Mountain

The beauty of music is that each individual listener is given the opportunity to image and to feel his or her own personal connection to the song. While the words of the song may convey a certain (special) message from the author, the words may awaken a buried memory, opened suppressed emotions  or even evoke new thoughts to the listener.  The chord changes and rhythms of the same song may steer the listener to another space and time. There will always be multiple interpretations of the song.

The double CD Into the Mountain is a 21st Century concept album unlike the traditional concept albums of the 1970’s and 1980’s where all the songs (or the overall musical concept) sounded similar and fit into one genre.  Into the Mountain is a conceptual journey through music to assist the listener to shift toward his or her Heart Center. All the songs are designed to assist in this endeavor. I wanted to present various types of music that did not constrict me into fitting all the songs into one specific genre of music and having to design and organize the finished product with the intention to move the listener(s) into a specific headspace.

The first CD begins by hearing a short tone sounded by the striking of a large Buddhist bowl used in meditation. The tone blends into the first song Festival of Hearts. The tone from the Buddhist meditation bowl energetically permeates through both discs of this double album. The last song on disc #2 entitled Christ Be With Me is followed by a tone sounded by the striking of the same Buddhist bowl.

Musicians
Mikio Sankey: guitar, composer, arranger, producer
Ynez Anthony: lead vocals, back up vocals
Edwing Sankey: guitar, ukulele, zithers, butterfly harp, keyboards, vocals
Tadashi Namba: keyboards, chief engineer, remix engineer
Winston Ravel: keyboards
Cal Bezemer: piano (Leaves Turn Green)
Lester McFarland: electric bass
Jean Sudbury: violin, viola
Samson Young: drums & bass (Festival of Hearts)
Maury Baker: drums
Carl Royce: acoustic upright bass (Couldn’t See the Truth)
Virenia Lind: backup vocals
Gretje Angell: backup vocals
Hector Quintanilla-Galvan: congas, percussions
Christo Pellami: percussions
Billy Johnson: congas (Keep Smiling)

Credits
Marc Viner: recording engineer (Marc Viner Studios)
John Flannery: mastering engineer
Rick Reynoso: album design
Amy Halpern: photography