'Songs from the Bardo' begins with a bell ringing out once, twice, three times, as a ritualistic chant emerges from the dense silence. The collaborative composition by avant-garde icon Laurie Anderson, Tibetan multi-instrumentalist Tenzin Choegyal, and composer and activist Jesse Paris Smith is a guided journey through the visionary text of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, unfolding in an 80-minute ebb and flow of sound and words. Songs from the Bardo is a transporting experience, meant to draw the listener into the present moment and provide a framework for inner exploration. Anderson, Choegyal, and Smith fuse modern compositional techniques with the mystique of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy to make these visionary traditions more accessible to a new generation of listeners and to reveal the ancient wisdoms contained within.
Tenzin Choegyal, chanting, Tibetan singing bowls, gong, lingbu
(Tibetan bamboo flute), and dranyen (Tibetan stringed instrument)
Laurie Anderson, spoken word and violin
Jesse Paris Smith, piano, crystal bowls, and gong
Rubin Kodheli, cello
Shahzad Ismaily, percussion
Credits:
Produced by Tenzin Choegyal, Laurie Anderson, and Jesse Paris Smith
Recorded and mixed by Eli Crews
Mastered by Pete Reiniger
Annotated by Tenzin Choegyal, Laurie Anderson, Huib Schippers,
Jesse Paris Smith, and Khamo
Cover painting “City Mandala” by Karma Phuntsok
Sketches by Laurie Anderson
Calligraphy by Tenzin Choegyal
Executive producers: Huib Schippers and John Smith
Production manager: Mary Monseur
Production assistant: Kate Harrington
Editorial assistance by Carla Borden and Elisa Hough
Art direction, design, and layout by Visual Dialogue (visualdialogue.com)
Special thanks from Tenzin to Guru Padmasambhava;
His Highness the Dalai Lama for always being the inspiration; all
my Tibetan gurus of the past, present, and future; and all my
family and friends.
