The Story: In 2003, I was hired by my dear friend and longtime collaborator Chip Duncan (duncanentertainment.com) to create a score for a documentary film he was working on called “in a just world”. The film dealt with women’s rights in various cultures and faiths around the world. It called for a score that reflected cultures in the Middle East, Central Africa, South America, and the USA. In the original score, I featured several women’s voices including the ethereal and evocative voices of two of my beloved acquaintances- sacred chant chanteuse Deva Premal (devapremalmiten.com) and R&B singer Martha Redbone (martharedbone.com). in 2004, I was awarded an Emmy for the score. In 2006, I decided to elaborate on several of the themes and create full compositions of them. I enlisted another dear friend, Eric Zang (ericzang.com), who added percussion, chant, and flutes to the growing arrangements. At that point life took me in many directions and I shelved the project for the time. In 2010, I was cleaning off a hard drive in my studio, and I discovered the songs that I’d all but forgotten about. Upon listening to them, I felt inspired to develop them further. I composed three new pieces for the project, and for Christmas of 2011, “Maya (and the eight illusions)” was complete. The Characters: Chris Spheeris: sound designer & graphic designer Eric Zang: Middle-Eastern Percussion, male vocal chants and flutes Saman Mahmoudi: additional vocals Deva Premal: the most beautiful of “ahhs” on “Lanilei” and “sadoor” Martha Redbone: soulful voice on “soulana” Steven James: Sarod & violin on “Ghali” Alan Ames: voilin on “Narabi” Courtney Yeates: cello on “Narabi” I invented words for the titles to these pieces based on how they felt to me. Hopefully, the “words” are as non-literal as the compositions. Any meaning in any language is purely incidental. Yes, some of the chants are devotional, but I see every act of creation as devotional. In short, I wish you inspiring listening experiences with this work. I have dreamed, meditated, made love to, and danced to this music. This work has assisted me in becoming increasingly aware of the entire body as a receptor and responder to sound. The ears are only the beginning. Everything is vibration.