Laraaji (born Edward Larry Gordon, 3 May 1943) is an American multi-instrumentalist specializing in piano,

zither Zither (; , from the Greek ''cithara'') is a class of stringed instruments. The modern instrument has many strings stretched across a thin, flat body. Zithers are typically played by strumming or plucking the strings with the fingers or a ...

and

mbira Mbira ( ; ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal Tine (structural), tines, played by holding the instrument ...

. His albums include the 1980 release '' Ambient 3: Day of Radiance'', produced by

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

as part of his ''Ambient'' series.

Early life and career

Born Edward Larry Gordon in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, he studied violin, piano, trombone and voice in his early years in New Jersey. He attended

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

, a

historically black university Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...

in Washington, D.C., where he studied composition and piano. After studying at

Howard Howard is a masculine given name derived from the English surname Howard. ''The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names'' notes that "the use of this surname as a christian name is quite recent and there seems to be no particular reason for ...

, he spent time in New York City pursuing a career as a stand-up comedian and actor, as well as playing Fender Rhodes electric piano in a jazz-rock band ‘Winds of Change’. In the early 1970s, he began to study Eastern

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meani ...

and believed he had found a new path for his music and his life. It was also at this time he bought his first

from a local

pawn shop A pawnbroker is an individual that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. A pawnbrokering business is called a pawnshop, and while many items can be pawned, pawnshops typically accept jewelry, ...

. Converting it to an

electronic instrument An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electronic circuitry. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical, electronic or digital audio signal that ultimately is plugged into ...

, he began to experiment using the instrument like a piano. By 1978, he developed enough skill to begin

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuity, gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performa ...

in the parks and on the sidewalks of New York. He favored the northeast corner of

Washington Square Park Washington Square Park is a public park in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is an icon as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity. The park is operated by the New York City Department o ...

, where he would improvise for hours on end with his eyes closed. The following year he was encountered by

while playing in Washington Square Park, who went on to produce his most widely recognized release, '' Ambient 3: Day of Radiance'', the third installment of Brian Eno's Ambient series. This was his first album released under the name of Laraaji. This international exposure led to requests for longer versions of his compositions which he supplied to meditation groups on cassette tapes. It also resulted in an expansion of his mystic studies with such gurus as

Swami Satchidananda Satchidananda Saraswati (; 22 December 1914 – 19 August 2002), born C. K. Ramaswamy Gounder and known as Swami Satchidananda, was an Indian yoga guru and religious teacher, who gained following in the West. He founded his own brand of Integra ...

and Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati, founder of the Ananda Ashram in Monroe, New York. In 2022, Laraaji joined with

Medicine Singers Medicine Singers is a group of singers and drummers in the Native American pow wow style. They sing in an Eastern Algonquian dialect under their original moniker, Eastern Medicine Singers. In 2017, they began collaborating with Israeli guitari ...

—a group of Native American ritual performance artists in partnership with other artists—to play on their self-titled album. Laraaji started the Laughter Meditation Workshops, which he still presents around the globe.

Critical reception

In 2023, ''Pitchfork'' awarded ''Segue To Infinity'' "Best New Reissue" and declared that the album "should definitively put a nail in the coffin of the narrative of Laraaji as a street busker who was simply “discovered” by (Brian) Eno, instead cementing him as an preeminent figure in ambient and new-age music’s history."

Discography

*''Celestial Vibration'' (Swan, 1978) – under the name Edward Larry Gordon *''Lotus-Collage'' (Laraaji, 1979) *'' Ambient 3: Day of Radiance'' (Editions EG, 1980) – produced by

*''I Am Ocean'' (Celestial Vibration, 1981) *''Unicorns in Paradise'' (Laraaji, 1981) *''Rhythm N' Bliss'' (Third Ear, 1982) *''Om Namah Shivaya'' (Celestial Vibration, 1984) *''Sun Zither'' (Laraaji, 1984) *''Vision Songs – Vol .1'' (self release , 1984) **Reissued in 2018 by

The Numero Group The Numero Group is an archival record label that creates compilations of previously released music, reissues original albums, and creates album reconstructions from a variety of musical genres. The label, known as Numero, was founded in 2003 ...

*''Open Sky'' (Celestial Vibration, 1985) – with Brother Ah *''Live at WNYC'' (Laraaji – 1985) *''One – All Loving One'' (Laraaji – 1985) *''Celestial Realms'' (Spirit Music, 1986) – with Lyghte a.k.a.

Jonathan Goldman Jonathan Goldman is an American author, musician and spiritual teacher in the fields of Harmonics and Sound Healing. He is based in Boulder, Colorado. Career Goldman began as a guitarist in the Boston punk scene in the late 1970s. Goldman began to ...

*''Once Upon a Zither'' (Laraaji – 1986) *''Essence/Universe'' (Audion, 1987) *''

Music for Films III ''Music for Films III'' is the third entry in Brian Eno's "Music for Films" series. It was the first in the series to include music from artists other than Brian Eno, including Roger Eno, Michael Brook, Laraaji, and Harold Budd, among others, ...

'' (Opal, 1988) – various artists *''Zither Bliss'' (Laraaji – 1987) *''White Light Music'' (Laraaji – 1987) *''Urban Saint'' (Laraaji – 1987) *''Sol'' (Laraaji – 1987) – with

Mark Kramer Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

*''Freeflow – I'm in Heaven'' (Celestial Vibration, 1980s) *''I Am Healing'' (Celestial Vibration, 1980s) – with Shree Vena *''I Am Loved'' (Laraaji – 1980s) *''I Am Sky'' (Laraaji – 1980s) *''Bring Forth (Your Highest Vision)'' (Laraaji – 1980s) *''Selected New Music III'' (Clear Music, 1991) – various artists *''Flow Goes the Universe'' (

All Saints Records All Saints Records is a British independent record label specialising in post-rock, downtempo and ambient music. History All Saints Records was established on 1 November 1991 by Dominic Norman-Taylor (formerly of Opal Records). Originally ...

, 1992) – produced by

Michael Brook Michael Brook (born 1951) is a Canadian guitarist, inventor, music producer, and film music composer. He plays in many genres, including rock, electronica, world music, minimalism and film scores. His collaborations with musicians around the worl ...

*''The Way Out Is the Way In'' (All Saints Records, 1995) – with

Audio Active Audio Active were a Japanese reggae fusion band who released several albums between the early 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century. History Audio Active were one of the most successful reggae fusion bands to come out of Japan, and were ...

*''Islands'' (Sine – 1995) – with

Roger Eno Roger Paul Eugene Eno (born 29 April 1959) is an English ambient music composer. He is the younger brother of Brian Eno. Early life and education Roger Paul Eugene Eno began euphonium lessons when he was 12 years old, and entered Colchester In ...

*''Cascade''(a.k.a. Enlighten) (Relaxation Co. – 1997) *''Divination/Sacrifice'' (Meta 1998) – with

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, wo ...

*''Celestial Reiki'' (Etherean – 2000) – with

*''Shiva Shakti Groove'' (Collective – 2000) *''Celestial Zone'' (Laraaji – 2002) *''My Orangeness'' (VelNet – 2002) *''Celestial Reiki II'' (Etherean – 2002) – with Jonathan Goldman and Sarah Benson *''Water & Soft Zither'' (Laraaji – 2004) *''Laughter: The Best Medicine'' (Laraaji – 2004) *''Chakra Balancing Music'' (Laraaji – 2004) *''In a Celestial Water Garden'' (self release, 2005) *''Sonic Sketches'' (with Nadi Burton – 2006) *''Song of Indra'' (with Phil Gruber – 2006) *''Ambient Zither in G Pentatonic'' (Laraaji – 2007) *''Mountain Creek Water'' (Laraaji – 2007) *''Sonic Portals'' (Laraaji – 2008) *''FRKWYS Vol. 8'' (

Blues Control Blues Control was an American experimental music duo from Queens, New York City. Blues Control's members were Russ Waterhouse (guitar, electronics) and Lea Cho (keyboards). The group released music on a variety of formats, including vinyl, casset ...

and Laraaji – 2011) *''Two Sides of Laraaji'' (Laraaji - 2013) *''Sun Gong'' (Laraaji - 2017) *''Bring On The Sun'' (Laraaji - 2017) *''Arrive Without Leaving'' (Flying Moonlight, 2018) (with Arji OceAnanda & Dallas Acid) *''Dreams of Sleep and Wakes of Sound'' (Laraaji, Merz,

Shahzad Ismaily Shahzad Ismaily (born 20 June 1972 in Pennsylvania) is an American multi-instrumentalist, known mainly as a bass guitar player, and record producer. He is a member of Marc Ribot's trio Ceramic Dog since its formation in 2006. He also plays with S ...

- 2019) *''Sun Piano'' (Laraaji - 2020) *''Moon Piano'' (Laraaji - 2020) *''Through Luminous Eyes'' (All Saints Records, 2020) cassette only, available as triple cassette boxset with Sun Piano and Moon Piano. *''Circle of Celebration'' (NOUS with Laraaji and Arji OceAnanda - 2021) *''Segue To Infinity'' (Numero Group, 2023) – includes ''Celestial Vibration'' (1978) "with three discs of early, unreleased material, all produced around the same time"

With others

*''Automatic'' (Gyroscope, 1994) – as part of Channel Light Vessel *''Excellent Spirits'' (All Saints Records, 1996) – as part of Channel Light Vessel *''

'' (

Stone Tapes Stone Tapes is an independent record label, Musical collective, music collective and imprint of Joyful Noise Recordings curated by Yonatan Gat. The label was founded in 2022 in music, 2022, branching off of Joyful Noise's artist-in-residence pro ...

Joyful Noise Recordings Joyful Noise Recordings is an independent record label with headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana. The label was founded in 2003 in Bloomington, Indiana by Karl Hofstetter, who also played drums on several of the label's first releases. Joyful N ...

, 2022)

References

External links