Medicine Music From Marin
Gary Muszynski - Roots and Wings
I’m writing today feeling like a small boat left to drift on a vast body of water. The shore is unseen and I have only a scant impression of direction. I’m not alone though. There are many who are similarly adrift.
In a world where we always ‘must be doing something,’ this feeling of drift used to be uncomfortable but I’m learning to be more accepting of it, becoming more peaceful in the waiting.
When I left Iowa in the late 1987 to move to California, I met a whole new circle of musicians centered in the process of creating audio spaces for healing and meditation. Unconventional as it may seem, we were building communities dedicated to healing of the planet through vibrations.
One of the musicians who I was fortunate to encounter was Gary Muszynski from Fairfax, Ca. Gary plays a variety of instruments but his heart speaks most clearly through the Hang, also called Hand Pans.
Gary and I played in an improvisational ensemble called Spirit Moves for several years. The musicians and vocalists brought a mixture of ancient and contemporary, acoustic and electronic instruments.
The two of us connected again for the first time since 2014 at The Spirit Rock Mediation Center last December. He gifted me with a copy of Roots and Wings - Medicine Music his latest collection of compositions which he said took literally 8 years to complete.
In these unsettled times, it can be easy to lose your emotional mooring. Listening to Gary’s music, however may bring you back to your heart’s center.
Be advised, you’re in for a world-around experience from an internationally selected collection of fine players from Brazil, China, India, Israel, Peru, South Africa and the United States.
You’ll hear performances from Bay area legends pianist Frank Martin, and bassist (and former student) Angeline Saris. Also on offer is a rare performance by Barcelona-based pianist and composer, the great Omar Sosa.
Gary’s always-thoughtful choice of mood and tone have always been a passageway, an entrance to inner realms of calm and resolution. He is a master of both music and community building.
I pass this review on to you as friends I haven’t met yet. In a world that seems to ladle out chaos like thin soup to the hungry, Gary Muszynski’s Root and Wings - Medicine Music provides deep nourishment for the heart….and you don’t need a prescription.
Reach out to Gary directly via his website:
Gary tells the story behind his music here please do yourself a favor and hear from him directly.
Iowa Writers’ Collaborative
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IOWA WRITERS’ COLLABORATIVE
The Roster of Writers
Nicole Baart: This Stays Here, Sioux Center
Ray Young Bear: From Red Earth Drive, Meskwaki Settlement
Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights
Tory Brecht: Brecht’s Beat, Quad Cities
Dartanyan Brown, My Integrated Life, Des Moines
Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll
Jane Burns: The Crossover, Des Moines
Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines
Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, Roundup
Steph Copley: It Was Never a Dress, Johnston
Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake
Suzanna de Baca: Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley
Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County
Daniel Finney, Paragraph Stacker, Des Moines
Arnold Garson: Second Thoughts, Okoboji and Sioux Falls
Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji
Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames
Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines
Rob Gray: Rob Gray’s Area, Ankeny
Nik Heftman: The Seven Times, Los Angeles and Iowa
Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilia
Iowa Capital Dispatch, an alliance with IWC
Dana James: Black Iowa News, Iowa
Chris Jones, Chris’s Substack, Iowa City
Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo
Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames
Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey
Letters from Iowans, Iowa
Darcy Maulsby: Keepin’ It Rural, Calhoun County
Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa
Alison McGaughey, The Inquisitive Quad Citizen, Quad Cities
Kurt Meyer: Showing Up, St. Ansgar
Vicki Minor, Relatively Minor, Winterset
Wini Moranville: Wini’s Food Stories, Des Moines
Jeff Morrison: Between Two Rivers, Cedar Rapids
Kyle Munson: Kyle Munson’s Main Street, Des Moines
Jane Nguyen: The Asian Iowan, West Des Moines
John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines
Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines
Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politics Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.
Dave Price: Dave Price’s Perspective, Des Moines
Steve Semken, The Pulse of a Heartland Publisher, North Liberty
Macey Shofroth: The Midwest Creative, Norwalk
Larry Stone: Listening to the Land, Elkader
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona
Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County
Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport
Jason Walsmith, The Racontourist, Earlham
Kali White VanBaale, 988: Mental Healthcare in Iowa, Bondurant
Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines
The Iowa Writers Collaborative is also proud to ally with Iowa Capital Dispatch.