Gaia's Garden

1 OCEAN EMOTIONS The oceans act as our planet’s lungs and circulatory system and we mess with it at our peril. This track responds to its many moods: fierce and stormy; calm and welcoming; it’s reefs teeming with life; it’s black depths unknown to us. 2 RAINSTORM Rain brings the blessing of sky to earth: from gentle showers like a kiss, to monsoon deluges like a great embrace. Climate change means that both floods and water shortages become ever more frequent. 3 BLESSING FROM THE ANCIENT TREES The giants of the forest have stood like sentinels for hundreds or even thousands of years. This song conveys their message to us: “In me is joy in being alive. May such joy be in you too.” Humanity’s war on trees, which has been going on for millennia, continues at an ever-accelerating rate. 4 SPRINGING FROM THE MOUNTAINS A stream tumbles down from its source in a glacier, over rocks, through glades and gorges, bubbling, youthful, energetic – the source of life for the plains below. Billions of people depend on rivers fed by such streams, which will disappear with the glaciers as the planet warms. 5 DESERT WINDS Winds blow over the dry lands, picking up dust and spreading nutrients across the oceans and continents. This track aims to convey their timeless journeyings, without which our Earth would be a poorer place. 6 A SMILING SUN With a protective ozone layer and a climate in harmony, the sun is a smiling benediction upon the Earth below. This song evokes a golden harvest ripening. 7 LOST WORLDS In our heedless rush for economic growth we are losing them, the people of the wilderness, their cultures, musics, languages, wisdom. ….. 8 SAVANNA SCENE The world’s savannas are home to the last great herds of wild animals. We are lucky to have been able to witness such stupendous abundance. Will our grandchildren be able to say the same? 9 CLOUD FOREST SANCTUARY Highland forests in the tropics are some of the greatest treasuries of biodiversity on Earth. This track evokes their misty realms of mystery. 10 THE DISAPPEARED A tearful farewell to the creatures than mankind has already wiped from the Earth – the passenger pigeon, giant moa, Yangtze River dolphin and so many more. And to those that we threaten to do the same to today. CREDITS Chinmaya Dunster: sarod, santoor, guitars, bass, keyboards From Israel Osama Abu Ali: nay Yair Dalal: oud and violin From Hawai’i Don Lax: violin on ‘Ocean Emotions’ Govi: guitar on ‘A Smiling Sun’ Karunesh: bass on ‘Blessing from the Ancient Trees’ and ‘Desert Winds’ From Crete Sangit Om: Cretan lyra and flute From UK Kavi Jesse Hockaday: guitars on ‘Blessing From the Ancient Trees’ Prabodh: bass on ‘Rainstorm’ Will Harrison: guitar on ‘Desert Winds’ From New Zealand Sambodhi Prem: guitar on ‘Springing from the Mountain’ From Canada Kalyan Mitto: cello From India Anand Richa: vocals Avinash jagtap: violin on ‘Rainstorm’ Bikram Singh: flute on ‘Desert Winds’ Manish Vyas: santoor on ‘Desert Winds’ From Japan Deva Yoko: flute on ‘Lost Worlds’ All tracks composed by Chinmaya Dunster 2010, except ‘A Smiling Sun’ and ‘Blessing From the Ancient Trees’ composed by Chinmaya Dunster and Anand Richa; and ‘Rainstorm’ composed by Chinmaya Dunster and Avinash Jagtap.