Christopher’s idea had formed in October of the previous year. “I’d done three classical albums in a row,” he explains. “I had just finished Bardo, a piece I’d spent nearly three years working on from conceptualization to its initial installation performance at the Ann Hamilton Tower in California, and then its recording. The studio recording process was a huge endeavor that involved me having to convert the whole score from 17 musicians in the original performance to 47 musicians in the studio version.

By the end of that experience, I was burnt out from working in a ‘composer’ space of intense isolation – constantly notating, producing, and editing – often for years. By the end of it, I was yearning to design a project that deeply explored improvisation with a select group of musicians. I wanted to physically play instruments with other people again, live and vividly in the moment.”

The experience of composing Bardo not only left Christopher itching to play again, but it also pushed him to explore new composition methods and techniques based upon improvisation. Not one to do things on a small scale, Christopher began hatching plans for what became NOUS, a series of day-long sessions that would take place over five days, followed by a day of rehearsals and culminating in two live performances. “I wrote out all these improvisation ideas for an ensemble in a notebook, and then just started going out and recruiting musicians to be a part of it,” he remembers. 

Christopher first teamed up with producer Kevin McMahon (Swans, Real Estate, Titus Andronicus), whom he had been in talks with about collaborating on a project together. After some initial discussions, he set out to recruit a diverse and accomplished ensemble consisting of Thor Harris (Swans, Angels of Light), Greg Fox (Guardian Angel, Ben Frost), Shahzad Ismaily (Yoko One, Laurie Anderson), and Grey McMurray (itsnotyouitsme, Tyondai Braxton),. The sessions also included guest appearances by Anthony Molina (Mercury Rev), Imago (Múm), Caleb Burhans, Clarice Jensen, Laura Lutzke, and Alex Sopp from ACME Ensemble and yMusic, and Cecile Hafstad (Gabbarein). However, it was not a standard series of recording sessions: these ensemble experiences were grounded in specific philosophies and practices.  “From the beginning I had the intention to design an ensemble project that integrated the sound healing, yoga, meditation and esoteric concepts I had been studying for years. It ended up becoming a kind of meditation retreat for musicians,” he reflects.

Each day the ensemble followed the same routine. “We would spend the mornings doing sound meditation as a group,” says Christopher. “Yoga asana was offered to the musicians at eight o’clock. At ten o’clock we would take a seat in a circle surrounding crystal singing bowls and percussion instruments and we’d begin a silent meditation. The idea was that you always started the day from a place of total silence.” Christopher also incorporated mantras into the practice to seed musical ideas as well as inviting bodily movement. “We were conditioning our musical minds, from working with silence, then the voice, then body percussion using your own body to stimulate rhythmic ideas, then moving to the acoustic instruments that were around us.” At the end of this sound meditation session, they’d head to their ‘stations’ in the beautiful Dreamland live room, pick up their instruments, and begin working through improvisational ideas as an ensemble.

You can hear the results of this on the three NOUS albums that have been released to date, together documenting the first three-and-a-half days of Christopher’s five-day experiment. “There’s often a really extreme sound on those albums,” says Christopher. “It can be an intense listening experience, likely because a lot of the musicians are from the avant garde or metal scenes. Considering everyone’s diverse backgrounds, it was extremely interesting to do the sound practices first and then to see the following musical results. Those first three days were a magical creative period producing a huge amount of great material.”

On the fourth day, things felt different. The ensemble followed the same approach, but a tension seemed to emerge that hadn’t been there earlier in the week. Fortunately, Christopher had invited ambient music and laughter meditation pioneer Laraaji and his frequent collaborator, sound healing practitioner Arji OceAnanda, to join the collective for the afternoon of the fourth day of recording. They then joined the group for the two live NOUS performances that concluded the week, the first at Basilica Hudson in upstate New York and the second at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn.

It would be easy to describe the moment that Christopher met Arji and Laraaji as a chance encounter, only none of them believe in chance encounters: their meeting was the result of everything aligning perfectly around them, all so that Christopher could befriend them and then invite them to join his ensemble. 

In November 2013, Christopher had gone to Ananda Ashram near Monroe, NY for a nada yoga workshop lead by the late sitar master Roop Verma in support of his study of esoteric sound practices at that time. Christopher remembers sitting down to dinner at the one available space in the dining room next to Arji and Laraaji. The three struck up a conversation that somehow turned to their shared interest in the teachings of Vietnamese Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh, and an easy unity immediately formed between them.

“An unbelievable amount of good has come into my life because of Thich Nhat Hanh,” says Christopher. “He rescued me from falling into an abyssal void at 25 years old. Ever since then, either his or the Buddhist teachings have manifested an immense number of positive experiences in my life. As someone who holds this kind of deep appreciation, when you start talking to someone else who has a similar reverence, the heart lights up and an immediate connection is forged in that exact moment. That’s how I felt when I started talking with Arji and Laraaji. I genuinely felt like I’d known Arji for a million lifetimes after I met her. And with Laraaji, I instantly felt like he was as present as space or wind or water. I’ve come to the conclusion you can’t really know Laraaji in a conventional sense – he seems to have always been ever present, like the elements.”

Laraaji has been present in the world of ambient music ever since Brian Eno spotted him performing with a manipulated zither on a street in late-70s New York City. Eno invited Laraaji to contribute to his formative Ambient series with 1980’s jubilant Day Of Radiance. From that moment on, Laraaji became a powerful force in blending techniques familiar from Eastern faith structures with introspective, stirring music that was both distinctly identifiable as his own, but also part of a wider consciousness that extends back through human existence.

Given his prolific output and its resonant effects on the listener, Laraaji became an important figure in the world of sound healing, the ancient technique of using sonic vibrations within meditative and therapeutic practice. Each July he would perform and teach at a ten-day event in Colorado with the International Sound Healers’ Institute, alongside other sound healing pioneers like Jonathan Goldman and Don Campbell. In 2008, one of the attendees at the event was Reiki master and sound healing practitioner Arji OceAnanda, invited at the request of Goldman and Campbell. Their invitation was accompanied by an emphatic insistence that she seek out Laraaji while she was there. “We realized that we were both New York babies,” she remembers, describing the magnetism and easy friendship that formed between them, much as it would with Christopher five years later. “Very quickly, within several months of meeting that July, we started connecting back in New York, and shortly after that Laraaji invited me to assist him in some performances and workshops. For the last twelve years I’ve had the honor, joy and delight of travelling pretty much all over the world with him.”

The conversation between Arji, Laraaji and Christopher in the Ananda dining room was deep, but despite all three being involved in making music, that did not initially come up. At this point, Christopher was unaware of Arji and Laraaji’s musical work, nor did he know that they were at Ananda Ashram to perform with Roop Verma. The meal preceded Arji and Laraaji’s performance at Ananda’s Blue Sky Theater, and a performance with Roop-ji in an asana yoga class that Christopher attended; it was after that class that Christopher was inspired to talk to them about the concept for NOUS. It was a moment of pure intuition: without being able to fully explain why, Christopher knew that they would provide an important contribution to the NOUS project. 

When Arji entered Dreamland Studios, she instinctively felt that something disharmonious was happening between the musicians. She describes being aware of some sort of “unconscious, challenging force” in the performance space and Christopher’s project. Her and Laraaji’s presence was immediately soothing. “They emerged as these protector beings,” muses Christopher. “Wherever they go, they just bring this amazing sonic light. Arji and Laraaji just lifted us all up, as they always do. It was like cosmic magic.”

Arji’s practice in sound healing and Laraaji’s laughter meditation techniques together formed an important component of that cosmic magic. “Laughter is a sound with a specific vibration,” explains Arji. “It’s a pure sound that bubbles up out of your spirit. To me, it always makes sense to utilize it as part of any practice where your intentionality is either healing or upliftment. When I offer a Reiki session, I ask people to allow tears or laughter to flow, and not to block anything, because both are valuable, important forms of release.”

Laraaji bountifully shares laughter wherever he goes, and you hear it across the whole of what became Circle Of Celebration. He exudes a powerful, captivating serenity that makes it easy for people to feel completely relaxed around him, including into the NOUS sessions on that fourth day at Dreamland. He has offered his laughter meditation workshops all around the world, typically accompanied by Arji, but there is a difference between a workshop setting and a band improvisation like this. “I began thinking, ‘Why not?’,” says Laraaji. “Everyone’s laughter is infectious so why not consider it as some sort of healing performance art. Why not share your laughter in a performance in the same way that you would a lovely voice or smart words or lyrics? Why not include that as part of a musical or sound experience? The sound of laughter can impact an individual or a whole audience, and it can completely alter what might otherwise be a very serious, conscientious performance.”

That laughter, arriving unexpectedly as it often does on Circle Of Celebration, is part of what gives these ten pieces such a euphoric, rapturous outlook. You may not expect it, but it is immediately uplifting, especially in the moments where Laraaji’s strident voice is joined by those of Arji and Christopher. Its arrival feels a lot like sunlight bursting through clouds, creating a sense of warmth and vitality in pieces that are already overflowing with these qualities.

Christopher explains these chants as being an extension of the sound healing technique of toning, where voice is used to harmonize and balance energy, expressed either through prescribed seed syllables, mantras or intuitively. He also sees toning as a direct parallel with jazz traditions and the fundamental principles of improvisation. “We approached it like that in the sessions,” says Christopher. “We used our voices to allow whatever sound structures and emotions to spontaneously arise.” Toning led naturally to other vocal contributions. “I did some mantras,” says Laraaji. “I did ‘Hari Ram’ and then we all did some of the Bijas, then Christopher did ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’.  Those were just opportunities to let the heart express joy, glee and positivity for things beyond for life on this planet, and for the universe.”

Reflecting on the gently evolving, undulating, rhythmic improvised pieces they were creating, Laraaji notices a quality that goes back much, much further than jazz. “Some parts of this album are kind of reminiscent of Native American powwow gatherings,” he suggests. “You have a big drum beat and then this joyous wailing.” Christopher agrees. “I’ve never experienced Native American ceremonies, but I know there is a lot of toning in their rituals,” he says, “just like it was natural for jazz musicians to tone over amazing rhythms derived from ancestral African rituals. You see it throughout world culture. Even in Pentecostal churches, they tone during services – they're channeling what is essentially spontaneous, sub-conscious energy.”

“It goes back to the fact that we’re all vibratory beings,” adds Arji. “Even if we think we’re just material, we’re not. The toning is a beautiful, interstellar kind of insertion within the vibration, to help balance when you tone. When you tone, your intention is to balance and harmonize, because they suit the human spirit. Chanting and toning are all relevant, however you feel you experience them.”

Christopher found a quality in Arji and Laraaji that he could completely relate to, leading to the coherent, endlessly changing textures and atmospherics that can be heard on pieces like ‘Ascending’. “I went through my own journey of sound healing before I met them,” he says. “The Bardo project was informed by a year of studying with sound healers, many of whom Arji and Laraaji know really well. That led me to investigate the ritualistic sound concepts of indigenous people. The more deeply I engaged in sound healing, nada yoga, and meditation, the more the indigenous mindset became increasingly clear. Through these experiences you understand our ancestors more than I think you do through the conditioned mindset of the modern world. To me, the whole NOUS project is very much like a primitivist art project. I love the idea of primitivism in music, and I think this comes through clearly on Circle of Celebration, particularly in the toning.”

“When I reflect on how the days would begin – with the meditation and vocal exercises leading to body percussion and movement – this primitive approach is how our ancestors first made sound. They had nothing but their bodies and maybe bones and stones. So, for me, remembering that place, and starting from this basis to build a project, was inspirational and energizing. The session with Arji and Laraaji was a perfect blossoming of this ancestral primitivism. In our session, the pure spontaneity that NOUS aspires toward naturally fell into place.”

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“I think the theme of the circle and celebration that runs through what we created on that special day in Dreamland is really important,” reflects Laraaji. “A circle is endless, and we wanted the listener to feel like they’re in this circle with us, in a joyous, ritualistic celebration. We wanted to create a sense of celebration and joy where you’re not so much a spectator as you are a participant, where you’re inside with us, not listening in from the outside. The listening experience should allow the listener to feel that they’re included in this circle with us, even if they’re only jamming along with their imagination. To me, these pieces feel like an invitation to look at what’s going on in your life – or has gone on in your life – that’s worthy of celebration while you’re listening to this album.”

Arji nods in agreement. “Laraaji’s right – a circle has no beginning and no end,” she says. “There is that sense of security and interconnectedness. We came in late to those sessions, but I instantly felt – for lack of a better way of putting it – maternal towards everyone who was there. It just opened my heart. And then I looked around and saw all these different, wonderful, talented beings.”

The symbol for NOUS is the ancient symbol of the circumpunct, which Christopher was drawn to when he first conceived of the whole project. “It was based off the idea that the cosmos can be described as a circle or cycle with no beginning and no end. And as modern science has shown, the Universe has no absolute center, wherever you’re standing you’re literally in the center of the Universe, this seems perfectly expressed by the archetypal symbol of the circumpunct which existed throughout the world in many ancient cultures” he explains. “In the Vedic traditions there is the idea of the individual consciousness taking part within the ‘cosmic play’ of a more universal, meta-consciousness. In Sanskrit the individual experience of a ‘soul’ is defined as the ‘Jiva’. You have the idea of a separate individual being liberated from the cycle of death and rebirth through realizing its true existence as being in continuity and communion with this eternal Godhead or Ultimate Empty Void, as expressed in Buddhism. The dot within the center of the NOUS logo represents the individual since they’re at the experiential center of everything, whoever you are, wherever you are. However, every relative individual experience is simultaneously a part of a collective interdependent continuum represented by the surrounding circle. This symbol of the conscious experience also is an excellent expression for the experience of performing music with others. As a player, you have the experience of hearing the ensemble surrounding you, while processing and performing on your own instrument emerging from your own conscious center.”

Spending time in the company of Circle of Celebration is undoubtedly a transcendent experience. The inclusivity that Christopher, Laraaji and Arji speak of has a warm, enveloping tonality that forces deep and uplifting contemplation. It’s impossible not to be moved by Laraaji’s distinctive zither technique on pieces like ‘In This Light’, where his playing is surrounded by plaintive piano melodies and tranquil water sounds akin to suikinkutsu. Elsewhere, a beatific, gauzy almost dubby warmth pervades the naïve melodies on ‘Of Common Origin’, while the sudden introduction of Laraaji and Arji’s arresting laughter ushers in a truly heart-warming conclusion to the piece; the gently phasing, subtly percussive opening piece, ‘Into Nousness’ and the mystique-heavy ‘Through The Veil’ seem to embody the idea of a searching, open-minded approach to creation.

Circle Of Celebration is fronted by three beings whose lives have been forever changed as a result of their own unique journeys through sound, meditation and Eastern practices, and yet it is an album that can be appreciated irrespective of where you find yourself on your own spiritual path. An unfolding sonic journey happens on the joyous ‘Hari Ram’, which embodies that ritualistic, primal ethos that pervaded the creation of Circle Of Celebration. And yet, like the initial moments of ‘Connecting’, ‘Hari Ram’ also contains one of the album’s few dark moments, delivered through a tentative dissonance that, if you detect it, arrives in stark contrast to the more elegiac tones that precede it. 

“The Tibetans use that technique a lot in their music,” offers Arji. “They take two cymbals and use them to create this ear-piercing sound. It’s jarring, but it’s jarring with the intention of opening you up more to your mind and the experience.”

Christopher agrees. “There’s a specific method among certain indigenous sound healers, especially certain Amazonian sound healers, where heavy dissonance is used in their practice,” he says. “Understanding and utilizing dissonance is also a very important part of the western classical tradition. The great classical composers were well-trained in understanding dissonances and consonances, and how to blend and balance them based on their affective choices. South American shamans use dissonance consciously in order to manage emergent phenomena in consciousness. For example, they’ll use extremely high pitched, ear-piercing flutes that are perceived as painful to listen to. They use this sound to intentionally cut into negative or stuck perceptions and mental formations, and then once the pathway has been opened inject harmonious tones like unisons and perfect fifths to promote peaceful and healing states. It’s like doing surgery on the soul.”

“A lot of people think that sound healing should consist solely of consonant perfect fifths and unisons,” he continues, “but there’s a place for the dissonance of the minor second and the atonal, the cutting through, the bringing to the surface of emotions that you can then insert the perfect fifth or the perfect consonance into – it becomes a tremendously powerful way of seeing the yin and yang of both sides. That just naturally emerged in this music, within the flow of what we were doing.”

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The sound healing concept of intention is important to appreciate in the context of the sessions that yielded Circle of Celebration: none of this was planned; none of it was discussed in any great detail in advance; it was created by musicians with hundreds of years of experience between them, but executed with the perfect embodiment of a beginner’s mind, almost as if they are creating together with nothing other than instinct and intention.

“Sound plus intention equals healing,” says Arji, in conclusion. “You can have the most amazing voice or be the best musician in the world, but if your intention isn’t pure, the sounds you create could harm rather than support healing. What we created together on that day at Dreamland absolutely came from the purest of all possible intentions.”

Mat Smith, Electronic Sound