Ancient Echoes
44th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

Enchanting compositions inspired by ancient Greece, Egypt and China awaken feelings of déja vu and eternal delight. This timeless classic features the incomparable Georgia Kelly on harp, and myself on electric piano, synths and an ancient chant.

It is ideal for relaxation, massage, guided imagery and awakening past-life memories.

The opening invocation evokes the magic and mystery of an ancient temple ceremony, invoking the power of the five sacred vowel sounds.

A Remarkable Backstory and Spiritual/Musical Breakthrough

About two years after I recorded and released my first album in 1975, I was told of a wonderful harpist named Georgia Kelly. I called her and invited her to record with me. We both knew that it’s rare for a keyboardist and harpist to work together, each typically dueting with a flute or violin or other single note instrument.

But we also recognized our mutual intention to bring more healing music into the world. Since she was beginning work on her first album, we agreed to delay our recording until her album Seapeace was released. We also agreed to record the project in a Los Angeles area studio near her home in Topanga Canyon. In those days, I loaded my Ford station wagon with my Rhodes electric piano, flute, guitar and Echoplex. My concert schedule had me in the area in June, the only open date just happened to be on the full moon in June.

For a number of reasons, we decided not to rehearse. We would tune “into the moment” and let the music flow through us. We met in Spectrum Studios, on the shores of the Pacific Ocean in Venice, California. Our improvisations felt like a conversation, with her harp and my electric piano dancing with each other, trading lead lines and accompaniment. At one point, I picked up my flute, and without warming up, recorded one song.

After 3 hours, we thought we were finished for the night, ready to resume the next evening. As we were saying goodbye, a most remarkable thing happened. A chant starting to come up through my vocal chords. No one was more surprised than me.

I looked at Georgia and the recording engineer and said, “It seems we’re not done yet. We need to continue. Here’s the ostinato I need you to play.”

And I demonstrated the opening notes you hear on the title track. It was the only specific direction I gave all evening, and Georgia took off from there.

I told the engineer we’d pay him for overtime, and we turned on all the equipment. Of special importance was the Echoplex, which created the special ambience that took my voice into another dimension.

The next thing I knew I was back in ancient Egypt, receiving a vision (and I never had received visions in my meditations before) of being in a ceremony with a number of white-robed participants. I was chanting the mantra based on the five vowel sounds. I had never heard this mantra, nor this melody, but it just continued to unfold.

After about five minutes, the experience was over. I looked at Georgia, she looked at me, and we both said, “What just happened?”

We had no answers, but honored the moment.

We finished the album the next night, and began searching for the cover art. We met the next day at Georgia’s home, and went through hundreds of images. When we got to the image by Sheila Rose: “Memories of Unrecorded Events” we both simultaneously exclaimed, “That’s it.” We knew we had found our cover, and our title.

When the album was released, it was universally well received. The harp has multiple cultural connections to spirituality and healing, as well as to heavenly harps, so it’s not surprising that many reviews referenced that. A review in New Frontier magazine wrote: “Exquisitely beautiful music can transport you back in time to the mystery and magic of ancient Egypt and Greece…or to your own modern temple of inner peace.”

Georgia and I, however, decided not to mention the back-story of the title track, and didn’t think–or even talk–about it. Until two years later, that is.

I was performing a concert south of San Francisco, when an obviously upset individual confronted me. He introduced himself as a long-time student of the Rosicrucian spiritual teachings. I’ll never forget what he said to me.

“Who gave you permission to use one of our sacred mantras?”

I was stunned for a moment. Then I told him how the music had come through me, without any conscious direction or thought on my part.

There was a moment of silence, and then he smiled and said. “In that case, permission granted. Would you like to perform at our national conference next year?”

That was the validation I needed to make sense of what transpired on that full moon night. When I had the opportunity to visit Egypt in 1980 and 1981, I played this song, on cassette, inside the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid. It felt like an amazing homecoming.

I played the cassette for our Egyptian guides, and was invited to a midnight meditation between the paws of the Sphinx. This was another life-changing moment for me, reawakening past memories on the inner planes that has informed and inspired my evolution as an artist ever since.

As many of you will recall, LP vinyl recordings were limited to about 23 minutes per side. When CDs came on the scene, we wanted to add several bonus tracks for added value. The final track, “Oracle at Delphi”, adds the choir sounds I heard in my mind’s eye when the music first arrived, but before the instrument to create those sounds were invented.

Georgia Kelly continued to record until the mid-1990s, when her life shifted focus into the more political and economic arena that she continues today with Praxis Peace Institute. Learn more about her music at GeorgiaKelly.com and PraxisPeace.org

I’ve just completed the remastering of the ultimate, 35th anniversary collector’s edition of this album. Using the latest software, my engineer and I were able to achieve an even more luminous and transcendental sound. This is especially noticeable on the harp, and in the deeper dimensionality of my voice.

We also removed the tape hiss of the original recording…and of course, there are no pops and clicks of the original, virgin vinyl LP.

All the music of the original recording is included, with three bonus tracks as well. The ONLY place you’ll be able to hear this glorious album in its latest incarnation will be on my site until it gets posted on iTunes and Amazon.com in the coming months.

CDs will be available for purchase in the near future. Be sure to look for the subhead: Remastered + bonus tracks if you want to be sure of the finest version on the planet. Advance copies will be available first, of course, to ‘insiders’ on my website as soon as they arrive in the warehouse. I’ll also post the news on my website, Facebook and Twitter accounts. I invite you to follow me on whichever you prefer.

You’ll find the music makes an ideal background for yoga, massage and other healing arts, it’s deeper resonance is experienced with headphones, lights down, and perhaps a candle or two.

I’d love to hear about your experiences.

For inner and planetary peace,

Steven Halpern