New Age Music Reviews: Michael Brant DeMaria

Release Date: January 1, 2018

Label: Ontos Music

People ring in the new year in different ways all over the world. With the arrival of the first day of 2018 Michael Brant Demaria is releasing AMA. This is universal music for the masses to start the year off right. Where I sit on this day in the frigid Northeast, we are experiencing subzero temperatures. I am not letting the physical part of my existence dampen my spirits or resolve. I prefer to let the music take me away and give me a different perspective.

AMA is a beautifully mixed collaboration of sound, textures and spirituality.

Michael spent three years with his mother while she was fighting cancer. As with many, it took her away and she passed into the next realm of existence. There are many beliefs and interpretations of what that new existence could be. The one we know for sure in this journey is that music can be used for many different things. For the artist in this instance, what he recreated for the listener is his interpretation of the time he spent with his Mother prior to her passing.

All the sounds that come together on AMA include indigenous percussion and flutes along with piano and many other atmospheric layers to enhance the core instrument being used.

I found AMA a very relaxing and reflective journey. This is a wonderful tribute to Michael’s mother Jacqueline. Through his music I am sure his Mother’s journey was very special. He was able to give her some comfort and send her on the next journey into the realm of the spirit. For this fortunate artist, a unique and unforgettable experience allowed him to keep her spirit and memory alive for the days he has left on this earth - all through the tracks presented on this recording.

Music is clearly a tool to help all the beings on our plane to traverse different layers of existence in spirit and physical dimensions. The essence of the music on AMA speaks well to that. The artistry and contributions made by Michael over the years are precious and for this listener, it initiates peace and gratitude for life and my surroundings. Through another’s discomfort, pain and or acceptance, something beautiful and eternal is created, another life and music that heals. There is so much more here besides a casual and relaxed listen, this is about life and death and being reborn. It is about the cycles we all go through as we get older. And more specifically, about becoming ready to come to terms with another life that lies ahead. AMA brings the light of hope and the promise of a new day.

5/5 Stars

Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck

January 3, 2018

Founder of:

New Age Music Reviews

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Review Provided By New Age Music Reviews

Tracks:
01. Ama
02. Night Voyage
03. Stella Maris
04. Lost
05. Beyond The Veil
06. Between The Worlds
07. Mysteria
08. Renascence
09. Shimmering Light
10. Arrival

Release Date: March 31, 2015

Label: Sounds True

Website

This is the first collaboration between renowned new age recording artists Peter Kater and Michael Brant DeMaria. Both men have carved out their own niche and are well respected in the genre. The combination of piano and flute coexist with a purpose and meaning on the new release titled Heart of Silence.

The duo refers to the eight tracks as sound poems. Kater’s elegant piano coupled with DeMaria’s Native American flutes is a step into solace and grace found beyond daily life and our surroundings. The tracks invite your soul to find the peace waiting to be discovered, it’s yours for the taking if you let this music look inward. Just relax and let it take you over. This is excellent meditation music however I found it quite enjoyable to listen to without any particular focus, I just took it all in with the realization that I could enjoy it for no other reason than letting the vibrations and sounds soothe my weary mind and give my soul a sense of calm and peace.

DeMaria was inspired to go in this direction after his mother nearly died in his arms. While that is a very sad event in a person’s life I am sure he saw the beauty and acceptance of moving on for his beloved mother and also how blessed he was to be there for her. Life and death is a process we all go through but it is our choice which road we take and how we either embrace each phase of our existence or turn away and refuse to acknowledge the spirit within us all. Most certainly the love a child has for a mother is something special and a connection like no other for all living creatures. I think DeMaria opening himself to that experience allowed this amazing music to be created and has prepared him for when that day arrives when his mother decides to move on. He decided to use a deep base flute that provided a drone like sound comparable to a didgeridoo. That sound projects beautifully and provides a foundation for the rest of the music to gently float over the top like clouds moving across the sky or a hot spring bubbling beneath the surface. It was a choice that was initiated by DeMaria’s experience while his mother was going between the spirit world and her existence her on the physical plane. When he closed his eyes while holding his mother he could see a light and a deep oooommmm sound, a drone if you will. That is how this all came about. He is blessed with the comfort of knowing that his loved one will indeed pass on to another beautiful existence.

I found “Tender Heart” as the most exceptional track. It is moving and spacious as a clear night glittering with thousands of stars. The music is pure like the earth and sky above and the sounds and textures in the track made me feel closer to Mother Earth. We are all here to honor our place on this great planet. All eight tracks are beautiful and serve a higher purpose and all you have to do is listen and find out where it will take you. Each track blends into the next making it a complete and satisfying journey of sounds and atmospheres.

This is the kind of music that is for relaxation, meditation, reflection, recharging yourself and realigning your purpose and meaning. Life holds many gifts for us all but at times we are pulled away from what is right in front of us with our busy lives and pressures of work and all the noise and chatter that can swallow us up if we let it. I choose to survive the day and then let music from CDs like Heart of Silence remind me of who I am and what is really important. Without words music can carry a very powerful message and I am thankful I was able to hear it and grateful for some insight into the lessons presented to one man.

4.5/5 Stars

Key Tracks: ALL

Tracks:
1. Heart of Silence
2. Radiant Dawn
3. First Breath
4. Holding Space
5. Tender Heart
6. Timeless Echoes
7. Midnight Dreaming
8. Awakening

Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck-New Age Music Reviews Founder

March 28, 2015

Review Provided By New Age Music Reviews

Pages

New Age Meditation Review: Michael Brant Demaria-AMA

New Age Instrumental/Meditation Review: Peter Kater & Michael Brant DeMaria-Heart of Silence