Woven Songs of the Amazon: Healing Icaros of the Shipibo Shamans

The Shipibo Shamans | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 8, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Fast Horse
• ASIN: B000H6STG4
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #236,785 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A LOT MORE THAN SHAMANS' SONGS., June 9, 2009

By 

Dreaming.. - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Woven Songs of the Amazon: Healing Icaros of the Shipibo Shamans (Audio CD)

It was really difficult to make a decision about this music CD because Amazon's own free samples are way too short to get a clear glimpse from them. Still I decided to give it a go since I've always enjoyed real Native American music and even more when it's free of synthesizers.

Ok so, why the title of this review?, this covers way more than Healing Icaros. Among the 25 tracks you can find sounds of the jungle, everyday songs, community songs, even a lovely track featuring kids laughing and singing (Track 11, Children of the River).

This then, is more than mere shaman songs, it is a testimony to an endangered culture, and the preservation value alone has justified the purchase. We as a society (white/western culture) are aggressively taking away the living space of these peoples who rely on millennial oral traditions to transmit their culture to new generations, and they too (the new generations) are being destroyed by the penetration of our culture.

The back cover claims:
"the proceeds from this album go directly to the Shipibo singers and their families who participated in this recording"

Whether you believe that or not is up to you, nevertheless I didn't find a reason for this to be on that,
just play it and let it transport you to the jungle...

To a simpler life.
To a more happy life.
To a more sacred life.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating musical document!, July 24, 2010

By 

L. P. Holt (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Woven Songs of the Amazon: Healing Icaros of the Shipibo Shamans (Audio CD)

...first of all, I've got to say I wanted to like this music more than I did. The intentions of the label seem to be pretty sound, the liner notes encourage you towards an awareness of the significance of the Amazon rainforest. It encourages one to consider your own involvement through purchasing products that are created through exploitation of the Amazon rainforest, for this it must be commended. Thing is, I can't help but feel that anyone who purchases this disc is already going to be aware of the pillaging of our planet, it's preaching to the aware.
The liner notes are quite interesting, pointing out the significance of the songs, or icaros, and their origin. Its fascinating to learn that the icaro is also 'experienced' by the shaman as a visual pattern and these patterns are then woven into cloth.
The music features the extended family of a renowned healer and shaman, Herlinda Augustine. It has an almost melancholy quality about it, distant, though definately calming. I really would like to hear this music within the context of why it was created, that is, on location participating in the ceremony these icaros were created for. This is why, when a recording studio is set up within the village and the songs are recited for the recorder, you can only expect a facsimile of what these songs are about. That is not to say that the singers did not 'mean' what they sung or revere their significance, but I was left feeling disassociated from the content. Sadly, I would probably appreciate them more as a sample within another composition; to be sure though, by a musician who cared about the music he was sampling.
This will undoubtedly appeal to ethnomusicological fans, Ocoraphiles, fans of the human voice, and possibly 'heads' looking for the next trippy shamanic thing maaan!! ( though to be sure they will probably be left scratching their skulls, reaching for another toke - and sell it two years after the fact having sat at the bottom of their collection for that time!!). If you have had the good fortune of meeting these people and sharing their culture, it will be a wonderful aural memoir and possibly inspire you to investigate their culture if you haven't.
Cheers - Perry

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the real deal., July 23, 2010

By 

Sipapu9 "Sipapu9" (Centennial, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Woven Songs of the Amazon: Healing Icaros of the Shipibo Shamans (Audio CD)

To be up-front, i know not only the producers of this CD, but also the shamans in the village that have recorded these icaros. So, in that sense, this is a biased review. With that said, for me, these icaros are the real deal. You won't find these icaros to be "easy listening" or necessarily "pretty" at first listen. Yet, after you encounter them a few times (especially in a ceremonial context), they will find a place in your heart. These Shipibo people will use icaros to heal or transform circumstances in virtually any situation. For them, sound is an elemental way to alter the very fabric of the universe. This CD can be a doorway into that world for the uninitiated.

On top of all that, when you buy a copy, part of the proceeds of the sale go directly to benefit these Shipibo people. Having been to their home myself, i know that every little bit helps them to keep these traditions intact and flourishing.