Healing the Divide: A Concert for Peace and Reconciliation [LIVE]

Dalai Lama (Artist), Tom Waits (Artist), Kronos Quartet (Artist), Philip Glass (Artist), Foday Musa Suso (Artist), Anoushka Shankar (Artist), Nawang Khechog (Artist), R. Carlos Nakai (Artist), Gyuto Tantric Choir (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 10, 2007)
• Original Release Date: July 8, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Anti
• ASIN: B000F3AJTO
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #85,817 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
In September 2003, actor Richard Gere introduced a brief address by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, an evolved soul if ever there was one. The two men hosted a benefit concert at New York's Avery Fischer Hall to raise funds for Healing the Divide, a humanitarian organization founded by Gere and dedicated to fostering understanding between East and West. The Gyuto Tantric Choir's deep, overtone-laced throat singing opens the festivities. Appropriately enough, Tom Waits, hoarse and rumbly-tumbly as ever, is up next, appearing with the eternally questing and utterly fearless Kronos Quartet, as is Gambian kora (a West African harp-lute) virtuoso Foday Musa Suso. The latter also sits in with minimalist composer Philip Glass and his ensemble--an unexpectedly thrilling juxtaposition. The beautiful and brilliant young Indian mistress of the sitar, Anoushka Shankar (daughter of Ravi), shoots sparks while N. Carlos Nakai's Native American wooden flute is heard in an ineffably spacious and moving peace chant with Tibetan musician/composer Nawang Khechog. Each of the artists involved and the record label are donating all their proceeds from the sale of this commemorative CD to the Tibetan Health Initiative, a program providing health insurance and medical care for refugee Buddhist monks and nuns. But aside from offering a painless opportunity for accruing positive karma, these awe-inspiring live tracks would be a bargain at double the price. --Christina Roden

Product Description
This once in a lifetime event gathered musicians from wildly different backgrounds in a benefit for Richard Gere's Healing The Divide Foundation. Recorded live at Lincoln Center in NY, this CD features transcendental performances from Tibet's Gyuto Choir, India's Anoushka Shankar, genre-bending duets from Tibetan avant-garde musician Nawang Kechong with Native American master R. Carlos Nakai, and maverick composer Philip Glass with Gambian virtuoso Foday Musa Suso. The concert closer is a unique collaboration between musicians who personify the spirit of adventure in contemporary music, as Tom Waits performs four of his classic songs accompanied by Grammy winners the Kronos Quartet. Add a moving opening address by the Dalai Lama and you have the perfect musical embodiment of the Foundation's mission: to bridge cultural gaps and forge revolutionary new bonds between people around the world. Proceeds from sales will be directly applied to projects benefiting the peoples of Tibet and the Himalayan region.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!, August 26, 2007

By	desertfox (sinaloa, mexico) - See all my reviews

This is great. Where else can you get chanting monks, Ravi Shankar's daughter, Nakai, and Tom Waits all rolled into one? Philip Glass has also been a fav since Kayaanisquatsi AND help others with the profits? Seemed a no-brainer.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There Be Giants Here, April 3, 2008

By	Dr. Debra Jan Bibel "World Music Explorer" (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

As I began playing this CD, I was immediately struck by the crystal clarity and depth of sound, even in the introductions by Gere and the Dalai Lama; however, the sound was not natural but obviously amplified, with distant microphones, treble dominance, and hall echo. The listener seems to be at the balcony. This is easily forgiven because what follows are extraordinary sets of music by extraordinary artists. After a brief invocation by the Gyuto monks, Anouska Shankar, whose technique is a marvel and whose interpretative skills continue to mature rapidly, performs a gem. Then we have a peaceful duet by Tibetan and Amer-Indian flutists, but in this instance Nawang Khechong eschews his usual instrument at first for a monastery long trumpet and recitation to accompany Carlos Nakai's flute. In what I think is the best work of the CD, The Gambia, Philip Glass's keyboard and Foday Musa Suso's kora provide a most interesting sonic mixture and a beautifully crafted composition. The listener will certainly long to hear more of these masters in duet. The remainder of the concert features Tom Waits, whose gravel-throated, dramatic singing is accompanied by the Kronos Quartet and bassist Greg Cohen, whose arrangements match the wit of the lyrics. Waits also provides some humorous comments. The fact that sale of the CD will provide funds for medical care of Tibetan monks and nuns in India made my purchase even more worthwhile. The enclosed booklet includes some rather nice photographic portraits of the performers.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Concert, July 13, 2008

By	Jean Baillargeon "Jean B" (France) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I just got this CD, and it's one of the best I've heard in a long time. A wonderful sample of world music, and Tom Waits playing with Kronos Quartet is just about the best in american music today.