Stock: 
Format: 
Release Date: 09-06-1997
Label: Hearts of Space
Catalog Number: HS11023-2
Barcode: 25041102322
Musical Style: New Age
Track Listing:
| Disc 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | River Seeks the Deep [08:59]  | 4 | Laxshmi [10:03] |
| 2 | Surrender [08:58] | 5 | Tantra [12:34] |
| 3 | Healing Dance [09:14] | 6 | Heaven [07:19] |
Description:
The continuing evolution of Raphael’s popular transcendental romantic style - sweeping grand piano, ethereal strings and floating chorales - plus his appealing synthesis of Eastern European, Middle Eastern and Indian trance musics.
A luxurious sound bath, with cascading grand piano and passionate gypsy violin ascending to an ecstatic conclusion. Guest soloists Stephen Coughlin flutes. bansuri, Terri Sternberg violin and Sophia vocals.
Biography:
Raphael was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1948. Owing to a twist of fate, he was raised by an order of Benedictine nuns. It was in the cultural embrace of these European women that he first showed musical promise and learned classical music and Gregorian chant.
Making his way to San Francisco as a young adult, he donned the guise of a European count, obligatory velvet cape included and played gypsy violin on the streets. He also dabbled in rock 'n' roll and tribal music before settling into a more academic approach to music via piano study at the San Francisco Conservatory. From there he moved to the Esalen Institute at Big Sur where he worked for ten years as a teacher and musician. It was at Esalen, known for its mix of East/West philosophies, that Raphael furthered his pan-cultural approach to composition and developed his belief in the power of music to relax and heal. It was also during this period that he met such free spirits as his friend and mentor John Lilly and Gabrielle Roth, for whom he was a principal musician 13 years running.
In 1990 Raphael moved to his current physical and spiritual home of Maui and married Swiss-born psychotherapist Kutira Decosterd. Together they founded the Kahua Hawaiian Institute, where they perform musically and teach Oceanic Tantra.
