maitri musicians
Laurie MadisonVocals, Project Founder
I am forever grateful and bow in respect to all of my teachers. I am commited to my path of service, sharing in the vision of a higher consciousness for our planet
My studies of yoga have also given me the experience of exploring sound, in the form of mantra’s. I believe that we all have wishes and prayers in our private selves and chanting the mantra’s is one way of externalizing our desire. No matter who we are we can enjoy the benefit of this practice. If your choice is not to practice yoga, then simply listen and I hope that you thoroughly enjoy this mix, of eastern ideology and western music!
Maasa CraigVocals
What initially attracted me to the Maitri project was the idea of exploring ancient mantras in our own unique way.
I learned my first mantra while traveling through India and felt a deep connection to the vibration of the Sanskrit language intertwined with the power of prayer. I am enticed by the idea of chanting and calling upon deities to guide us back to our essential nature: thereby setting us free.
I began my study of yoga and dove deeper into the understanding of scriptures and mantras that elevated the spirit. Being a song writer and not of Indian decent, it was only natural for me to want to create my own rendition of these prayers.
Laurie and I have been friends for a while; sharing a similar vision on the path of yoga. When she approached me with the idea of creating a mantra CD with a mix of Eastern and Western sound, it excited me to say the least. It was an incredible process to witness the seed of our intent grow into this unique CD by each musician contributing their interpretation of these mantras.
Maitri meaning loving friendship, is a collaboration of our hope that all beings may find balance and peace at a time when we need it the most.
Doug Cox…has ‘big’ ears. Everybody says so – newspapers like the Toronto Daily Star and the Boston Globe, music magazines like Folk Roots, Guitar Player and Acoustic Guitar, national broadcasters like Jurgen Goethe and all kinds of other folks. They use words like ‘brilliant’, ‘stunning’, ‘ground-breaking’, ‘virtuoso’ and ‘a musician’s musician’, but it adds up to the same thing. His journey is worth watching.
Musically, he covers the waterfront, the wild mountain thyme and well up the valley. From Blues to New Acoustic Music to World Music and Americana, Doug has made music with the likes of people from the late iconic British Blues master Long John Baldry to India’s musical royalty Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, from America’s great songwriters like Chuck Brodsky to Austrian Dub band Dubblestandart. as well as dozens of other musical admirers.
Doug’s music has been featured in many soundtracks and movies from documentaries to feature films such as Terry Gilliam’s ‘Tideland.’ He even earns a cameo appearance (as Doc Coggs) next to Amos Garrett in the Sci-Fi Robert Heinlien/Spider Robinson novel ‘Variable Star!’
In a musical combination, or as a solo artist, Doug’s played every major roots music festival in Canada – usually more than once- as well as many of the fascinating ones a little further off the beaten track.
Steve Dawson…is an accomplished Canadian guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. Specializing in slide and fingerstyle guitar, pedal steel, lap steel, banjo and other stringed instruments, he is in-demand as a live performer, session musician, and producer.
Over the last decade, Steve has risen to prominence in the Canadian music scene with his work on dozens of acclaimed recordings and tours that have taken him around the world and across North America countless times.
Rene Worst…is an internationally known and very well respected jazz bass player, has also established himself as a leading bassist in North America for several decades.
Cassius Khan…is a master performer and exponent of Ghazal Gayaki, an important genre of Indian classical singing.
A charismatic personality both on and off stage, Cassius is the only professional performing artist in the world who can execute highly skilled Tabla compositions and sing Ghazals simultaneously.
Ganesh Anandan…was born and raised in Bangalore, South India, where he studied Karnatic flute under the tutorship of G. Venugopal and the mrdangam with K. K. Parthasarthy.
As a composer, improviser and creator of original instruments, Ganesh Anandan is an extraordinary percussion explorer specializing in his own finger drumming language he likes to call Fingerworks.
