Music For Tea: A meeting of two worlds

Music for Tea is a sonic sojourn across the Ancient Silk Road. Each song, one Master playing a single stringed instrument, weaving lilting melodic threads, evoking images of old Tea masters sitting in a mountain Tea Hut as a lone musician transports the space, lost in the trance of the music being performed.

As a cohesive collection of solo performances, MFT is guided by a specific vision: an underlying poetic story (included inside the album artwork), and basic musical direction from producer/musician MJ Greenmountain. Master Musicians were given sketches of thematic content, specific scales, keys, etc. and an energetic path (the story) to follow, as if scoring music for a film. Thus, each musician recorded a 100% live continuous performance.

Since this project was constructed as an ‘album project’ and meant to be heard as a whole, Music for Tea is only available as an entire CD. Individual songs are not sold separately, so that the artistic vision can be experienced as it was intended to be heard.

The project features such artists as sarode master Alam Khan (son of world renowned Ali Akbar Khan), Gary Haggerty (Stellamara) on Afghani robab, and Aliya Rasheed (renowned Pakistani Drupaad singer) Its penetrating melodic themes create an inspired cinematic effect, bringing the listener along the Ancient Tea Road, crossing mountains, sharing a bowl with the masters. Strings resonate in spaciousness, as the notes played take their own time to resound. Energy builds to a peak, then softly floats back to earth like ocean waves lapping upon a shore.

Music for Tea captures some of the planet’s rarest stringed instruments in a timeless way, with traditional melodies echoing through the ages. Please purchase and enjoy!

Below is an article I wrote for GLOBAL TEA HUT magazine several years ago about the making of MUSIC FOR TEA.