Anyone who’s written off new age music hasn’t heard Laraaji. The multi-instrumentalist and composer (born Edward Larry Gordon) is recognized as an ambient pioneer because his 1980 album, Ambient 3: Day of Radiance, was produced by Brian Eno—in fact it’s the third release in Eno’s famous ambient series. But Laraaji, a proud spiritualist, had already made his recording debut in 1978 with the hypnotic, zither-drenched Celestial Vibration.
That record was the result of Laraaji’s audio experiments in healing and happiness, which he performed in New York yoga and meditation classes as well as in public spaces, including parks and sidewalks. Recordings from this era provide the source material for Laraaji’s latest release: a four-LP collection of freshly unearthed recordings (a college student stumbled on them while browsing eBay last year) issued by the Numero Group under the title Segue to Infinity. Extensive liner notes and archival photos contextualize the composer’s beginnings.
Laraaji’s lifelong belief in the healing power of music grew from a childhood spent singing and performing in the Baptist church. After pursuing classical piano and composition at Howard University in the 60s, he spent the 70s exploring Eastern mysticism and allowing those ideas—along with their associated rhythms and song structures—to infuse his work. In the four decades since he traded his guitar for a zither in 1978, he’s developed a robust and devoted following of experimental music enthusiasts and new age practitioners.
Longtime Laraaji fans will find in Segue to Infinity a delightful return to some of the musician’s signature sounds: shimmering zithers, sprightly mbiras, and curious flutes in gentle but animated conversation. New listeners will find themselves drenched in a three-hour honey bath distilled from everything that makes the oft-maligned genre of new age music exciting. Using his expertise in classical composition, improvised jazz, and funk guitar, Laraaji creates a captivating world that feels breezy and ethereal—a testament to the vast imagination of an artist who’s gone on to release concept albums centering subjects such as reiki and the color orange. Through his varied and magical compositions, Laraaji has consistently emphasized the potential of listening to transform us.
Laraaji’s Segue to Infinity is available through Bandcamp.