The Well

THE WELL

This album has been described as a quilt of pieces ranging from the playfulness of the Jamaica Tapestry to the depth of feeling of the Kyrie Solo. A quilt of music from different parts of the world.

It all started with a trip to Glastonbury, recording the sounds of Chalice Well. Then back in the studio in London, mixing the natural sounds with the sounds of chanting, adding the sweeping granulated sounds to create a 15 minute sound experience, unlike anything I’ve heard before, but calming, cleansing, honouring the lady of the well.

It was followed by “From the Trail of Tears”, the familiar melody of “Amazing Grace” set in a gyre of swirling harmonies, the words sung in the Cherokee language. Originally sung by the Cherokee First Nation people during the Trail of Tears, the forcible removal from their ancestral lands and the march to a reservation in Oklahoma. Hundreds died and as they were unable to stop and perform the funeral rites, this song was sung instead. It has since become a sort of anthem for the Cherokee, a song of fortitude and the calm determination to survive.

Then taken from the album “Gabriel’s Song”, a different version of the Doula’s song “Le Chant de la Doula” in the Yoruba language of Nigeria which is sung by the spiritual midwife while the mother is in labour. A song of comfort and reassurance.

This is preceded by the Jamaica Tapestry. Not the Jamaica of bluebeat, reggae and dub but three tracks of Jamaican folk songs arranged in a dreamlike sequence: memories of an island in the sun, of grandmother’s stories, of childhood treats, echoes of distant ancestors, of love and loss. All woven together to make a tapestry of sound and song.

The Kyrie is unlike any other setting of these words from the Christian mass. It is a Kyrie for solo voice, a journey through different sound textures and moods, from innocence to the light of wisdom. This is a Kyrie that lives beyond the confines of any religion and belongs to all.

This leads into the Golden City. This song in the Hebrew language “Yerushalayim shel Zahav” expresses a yearning for a return to a golden age whose memory we all carry within us. An age free of war and suffering, when there was plenty for all.

These are the songs we have drawn from the well, the water that lies within the body of Mother Earth, that is known by every culture and that is essential to life.

“in this well all sounds of earth are born”

When you hear Claudia’s voice on this album, you are hearing a voice that carries many voices within it. A voice of depth and richness, sometimes bright and pure, sometimes woody and smoky. A voice that has reached maturity through years of singing jazz and blues. A voice that embodies a wealth of human experience.