Search - W. A. Mathieu, The Sufi Choir :: The Best of the Sufi Choir: A Jubilee Selection

The powerful music of prayer and ecstasy that flowed through the heart of the San Francisco Sufi community in the 60s and 70s was originally released on several LPs and cassettes. "The Best of the Sufi Choir," a collection of sixteen songs, was released in 1994 as a CD, but has been out of print for many years. The collection is now available in a beautifully designed new edition. The legacy of Murshid Samuel Lewis, his teachers, and his teachings, can be experienced as a clear ocean of sound, sometimes intricately patterned, sometimes sing-along simple, always deeply intimate. William Allaudin Mathieu composer of the music on this CD founded the Sufi Choir in 1969, and directed it until 1982. Mathieu (b. 1937) is a pianist, composer, teacher, recording artist, and author. He has composed a variety of chamber and choral works and made numerous solo piano recordings. He has written three books on music ? The Listening Book; The Musical Life; and Harmonic Experience: Tonal Harmony from Its Natural Origins to Its Modern Expression. Allaudin was a disciple of North Indian vocalist Pandit Pran Nath for 25 years. He studied African music with Nubian musician Hamza El Din, jazz with William Russo, and European classical music with Easley Blackwood. In the 1960s, he spent several years as an arranger/composer for Stan Kenton and Duke Ellington, and was the musical director for the Second City Theater in Chicago (which he helped found) and for the Committee Theater in San Francisco. In the 1970s, he served on the faculties of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Mills College. The past two decades Allaudin has devoted to composition, performance, recording, teaching, and writing from his home near Sebastopol, California.