The River continues ETHEL’s deeply successful nine-year collaboration with Native American musician, instrument builder and three-time GRAMMY® Award-winner Robert Mirabal. The live performance immerses the audience in a flow of music, narrative, and ritual, created by ETHEL and Mirabal exclusively for this program, evoking timeless Native American traditions through contemporary artistry. As delivered by these master performers, the effect is breathtaking, even ecstatic.
From “An Kha Na" to “PeaceCalls,” through rushing rapids and still, sacred spaces, ETHEL and Robert Mirabal evoke the magic and majesty of “the river” which connects us all. In retreat together at Mirabal’s home on the Taos Pueblo, each of the artists brought original musical or poetic works with special significance to the group: Mirabal’s own “An Kha Na,”his tribal “Wi-Wa,” Kip Jones’s “Tuvan Ride,” “Jay-Red” and “Tsoma,”Dorothy Lawson’s “Gat’te,” Ralph Farris’s “Rana-Run”and “Waterfall.” As the Pueblo River rushed past the door, storms came and went and coyotes howled in the night, the pieces grew in scope and depth, each player contributing layers and insights. Influences were drawn in from Hawaii, Arizona, Mexico, Ecuador, Morocco, Nigeria, India, Mongolia, Tibet, Japan and Soviet Georgia. In sum, the sound is dazzling, and the spirit full of generosity, love and gratitude. Every audience will find their hearts healed and their hope raised.
“The River resides somewhere beyond the intersection of ceremony and show biz, at a place where multicultural collaboration becomes sacred art.” - Seattle Times
“For nearly 18 years…ETHEL has been exploding the boundaries of conventional quartet music by combining its classical training with rock ’n’ roll enthusiasm and musical traditions from around the world.” - New Orleans Advocate
