Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour with Mariam Massaro: #623

Gaea Star Crystal Radio Hour #623 is a compelling hour of improvised visionary acoustic music played by the Gaea Star Band with Mariam Massaro on vocals, Native flute, 4- ad 8-string ukuleles and acoustic guitar, Bob Sherwood on piano and Craig Harris on Native drum and congas. Recorded live at Singing Brook Studio in Worthington, Massachusetts in early June of 2025, today’s show begins with the pretty, pastoral “It’s A Brand-New Day To Reach Out”, an upbeat folk song driven by clever, busy piano from Bob and tight, driving rhythmic 8-string ukulele from Mariam supporting her wide-ranging, expressive vocal. “As We Sail Along” is a sparse, spacious folk rock workout featuring another virtuosic improv-heavy vocal from Mariam before morphing into a lengthy, gorgeous art-rock workout with exemplary work from the whole combo. “Rays Of Light” is a pretty, bucolic folk waltz providing a stage for Mariam’s powerful melody and “Back Us Up Oh Angels” is a swinging, eccentric blues with fat-fingered piano from Bob, rolling train congas from Craig supporting Mariam’s hyper-energized blues vocal, “Gather Together” is a stately, formal opera-like peace with throbbing heartbeat drums from Craig, instrumental in creating the modern classical by-way-of-Native vibe of this affecting song. “The Mystery Of Life” is a relaxed, hallucinatory cloud of a song with an evocative, vulnerable, almost child-like melody from Mariam and “May Abundance Keep On Flowing” has an Eastern European feel with an arrangement of ukulele, congas, piano and Mariam’s shaded, minor vocal melody. “Let The Voice Of Creation Sing Through All Nations” is a beautiful, inspired folk song from Mariam with a classic, deeply emotional construction and we finish today’s show with the wide-ranging “Keep On Going Around and Around With Your Floodgates Open”, a folk-rock journey that opens with virtuosic, dancing Native flute and moves through gospel, jazz and soul before closing with a gorgeous extended coda in which Mariam soars free on her Native flute. Learn more about Mariam here: http://www.mariammassaro.com