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DREAMTIME
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People ask, "Is Santa Barbara (California) heaven on earth?" The answer is, "Yes!!!" But not for the usual reasons: the City's spectacular physical beauty-- tucked between mountains and the vast Pacific. Exotic vegetation rivaling Hawaii. The best beaches in the world. Cool Spanish architecture and hip people. Brilliant sunlight more uplifting than Prosac. Yes! Yes! Santa Barbara has all these. But that's not why it's heaven. Santa Barbara is heaven on earth because it's the only place you can easily hear Dreamtime Continuum. Dreamtime is a world music ensemble. The band isn't well known or signed to a record company. They don't tour-- the guys are mostly in school or working when not playing. Don't worry about this-- just move to Santa Barbara. Hearing Dreamtime is reason enough.
This is vintage fan site for Dreamtime Continuum. My love affair with Dreamtime Continuum's music and members continues. I'm updating my web site, but leaving up this great page of early Dreamtime. GREAT PICTURES, many courtesy of Dreamtime leader Sudama Mark Kennedy. (Thank you, Sudama!!!!) Read and enjoy! Sandy Nathan
A BIRTHDAY PARTY: AUG. 8, 2000 I consider Dreamtime Continuum one of the most positive and uplifting forces on the planet. How do I dare make this claim? Consider this: I kinda dropped out of my life the last two years. Didn't see my friends much. Didn't go out. Didn't do-- a lot. My last two years have been marked by trauma and anguish, loss and disease. I wrote about these in The Long Road to Taos and The Journey. I thought (subconsciously) that by extracting the meaning from my experiences and sharing my learning in Spurs Magazine, I'd put the events in perspective. Maybe even help people. And if I did that--perhaps the disasters would stop. Didn't work. 2000 has been a banner year anguish-wise. We lost my mother-in-law, a woman I loved deeply, in May. Also in May, someone I love as much as life itself had a recurrence of a dread disease. While that battle raged, my mother died. I was devastated. I stumbled through the days. Numb. Uncomprehending. I didn't want to drive over the mountain to Santa Barbara to see Dreamtime on August 8th. August 7th was my birthday. I spent it in tears. For the first time in my life, my mom wasn't there to fuss over me. Never mind that my husband arranged a little birthday party at Soho, the club where Dreamtime would play. Never mind that my daughters were home and ready to dance. I didn't want to go. I thought I would never smile again. But, oh, well... I dressed up and got in the car.
The next morning, my 20 year old daughter accosted me in the kitchen, "Mama! You were really shakin' it last night!!" She was amazed. It's true: I shook it. Shook all of it. Shook it hard. And for a very long time. I'm surprised I could move the next day, I danced so much! And laugh! Oh, my! Did I laugh! That's how powerful Dreamtime is. *** HOW COULD A BAND MOVE ME FROM VIRTUAL SAWDUST TO FULLY ALIVE AND DANCING A MONTH AFTER MY MOTHER DIED? I couldn't stop thinking about this, because it was a miracle. How did they do it? After a bit of contemplation, I settled on three reasons: (1) People, (2) Instruments and (3) Music. Elements of magic. How any band does what it does. But how does Dreamtime's combination of the elements raise the dead?.
PEOPLE: Years ago, a philosophy professor told my class, "You can tell everything about a person within seconds. You know whether a person's trustworthy or not, good or bad; someone you should have for a friend, or run away from. Something inside you knows." It's true, isn't it? We know all about the people we meet, almost instantly. We often ignore the information, hanging out with people we know aren't good for us. That higher part, our true intuition, gets buried in our desires, complexes, psychic scars. We end up doing/acting/saying just what we knew we'd do with such folk. Which explains the world. Well-- I know some of the people of Dreamtime very well, others as acquaintances, and still others only by sight. But I can tell you with absolute certainty that I had the "whammo hit" for all of them-- these are good people. People I should know. It's a vibration, a recognition from a deep and ancient place. When a heart vibrates with love, it's unmistakable. And you can tell the Dreamtimers' hearts do. Listen to their music. It's sweet. Sweet and hot. So hot it burns out anguish, and has you up there dancing when you wished you were dead hours before. The other half of the people equation is Dreamtime's audience: The fans. The wildly spinning, dancing, leaping, clapping fans. They vibrate in unison with Dreamtime's reality. They also come from love, by and large. The band and the crowd it attracts are mirror images. Just as the artists and musicians and movie stars you adore are reflections of you and what you're becoming. Another professor-- psychology, this time-- said, "You fall in love with what you're becoming." These words have come back to me for more than 20 years. Whenever I find myself attracted to one thing or person, I think of that entity as possessing part of me that wants to come out. "You fall in love with what you're becoming." Who/what are you falling in love with? What are you becoming? Well, at Soho that night, we were all becoming pretty ecstatic in each other's company. That happens a lot around Dreamtime.
INSTRUMENTS: Dreamtime uses about every instrument you can think of, eventually. You can look at the Dreamtime Continuum web site for a full list. Off the top of my head, I can think of the sitar-- the ancient instrument of India made famous by Ravi Shankar. Montino Bourbon, a guest band member, plays the sarod-- another ancient Indian instrument. Ali Akbar Khan made the sarod famous in the West. In the East, the sarod has always been known as the instrument played by the goddess Sarasvati, the goddess artistic inspiration and learning. Tablas-- North Indian twin drums-- are played sitting on the floor. The African Djembe-- king of drums-- is a huge monster carved from a single tree trunk. The African Talking Drum-- used for long distance communication and communication with the soul in Africa. The didjeridu-- the drone instrument of the Australian aborigines. Congas-- giant twin drums. Bongos-- little twin drums. Flutes from everywhere, especially the Japanese wooden flute. What else? Cymbals. Bells, chimes, sticks, shakers. As well as the expected acoustic and electric guitars, saxophone, violin, piano, and trap drums. (These guys rock!) And the human voice. Everyone sings. I attribute part of Dreamtime's healing, uplifting ability to their ancient instruments-- the tablas, sitar, djembe, flute,etc. Such instruments were designed by conscious beings-- our ancestors, the earth's ancestors. The ancestors made them as they did because the sounds they made created specific psychic and spiritual effects in listeners-- and players. I hear Dreamtime's music throughout my body. It's a very sensual, powerful experience. I feel negativities: bad thoughts, feelings, tension, and physical pain, leave me as the music continues. After a while, it's impossible not to dance. Totally impossible. So you dance. I have such respect for Dreamtime's instruments that I am showcasing them throughout this article.
MUSIC: The next element in Dreamtime's alchemy is their MUSIC! What is music, essentially? A combination of notes-- predictable sounds which can be repeated at will-- played on instruments by a musician, who has a particular intention in playing the notes. Why is some music beautiful, moving, and healing? It's beautiful because it conforms to the principles of design. Five principles: balance, rhythm, harmony, proportion and scale. They're the same principles whether you're talking about a symphony, a painting, or meatloaf. If something has balance, rhythm, harmony, proportion and scale, it will be as beautiful as whatever it is can get. Dreamtime's music has these qualities. But what else? What is it about Dreamtime's music that enchants? Part of it's will: The musician must intend that the music be healing. He/she can do that by playing music which is healing by its nature, or by playing in a healing way. Now, given the people in Dreamtime, I expect they could play the most hard core rapper's music in a healing way. (Perhaps without the lyrics...) Hey, Sandy! This is a nice lecture in music theory. What does it have to do with Dreamtime? What is the secret of their sound? Stop stalling, Sandy. Give us the SECRET! Well.... Guess... Go ahead, guess... [Hint: the secret's in the band's name.]
Have you got it yet? Dreamtime? A drawing of an aborigine? How do they relate? Don't get it? Oh, all right-- Dreamtime is what Australian aborigines call the meditative state in which they have visions and intuitions. The band is named for this state. Their musical secret? DREAMTIME PLAYS TRANCE MUSIC. Trance music!? The words conjure images of crystal balls and magic wands. Deprogrammers and the need to pass on the Kool Aid. Trance music? Trances? In fact, trances are perfectly normal. Ordinary. When was the last time you got in your car, started driving, arrived at your destination-- 50 miles away-- and couldn't remember the drive? Why couldn't you? You were in a trance. Did you ever "space out"? In the grocery store? Watching a hawk fly? That's a trance. Do you paint or draw? Did you ever get started and have the whole day go by-- you've got the painting at the end, but can't remember what happened? A trance. Kids are famous for going into trances. I've read that the most creative kids are the ones that space out the most. Our school system punishes them for it, because they don't look like they're being productive. In fact, they're tending to the seeds of symphonies and new computer programs. Meditation is nothing but going into this natural state pretty much at will. What is a trance? It's a stilling of the ordinary contents of consciousness so that we can become aware of something else. What if the world we live in, with its woes and pain, cares and disappointments, was separated by a thin veil from something else? A world of beauty and mystery and joy existed just over there... Just on the other side... So close you could touch it. Would touch it if you had a vehicle that could take you there. What if that vehicle were music? What if music and dance could carry you to the other side, pierce the veil, and take you to all the mystery in the universe? To your own true Self? Music can, as well documented by mystics all over the world for thousands of years. The Sufi dervishes found that whirling transported them to rapture. The dancing saptah is common in India. Primitive and not so primitive groups dance to achieve specific states, to have visions. To become inspired. Our own Native Americans ritual dances use movement and sound to achieve exalted states. And line dancers and ballroom dancers love the way they feel gliding to the music. Am I suggesting that Dreamtime's music has its powerful effect because it transports us to this realm of mystical inspiration and joy? Yes. Where it takes you depends upon your nervous system, understanding, and how you live, of course, but, yes. Dreamtime's music opens inner doors, allows one to enter the freedom and purity of the other side.
What's it like, going to a Dreamtime concert? The best way to experience Dreamtime is to go to one of their concerts. Next best can be found on Dreamtime's Website. The website is under construction, but will soon feature film clips of their concert behind the Santa Barbara County Courthouse. Santa Barbara has the most amazing old courthouse: Spanish, huge, and very beautiful. If you have to go to court, it's probably the nicest place to do it. At the Courthouse's rear is a grassy amphitheater, which happens to have the most marvelous acoustics. Making it a great place to stage operas, and musical events of all kinds. Dreamtime played there recently, and clips of the event-- sound and visuals-- will be up on their web site. You can also check their playing dates and buy Sudama's CD. Dreamtime is putting out a new CD soon, as well. Or you can check out Sudama's MP3 SITE for music clips, reviews, info about Dreamtime. What's it like, hearing this trance inducing, grief busting band? Well, on Aug. 8, 2000, they were just wild. I have never heard them better. Normally, Sudama starts the show slowly, in deference to folks who might be eating dinner. They need some chance to digest. Aug. 8, the warm-up took about 3 seconds, and then the band LAUNCHED!! At one point I counted 11 musicians on the stage, ROCKIN'!!! Later, a few more drummers joined informally. The tables and chairs got pushed back... and back... and back... More people came.... DREAMTIME ROCKS!! Do not think that this talk of ancients and trances and the unseen world means that they don't rock! They rock so hard I'm surprised their concerts don't register on seismic devices. Eleven musicians on stage! All sorts of instruments! Singers! Dancers! Good heavens! You have to be there. I'm going to highlight a few songs that were particularly memorable to me-- mostly new ones, not that the Dreamtime classics weren't good. It's just that the new songs-- wow! The first I recall was a little ditty in honor of the Buddha. What did Buddha say about life? That it was suffering, nothing but. The only way to escape is to exit the wheel of karma. Imagine a rock song about suffering. [But then, aren't most of them? And how refreshing to have one about suffering, rather than inflicting it.] "Buddha's Blues" talks about the suffering of the world and its antidote, love. The song is clever, funny, poignant, moving, and it rocks! The vibration could knock you off your feet! I talked to Sudama before the concert. (Sudama is the band's leader. Also known as Mark Kennedy. Both are his legitimate names-- he was given the name Sudama by his teacher in India in the '70's. The original Sudama was Lord Krishna's helper.) Sudama told me, "You've got to hear Prince Joni. [Pronounced Johnny] He's an absolutely incredible musician!!" Incredible doesn't come close. Prince Joni Haastrup is the real thing: from an illustrious Nigerian family, Joni sings, dances, plays talking drum, congas, who knows what else. This human dynamo explodes from the stage. He had the band and audience singing along to his beautiful song, "Shoulder to Shoulder." In this is revolutionary song, Joni talks about all of us working together, shoulder to shoulder, to end hatred, racism, poverty, sexism, evil. Shoulder to shoulder to transform the world into a place of love. At another point, after drumming wildly on the Talking Drum and congas and dancing all over the stage, Joni leapt into the audience and lead us in what can only be called "Nigerian line dancing." We were good, too! The man's a camp counselor for space age warriors. I was lucky to see Joni perform that night. He has since moved to the Bay Area, but will play with Dreamtime for special events. Check the Dreamtime Website for his dates.
Dreamtime's musicians come from all over the world and their instruments are even more diverse. The influence of the Far East has always been present, with instruments from the Indian subcontinent and Japan ever present. This night, Africa provided a dominant note. Prince Joni's musical influence was major. As was that of saxophonist, Phil Lawson. Phil is African American, a Dreamtime regular who adds something wonderful with his sax and his personal presence. He just keeps getting better-- go Phil!! And Budhi Harlow, while neither African nor African American, Budhi finds his soul's home on the ancient continent of Africa. He spends as much time there as possible and brings home their wonderful djembe drums. And plays them with Dreamtime! [He also sells killer djembe's! We love ours.] Leslie Lembo, a guest singer with Dreamtime, is purely from the States. I'd heard of Leslie, but never heard Leslie. Whoa! She can sing, and she can belt it out! Leslie also leapt from the stage that night, singing Dreamtime oldies and newies in her own special way. Aug. 8th was a lucky night for me. I got to feel better. Got to hear Prince Joni. And was there for my dear friend Jeff Lidke's last regular performance with Dreamtime. It's a problem the band has -- like many bands-- losing members. Musicians leave Dreamtime... but not for the reasons plaguing most rock bands: overdoses, suicide, jail. Jeff Lidke left for the same reason the band's old electric guitarist, Dave Mc Mahan, departed: Jeff finished his doctorate and got "a good paying job." Dreamtime used to be known as the only band in the universe with 4 Ph.D. candidates. I don't know what the score is now, but Jeff Lidke is now Dr. Jeff. He's off to Grinnell College in Iowa where he will be a professor of religious studies. (I asked him if he would wear his peacock feather earring there. He said he lost it. Perhaps it's just as well.) Jeff wrote the most amazing song. It's dedicated to the topic of his doctoral dissertation, the Goddess of Nepal. [Not all countries have their own goddess-- explains a lot about the world.] Jeff spent much time in Nepal studying the Goddess and her manifestations. He also studied with Royal Musician Homnath Upadhaya here and in Nepal. And he wrote a rock song to the Goddess-- The Benares Funk! The words are tricky-- they're Sanskrit. [Someone quipped from the stage, "Jeff's new CD, 'Don't Be Afraid of Sanskrit', is coming out soon!"] Does this combo work? Believe it! The song starts slowly-- just tablas and Sudama's highly amp'd sitar-- and builds to a crescendo as every instrument and singer goes at it. The jammed club took off: leaping, laughing dancers chanted/yelled the chorus, "Jaya! Jaya! Maha Shri Maha Parashakti!!" along with Jeff and the Dreamtime crew. I could feel the magnificent, complicated interplay of sounds in every pore. "Jaya! Jaya! Maha Shri Maha Parashakti!!" Hail to the Goddess of Nepal. The Benares Funk!
Here's Jeff playing tablas again. To the extreme right in the photo is Homnath Upadhaya, one of the Royal Musicians for the King of Nepal and Jeff's teacher. Homnath played with Dreamtime when he was teaching at UCSB. As Jeff's song unfolded from a rather classic Nepalese melody into a wild, multi-leveled, multi-sound, rock extravaganza complete with singers and audience participation, I became somewhat alarmed. This was most untraditional. I asked my daughter, who also took lessons from Homnath, "What do you think Homnath would say to this?" . She replied, eyes gleaming, "He would love it!!!" Yeah, he would. What a great way to say good-bye! So long, Jeff, old friend! So long Megan and little Sarita! Rock Iowa! .*** DREAMTIME'S MUSICIANS: I wasn't able to acknowledge everyone in Dreamtime in the text-- and they deserve acknowledgment. Here's a list of current and occasional members. (If you see Dreamtime, you might not see everyone. Best to check the Dreamtime Website for details if you want to see a particular artist.) In July 2 of 1994 Mark Kennedy collaborated with Jeff Lidke, Budhi Harlow and Montino Bourbon, and Alan Prichard in Santa Barbara to form DREAMTIME CONTINUUM, Many different artists have played with the band over the years which performs regularly in Southern California. Current members include:
with long time members and special guest artists
These people should be playing in coliseums and bowls. All over the world!
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MUSIC
DIRECTORY
SUDAMA:
THE CD RELEASE PARTY! Band leader, Mark Kennedy, released his "solo" album, December 15th, 1998. I label the album "solo" because it features Sapphron Obois on sax and many other virtuoso musicians I'll talk about below. Entitled "Sudama", the new CD features Mark singing and playing guitar, sitar, flute, and a few other instruments. The album's title is the spiritual name given to Mark by his meditation teacher in India. The original Sudama was a helper of Lord Krishna, whose name roughly translates into "Peace of Mind". The name fits, because "Sudama" the CD is slower and less percussive than Dreamtime's typical work. Mark and I are good friends, and I know his work well-- so I ordered ten copies of Sudama in advance, Christmas being just around the corner from the release date. Was I afraid that I'd end up with the aural equivalent of chartreuse argyle socks for my relatives? Not at all! I was able to hear the entire CD for the first time this morning. What did I think? This: Sudama is a gem. How do I define this? Thusly: By December 15th-- last night, the night of the CD release party, a bash which I'm sure rocked the Universe- I had worked myself into the socially sanctioned insanity known as "The Holiday Spirit." I was so stressed that I barked and growled rather than spoke. My muscles ached. My head throbbed. My stomach spoke via waves of nausea. I'd shopped past dropping, and sent out cards until my tongue became a glue stick. The swarming lights everyone hangs up to indicate how joyful they are looked like a plague from X-Files. Either that, or I was coming down with the flu. Since my daughter and husband felt the same way, it was probably the flu. BECAUSE OF THIS, WE COULDN'T GO TO THE CD RELEASE PARTY! PAIN!
My husband did manage to shamble into Soho, the Santa Barbara club where the CD release party was going on. He picked up the CD's I'd ordered. Too sick to listen that night, I stumbled down this morning to address a few thousand more Holiday cards. My head felt worse than the night before-- which was impossible. I put on Sudama. Why not? The worst it could do was kill me. In fifteen minutes, my headache was gone. I was able to address cards until I ran out. I'm able sit here at this computer and type, despite the obnoxious vibration it emits. Talk about "peace of mind"! This is peace of mind you can buy! Buy Sudama as a flu cure, if nothing else. Why is Sudama so good? It's drop-dead beautiful, for starters. The melodies are Mark's original compositions, written around his poetry and that of Rudyard Kipling and Eugene Field. The music moves through many subtle flavors: Celtic, nautical, East Indian, Middle Eastern, jazz. And haunting. Each cut provides a surprise, like walking through doors in a sultan's palace, a new tone appearing behind each: Tablas. Bells. A zither. Violin. Fretless base. Sitar. Sarod. Guitar. Piano. And that magnificent sax sailing and soaring and holding it all together. Sudama is beautifully produced and pristine. Very professional. The backup players weave in and out of the compositions, making them richer, deeper, and more complex. Sapphron Obois' sax and piano is stunning. I heard that Chick Correa called Sapphron the best female sax player in the country. I believe it. The other players were no less stunning: Homnath Upadhaya, drummer to the King of Nepal, and Jeff Lidke on tablas. Joy Julks on base. Jonathan Kessler, doumbek Background singers, Jill Miles and Megan Yalkut. Many people adding layers, interweaving, creating this CD touches the soul. Sudama is an elegant, complex, gentle, and ultimately breathtaking achievement. Mark Kennedy's voice is one of the major elements of the CD's success. As I listen to Mark, thoughts arise about the human voice and how truthfully it displays the soul behind it. Think of it: In speaking or singing, we pull air, that element on which we are most dependent, into our lungs. We swirl it around, holding it around our hearts. We hold the air a moment, and then we release it into the universe. It carries our unique vibration, picked up from our most intimate depths. Our voice never lies: It sounds just like we do. Those who hold hatred and rage inside put those out. Those stuck behind envy or revenge, lack and doubt, register those in our ears. Souls who carry peace and love sing the only notes they can. Mark Kennedy's voice entered my ears like a caress, touched my heart like a kiss. Sudama is a love song, a lullaby, a gift for the frayed and damaged, the shopped out and worn. Sudama is a gift for your mother, your favorite auntie, your son, your grandmother. Your grandchild. A gift for your lover, a present for your mate. It's gift from the heart that leaves peace and contentment, that says what you wanted to, but didn't know how. If you wish to purchase Sudama, you can buy it through Dreamtime's web site. You can also buy Sudama through Seven South Record Shop, a Santa Barbara record shop with a great website and extensive collection of Santa Barbara based musicians.
Click the covers above to go Sandy Nathan's books on the Amazon Kindle store. All Kindle books are 99 cents.
LET'S PLAY FAST: A CONCERT FROM 1998 My husband and I went to Soho, a club in downtown Santa Barbara to hear Dreamtime a few weeks ago. The club is a big, pleasant place with great acoustics. The guys were all there, setting up. Setting up Dreamtime takes a while, since practically every instrument in the world gets played. Mark Kennedy is at the far left of the stage. You notice Mark: He tops out at about 6'7" and is thin. He's got an assortment of instruments ringed around him: four guitars, a sitar, flutes, a dijereedo. A flat box with a lot of strings on it. A skinny, shaped, flat box with strings on it, and a bunch of other instruments with no names. Next to him is Dave Mc Mahan on electric guitar. A good looking blond guy with long hair. Rocks like crazy. Next to him is Phil Lawson, who plays sax and flute, and all sorts of rhythm stuff. Phil's African American and is wearing kinte cloth vest and hat. He looks great. Next to Phil is Jonathan Kessler on doumbek, a Middle Eastern drum shaped like a mushroom with the top cut off. Soleil Develle is next on kunga drums and bongo's. On the far right is bass guitarist Richard Cole, who is English, has long hair and plays great. On the floor in front of the others, we have Jeff Lidke and Homnath Upadhaya on tablas. Tablas are north Indian drums, cute little guys that look like Mutt and Jeff-- one fat, the other thin. You sit on the floor to play them. They're sophisticated drums that have actual notes and take a long time to learn. Oh, yeah-- Homnath is one of the court musicians to the King of Nepal. He's been teaching at the UC Santa Barbara this quarter. He's a fantastic musician. They all are.
After tuning and testing and setting up for a
long time, the guys start to play. Usually, their first set
is slow and rather meditative so the people eating dinner have
a chance to digest before being thrown onto the dance floor
by the band's irresistible beat. This night was like those times
I'm sure you've had showing horses when everything jells. You
step up in the saddle and you and your horse bond cosmically.
Before you know it, you're out there riding like a demon (or
angel) and winning everything. You and your horse remember it
forever. This night was like that. The guys just came together
and took off. Three songs in, folks were up dancing like crazy
with spaghetti hanging out of their mouths. It went like that.
My husband actually dragged me out on the dance floor.
Click the covers above to go Sandy Nathan's books on the Amazon Kindle store. All Kindle books are 99 cents.
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