Composer Tenzin Choegyal contemplates his spiritual heritage and collaborates with Bansuri Master, Taro Terahara to create an album about happiness, contemplation, creativity and homage.

Available online at ethnosuperlounge.com and indie-cds.com, and in Perfect Potion stores.

“This is a combination of Africa, India and Tibet, that, for all its unlikeliness, has resulted in a musical masterpiece.” (Mike Raine)

Tibet2Timbuk2 has an eclectic repertoire resulting in an overall sound which is full and organic.  All three musicians share melody, harmony, bass and percussion roles to create a solid yet easy groove.

Their debut CD Music is Life includes 2008 QSong BEMAC World Music Award winning piece, Crane Song, featuring internationally renowned bansuri player Taro Terahara.  In Oct 2009,  Daway Wola won “Best Fusion” in the Music Tibet Awards in Dharamsala.

Jazz trumpeter Peter Hunt contributes to several tracks and the CD finale Music Is Life/Menfanh features the West African singing and kora of special guest Lansana Camara from Guinea.

From the joyous to the meditative, come on a journey from Tibet to Timbuktu.

Proceeds from the sale of Tibet2Timbuk2: “Music is Life” go to support Tibetan Children’s Village in Dharamsala, India.

Tenzin Choegyal –‘Heart Sutra’, ‘often in my dreams’.

‘Heart Sutra- often in my dreams’ is his fourth release, and four years on from the previous CD ‘Big Happiness’ (2000), expands further his connection to the folk songs and music of the nomadic peoples of his homeland and the continuing experiences of his fellow exiled Tibetans across the diaspora. Sold out by day 4, this album was the most sought after memento by festival goers at last year’s Woodford Folk Festival shop.

With Tenzin’s exquisite cover artwork, the CD ’Heart Sutra’ is the resultant heartfelt journey of the many musical experiences of the festival appearances of which he is in great demand and also a pointer to the tapestry of collaborative projects that he has recently been part of, like Trikaya (with James Coates, Riley Lee & Michael Askill), 2 Horsemen (with Bayaan Bhaatarsukh) & Terika (with River Petein & Katherine Philip).

Of the thirteen tracks, the gems most played by this ardent supporter start with ‘Olo Chung Chung’ , the love for a little boy and his hoped for bright future recorded live October ’05 at the Brisbane Powerhouse with the trio Terika as part of the third Dis-Orientation Concert series.
The transcendental over pinning of glorious flute from the plains of the roof of world the Lingbu (transverse bamboo flute), on ’Thank You India’, with programming & atmospherics from Taane Matteson, stands out as a instrumental hymn of gratitude to the people of India for the sanctuary they have given to Tibetans since 1959.The bone-tingling opening and title cut ‘Heart Sutra’ reminds us, if we ever needed reminding, of his powerful, and other-worldly sweeping voice accompanied by his instrument of choice, the Dranyen (Tibetan folk six-stringed long-necked lute) .Look out for a mini album later this year with Gold Coast resident Mongolian throat-singer and morin-huur(horse-head fiddle) master, Bayaan Bhaartasukh.

“Heart Sutra” is now available from ethnosuperlounge.com

Terika’s CD will soon be available at ethnosuperlounge.com – stay tuned.

Sample Tracks

Sorry links don’t work right now… stay tuned.

Acoustica Disk

Court Song (5.9MB)
Sunday (5.0MB)

Electronica Disk

Glitchy Angel (7.7MB)
Wonder (7.5MB)

Track Listing

Tibet2Timbuk2 has an eclectic repertoire resulting in an overall sound which is full and organic. All three musicians share melody, harmony, bass and percussion roles to create a solid yet easy groove. From the joyous to the meditative, come on a journey from Tibet to Timbuktu.

Tenzin as a master of traditional instruments such as the Dranyen (long-necked lute) and Lingbu (transverse bamboo flute), he is also accomplished in ritual instruments such as the Suna (reed instrument), and utilises singing bowls, bells, and gongs within his compositions. Surpassing all this, however, is Tenzin’s outstanding voice, rich and memorable in its poignancy and intensity.

Baatar is master of his horse headed fidle Morin chuur and throat singing where one produces two or three vocal lines simultaneously by selectively amplifying harmonics. Legend has it that the fiddle was created from the bones, skin and hair of a magical winged horse upon whose death ht skull became the body of the fiddle.

Terika is an Australian based world music / jazz fusion trio which combines Tibetan folk, smoky saxophone and mellow cello to create a truly unique toe tapping mystical musical experience.

Terika features the creative talents of River Petein on saxophones, Katherine Philp on cello and Tenzin Choegyal who plays traditional Tibetan instruments and provides the soaring vocals. Their musical mastery is matched by their passion for sensitive collaboration, merging the ancient and modern, east and west, secular and religious.
The result is an intriguing musical tapestry, rich in its rhythm, melody and meaning.

…In the Between… brings together four of Australia’s finest music collaborators in a highly original performance piece that uses The Tibetan Book of the Dead as its source material.

Trikaya features Michael Askill on singing bowls, bells and gongs, Riley Lee on shakuhachi, Tenzin Choegyal on Tibetan flute and voice, and James Coates with spoken word. This richly atmospheric work will inform and transform the audience with the ancient and universal wisdom of Tibet.

‘Liberation through Hearing in the Between’ is a more accurate translation of the 14th century text by Padmakara usually known as The Tibetan Book of the Dead.

Combining selected text readings with musical meditations and sound illuminations, the Trikaya quartet performs an original interpretation of this very profound, poetic and universal wisdom

• 2003 Under Eastern Skies (ABC)
• 2000 Scattered People (Lifeline)
• 1999 Music as Medicine (Stories & Songs of the People)

Tenzin Choegyal has been a key organiser of events such as:

• The Disorientation Series, with the concert at the Powerhouse (Aug
  04) being the inaugural concert of the Inner Asian Music Foundation;
• Tibet in a Red Box (March 2004) – a week long exhibition at the Metro Arts Centre;
• Tibetan Freedom Festival (March 2001) at Boggo Road Gaol.