Nov 16 2023 154 mins 2
The inclusion of Paul Beaudoin’s Shakti here on the Soundbath started curiously, when a variety of Paul’s tracks showed up in my inbox. Either from a series of Twitter posts or from a Reddit/Ambient conversation, Paul knew I was looking for longform works and sent me some things. I was instantly smitten with Paul’s beautiful collection of longform works. I kind of collect longform works like I do deep dish pizza experiences. Folks close to me know that two of my favorite things are deep dish pizza (specifically) but really and kind of pizza and ambient music, specifically longforms. A strange corollary, perhaps, but discovering Paul’s music was not unlike discovering a new pizzeria with a variety of delicious pies. Paul’s work demonstrates a masterful artistry with careful attention to restraint. This won’t be the last time you hear Paul’s work on the Soundbath.
Enjoy this two and a half hour beauty.
-Matt
About Shakti:
Shakti was created in 2015 while Paul was in Tallinn, Estonia on a Fulbright Scholarship. While in Tallinn, Paul experienced a major shift in his life, and began to reexamine nearly every aspect of his personal and creative. Paul’s interest in Indian culture and Hinduism, in particular, led him to imagine Shakti, the Indian goddess involved in the creation, maintenance, and destruction of the universe – a goddess of both good and evil. As in life, the movement in Shakti is extremely slow and almost imperceptible. It was made from a series of 10 chords played by a Mexican accordionist that seems lost. And, as in most Indian raga, Shakti is meant to be heard at a specific time of day – the end of the piece should coincide with the sunset. Shakti is dedicated to the Estonian dancer Kaspar Aus, who used it in his evening-length performance “Solo: from nothing to nothing.”
About Paul:
Paul Beaudoin (b. 1960, Miami, FL, USA) – is an academically trained composer who received a Ph.D. in music theory and composition from Brandeis University. He is an award-winning educator and published author on John Cage, Gyorgy Ligeti, and the history of American music. For decades, Paul lived in Boston, MA, where he conducted, played clarinet, and taught music and art history at several universities. As an educator, he was a leading advocate for online learning and spent a decade traveling the globe to train teachers to teach with technology.
In 2015, Paul was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship that brought him to Estonia. During this period, Paul’s inner creativity was reawakened. He began painting, making experimental video art, and writing poetry. During this time, Paul experienced a radical shift in his creative work as he reflected on his academic career and inner spiritual transformation. Paul’s music moved away from the dissonant, angular music he felt was expected of an academic composer in New England. Paul’s music softened, expanding into long, slowly evolving soundscapes living somewhere between ambient music and the long drone music of composers such as La Monte Young, Tony Conrad, and Eliane Radigue. Paul’s recent music parallels his visual work, where soft backgrounds are etched with foreground gestural mark-making.
Paul is a globally recognized composer, visual artist, experimental video maker, and writer who lives in an Estonian neighborhood formerly occupied by the Soviet military.
To hear more of Paul’s music, please visit his Soundcloud page at
www:soundcloud.com/paul-beaudoin
and to learn more about his work in the visual and literary arts please follow him over at Instagram: www.instagram.com/paulbeaudoin
Finally, you can support Paul by downloading his music – all for free – over at his Bandcamp page: www.paulbeaudoin.bandcamp.com/
