New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The Grammy nomination for BHAKTI honors the spirit of love and devotion; this is a victory of the heart, a celebration of the goodness within all of us!
Paul Avgerinos is one of the "Giants of New Age Ambience" according to the writers at All
Music Guide. BHAKTI, his 21st album, celebrates East and West with Avgerinos' compositions performed by an impressive list of top talent on classical Eastern and Western instruments mixed with Bollywood beats and uplifting vocals; Avgerinos himself sings and directs sound design, as well as performing on keyboards and bass, nylon, steel, 12-string, and echo slide guitars. Members of The Recording Academy embraced the popular album with a Grammy® nomination for Best New Age Album for the 57th Grammy Awards®, to be held on Feb. 8 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA, and broadcast live on television by CBS.
"The Grammy nomination for BHAKTI honors the spirit of love and devotion; this is a victory of the heart, a celebration of the goodness within all of us," Avgerinos said, expressing immense gratitude for the nomination from his Redding, CT-based Studio Unicorn, which is also home to his independent record label,
Round Sky Music.
An established artist with 21 albums to his name, Avgerinos rarely seeks the spotlight, preferring a quiet life composing, producing and licensing not only his music, but artists in every genre. However, upon completion of BHAKTI, the album so captured his appreciation for uniting Eastern and Western beliefs and music that he felt a calling to share it with an audience beyond his own fan list; before long, his peers were suggesting that he submit it for Grammy® consideration.
Bhakti is a Sanskrit word meaning love and devotion, and indeed this album may be one of Avgerinos' most joyful and uplifting projects to date. It differs from his previous albums in its Indian-centric celebration of sound, combining Indian sitar, sarod, Bansuri flute and violin with EWI, nylon guitar, and Christian Sanskrit mantras. He sought out premiere artists for the recording project, including
Camila Celin (sarod),
Kevin Braheny Fortune (EWI), Steve Gorn (Bansuri Flute), Dayashila Carrie Grossman (vocals), Neel Murgai (sitar), Arun Ramamurthy (violin), Christine Yandell (vocals). Fine-tuning the album included mastering by Michael Fossenkemper (TurtleTone Mastering) and art-design by Joe Frank.
A review by Russill Paul, musician and author of The Yoga of Sound & Jesus in The Lotus, deftly pinpoints the album's subtle achievement when he writes "Veteran New Age composer, Paul Avgerinos, blends his consummate skills, not just musically, but also spiritually, to produce Bhakti. His connection to Christianity and Yoga shine together in a way that neither tradition outshines the other in his devotion, setting a model for the inter-spiritual future we may all embrace one day."
Where does such a vision begin? Brought up in the Greek Orthodox Church, Avgerinos became a student of the Bhakti yoga guru Sri Chinmoy from
India when he was 16. Since then, he has practiced yoga, meditation, chanting and devotional singing while also being active in a small Christian church near his home, singing and praying there. Enjoying both paths, he was increasingly inspired to blend the most personally-meaningful aspects of Bhakti yoga and Christianity together in a harmony of pure divine love, presenting a new sound, one of devotion and joy that is accessible to a wide audience.
Avgerinos' intention to live a balanced life of East-meets-West is nowhere more apparent than when he describes his plans for handling all of the pre- and post-Grammy® week excitement. "I'm looking forward to enjoying time in LA and attending the Awards with my wonderful wife, Jen," he explains, adding "From there, we are headed directly to the ashram of the great Guru Amma, who has inspired, guided and blessed me on this journey of BHAKTI love and devotion. What better way to both express gratitude and get grounded than at the feet of the great Mother!"
BHAKTI music clips and videos can be viewed on the official album page, or on YouTube:
Official album page: https://www.roundskymusic.com/b-h-a-k-t-i/
Bhakti Video 1: https://youtu.be/FBr_pI3yP3s
Bhakti Video 2: https://youtu.be/zObcPLy5Lvs
BHAKTI can be purchased as physical CD or digital downloads from fine music stores everywhere, including but not limited to Amazon and iTunes.
ABOUT:
Paul Avgerinos is a GRAMMY-nominated and award-winning Artist, Composer and Producer whose music is broadcast all over the world and has been heard by well over one billion people. Paul is very active in Film and TV music and has been involved in a number of platinum album productions. He lives and works in Redding, CT, where the deer pass by his studio windows and the hawks and eagles give inspiration from above.
