THU., AUGUST 30, 2007
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Tommy Silverman Finds God(dess)
by Robert Phoenix
Tommy Silverman might be as seminal a figure in hip-hop as Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin. Under Silverman’s stewardship, Tommy Boy Records was synonymous with old school megastars such as De La Soul, Queen Latifah, Digital Underground, Coolio, House of Pain and Naughty by Nature. The amount of money made off of those artists alone equals the GNP of some small countries. But around 1995, Silverman began to think about “functional music” — music designed to suit salons, spas and yoga studios.
Right around that time, Silverman met Donna D'Cruz.
D'Cruz was running a very small label, Australian Music International, featuring Adam Plack (Nomad), her one-time partner. AMI was essentially a showcase for Plack and his prodigious skills on the didgeridoo; his Winds Of Warning is a fine fusion of ambient, tribal didge with subtle grooves.
Donna was/is one sexyhotmamagoddess (in March 2007, Paper magazine named her one of the fifty most beautiful people of the year); Tom Silverman probably took one look at her and saw god. Donna probably took one look at him and saw a very wealthy and successful record industry don. The two of them got married, thus fueling Silverman’s conversion from bass lines to bhajans. The result of their collaboration is raSa Music, a label that has taken Silverman’s ideas regarding functional music and given it a platform, creating compilations for relaxation, healing and restoration with titles like Revive: Music to Restore Balance & Wellbeing and Relax: Sublime Music For Reading & Lounging. While a number of other new age labels such as New World and Sequoia have also fashioned compilations for specific purposes, much to D'Cruz and Silverman’s credit they've drafted some decent talent to fill out the compilations, with artists like the legendary Ladysmith Black Mambazo, trip-hop tango masters, Gotan Project and even the Stereo MC’s mixed by old-school-prog-rocker-turned-ambient-techno-maven Steve Hillage. Being functional apparently does not mean being mediocre.
An interesting project that has come out of the raSa experience is The Mothers, which features an acapella group, the Philani Mothers Choir from South Africa, whose moving vocal tracks were embellished by the likes of Kid Loco, Zero 7, Faze Action, Nitin Sawhney and other electronic artists; you can find the complete guest list on the raSa Music website.
In addition to the aforementioned compilations, D'Cruz and Silverman have also invested heavily in one of the movers and shakers of the new age movement, Deepak Chopra. You know him from countless hours on PBS and the Oprah Winfrey show and now you can know him as your own personal sound healer on a number of raSa releases such as Deepak Chopra and Friends, which features sacred shout-outs from Gina Gershon and Marisa Tomei. Another Chopra spiritual workout is Chakra Balancing with the aforementioned Adam Plack on didge and electronics. On Chakra Balancing Chopra takes the listener on a guided tour of the chakric energy systems, while Plack provides the sonic prescription to open and balance each chakra. The recording quality is superb and Plack’s movements for each chakra are delightful. One wonders if the music itself would accomplish the same results without Chopra’s spiritual play-by-play. Dr. Chopra does give the listener a key Sanskrit word to chant during the instrumental spaces of each stop along the kundalini expressway.
While Silverman still has his fingerprints firmly on Tommy Boy, D'Cruz has used raSa as a platform to launch a very successful career as a high-end DJ for the rich and famous in New York. Recently, she fully embraced her role of DJ as deliverer of the functional by providing reception music for wedding planner Colin Cowie on a recent series for CBS’s The Early Show.
Are Silverman and D'Cruz the modern day versions of Krishna and Radha, creating beautiful music for the masses? Or are they agents of their own functional directives, fusing lifestyle and sound with the ubiquitous Dr. Chopra opening doors not just to higher planes of consciousness, but to the upper realms of the social stratosphere? A wise man once said, “All roads lead to the city of God.” If that’s the case, then Silverman and D'Cruz’s path not only seems functional but fun. Count me in.
Right around that time, Silverman met Donna D'Cruz.
D'Cruz was running a very small label, Australian Music International, featuring Adam Plack (Nomad), her one-time partner. AMI was essentially a showcase for Plack and his prodigious skills on the didgeridoo; his Winds Of Warning is a fine fusion of ambient, tribal didge with subtle grooves.
Donna was/is one sexyhotmamagoddess (in March 2007, Paper magazine named her one of the fifty most beautiful people of the year); Tom Silverman probably took one look at her and saw god. Donna probably took one look at him and saw a very wealthy and successful record industry don. The two of them got married, thus fueling Silverman’s conversion from bass lines to bhajans. The result of their collaboration is raSa Music, a label that has taken Silverman’s ideas regarding functional music and given it a platform, creating compilations for relaxation, healing and restoration with titles like Revive: Music to Restore Balance & Wellbeing and Relax: Sublime Music For Reading & Lounging. While a number of other new age labels such as New World and Sequoia have also fashioned compilations for specific purposes, much to D'Cruz and Silverman’s credit they've drafted some decent talent to fill out the compilations, with artists like the legendary Ladysmith Black Mambazo, trip-hop tango masters, Gotan Project and even the Stereo MC’s mixed by old-school-prog-rocker-turned-ambient-techno-maven Steve Hillage. Being functional apparently does not mean being mediocre.
An interesting project that has come out of the raSa experience is The Mothers, which features an acapella group, the Philani Mothers Choir from South Africa, whose moving vocal tracks were embellished by the likes of Kid Loco, Zero 7, Faze Action, Nitin Sawhney and other electronic artists; you can find the complete guest list on the raSa Music website.
In addition to the aforementioned compilations, D'Cruz and Silverman have also invested heavily in one of the movers and shakers of the new age movement, Deepak Chopra. You know him from countless hours on PBS and the Oprah Winfrey show and now you can know him as your own personal sound healer on a number of raSa releases such as Deepak Chopra and Friends, which features sacred shout-outs from Gina Gershon and Marisa Tomei. Another Chopra spiritual workout is Chakra Balancing with the aforementioned Adam Plack on didge and electronics. On Chakra Balancing Chopra takes the listener on a guided tour of the chakric energy systems, while Plack provides the sonic prescription to open and balance each chakra. The recording quality is superb and Plack’s movements for each chakra are delightful. One wonders if the music itself would accomplish the same results without Chopra’s spiritual play-by-play. Dr. Chopra does give the listener a key Sanskrit word to chant during the instrumental spaces of each stop along the kundalini expressway.
While Silverman still has his fingerprints firmly on Tommy Boy, D'Cruz has used raSa as a platform to launch a very successful career as a high-end DJ for the rich and famous in New York. Recently, she fully embraced her role of DJ as deliverer of the functional by providing reception music for wedding planner Colin Cowie on a recent series for CBS’s The Early Show.
Are Silverman and D'Cruz the modern day versions of Krishna and Radha, creating beautiful music for the masses? Or are they agents of their own functional directives, fusing lifestyle and sound with the ubiquitous Dr. Chopra opening doors not just to higher planes of consciousness, but to the upper realms of the social stratosphere? A wise man once said, “All roads lead to the city of God.” If that’s the case, then Silverman and D'Cruz’s path not only seems functional but fun. Count me in.
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