SpiritLIVE Orchestre Musicians
Claudia Reeves, David Paller, Arlie Proctor, Peter Elston,
Carolyn “Amala” Viola, Jeffrey Fadden, Allison Brown, Ren Porter, Jim Davidson
Spirit LIVE Orchestre musicians
SpiritLIVE Greetings to ALL!
My name is Carolyn “Amala” Viola, the Artistic Director of SpiritLIVE LLC
Thank you for taking an interest in our website and SpiritLIVE Awakening Danse/Chant Celebrations! I am so grateful to report that our SpiritLIVE Orchestre members and the Event Facilitation itself has grown and blossomed in strength, vision, articulation, and connectedness over these past two years. I SINGcerely hope you will come see for yourself and too help in co-creating the engagement of JOY between our musicians and dancers participating in our dance/chant event . Come hear first hand our unique sound LIVE! Thank You also for helping to promote interest and spread the word to all in need of a self-expression's Release, Recharge, and Reconnection! YES!
We serve the moving public with our improvisational music from all genres. The musicians inspire the dancers to allow in their moment by moment moves to unfold and in turn the musicians are re-inspired to play and sing forth authentically from a lifetime rich in experience! The synergy is exciting, freeing, emoting, and FUN! It is different every time depending on who is there to play, to move, and to be moved. What needs to open and be expressed from out of our personal lives and from our world perception takes VOICE. It is truly a co-creation of SpirtLIVE all-together!
For decades, I have been the solo singer for Princeton’s Dance Improv and both a participant and musician with Philadelphia’s Group Motion. These long time communities along with being a graduate of David Darling’s Music for People have mentored my growth as a music/danse facilitator. However it is my 30 year old Hatha Yoga practice of listening to and allowing the breath in my body to move me to open safety, plus the love of mantra, that caused me to birth SpiritLIVE! People need a place to experience and reinforce a way into their breath that brings healing to their minds, body, and Spirit, and SpiritLIVE gives permission for one’s Sound Self to Open Organically and Authentically be Heard and be Seen!
It has been my life's work in the world to help folks open to their authentic sound. I am so graced to be in the company of such accomplished, gifted musicians, most of which were new to free improvisation and are smitten now by it’s unveiling passion:
Claudia Reeves, Vocals, Wing Vibes, Zills, artist, fashion designer and musician, focusing on vocals, silver flute and writing for Spirit Live Orchestre. Born in Atlanta, Claudia has always been surrounded by a community of artisans which reflects strongly in her musical interests. She studied piano early on and taught herself to pay the guitar and flute, composing a body of work in several styles including jazz, folk, rock and blues, and recently created a video for "How Near, How Far", an original song she co-wrote with a jazz ensemble. She has been seen performing with Ellyot H. Ray, Andrea Carlson and Bob Miles Trio. "The flute style that I play is free form to begin with, so I love the improvisational jazz aspect of the ensemble and the spontaneity forming the dance and the music. I’m able to musically express a lot of different emotions and dance to achieve the whirl of oneness! The performance becomes “the distraction fit”, to borrow a phrase from T.S. Elliot… a conceptual fusion, it's wild!”
David Everitt Paller: electric bass, vibes, percussion. David has played stringed instruments professionally for 40 years. He's versed in a variety of styles; adding a contemporary and original flair with a cool edge to all of his music. David currently plays double bass and occasional cello with 4 different local New Jersey ensembles. He teaches at a local technical college...and plays trumpet in his spare time. David enjoys the freedom and diversity that SpiritLive embraces. "My striving in this endeavor is Joy, a joy for all those in this collection of people and influence. Of course it's the dancers -- we are expressing to them and they respond to our full expression. When we exude this joy, this feeling of unity amongst us all, we all FLOAT in this. It's amazing!"
Arlie Proctor, the electric guitar player, has been playing for over 35 years. His roots are in folk, jazz, rock, and blues, but he enjoys the eclectic challenges of SpiritLive where the musical genres span a wide spectrum of influences and allow for experimentation.“…What attracted me to join was the collection of musicians, different personalities and ideas. Everybody comes from a completely different musical background, training perspective, and from what their ear is like. It’s a very interesting outlet for artistic expression to get together with this band and play. It’s different from any other musical experience you have ever had.”
Peter Elston, the keyboardist for the SLO Orchestre, is a self-taught musician who started on guitar at age 11. He has been the accompanist (on both guitar and keyboard) for Amala, his partner, and wife for over 40 years, and has played in several local bands, including the Kirtan band the Enchanters, and Princeton’s Dance ImprovLIVE Band. Peter now focuses on music improvisation performance, music composition, and recording. “…I make the space for other performers to provide the lead and give us the other accoutrements that really make the music sound good. Creating the fundament for others to add to it, becomes a very dynamic and exciting place musically.”
Jeffrey Fadden...is Spirit Live's acoustic guitarist/composer whose core passion is centered primarily in Jazz, but has deep influences in Classical, World Music, and Bossa Nova repertoire. He leads his own trio, as well as his orig'l work with numerous singer-songwriters too numerous to mention here. He’s backed many female Jazz vocalists as well as performing in Classical duets and recitals throughout the Lambertville/New Hope/Doylestown area. His love for improvisation in this collaborative setting allows him to play with a new meaning of freedom and exploration! “…What attracted me most was working with all the other multiple instrumentalists. I wanted to discover how we can all gel together improvising with everyone having different levels of playing, different influences, from different kinds of music genres. It was a perfect opportunity to add the uniqueness of my instrument, a nylon string guitar. I work very closely with the piano player and the other instruments around me basically as the baseline "river", to hold a foundation on top of the foundation.”
Allison Brown’s musical background is rooted in classical, folk, jazz, and blues. She sings and plays percussion as well as a medley of other instruments including her primary instrument mandolin, harmonica, guitar, and recorder to name a few. She has performed with the drum ensemble Patagun!, Cordus Mundi and Friends, and the New Hope Solebury Choir. She is current exploring new musical horizons with bands including: The Maebells, JavaSway, RiverSpeak, and the River Riders. “…Spirit Live is an amalgamation of sound, of extemporaneous expression of feeling and we don't do covers. We interact with the dancers and the dancers speak to us as we speak to them which makes it even more exciting.”
Ren Porter, vocals, native American flute, percussion. Ren is a renaissance woman...a painter, singer, poet, lover of life.. She's been involved in experimental, improvisational, and original music for many years. She wrote for and sang with the Chicago band, Norma Jean. More recently she sang with Ren's Swingset, a New Jersey contemporary jazz trio. Ren lived and painted in Latin America...strongly influenced by the pre-Hispanic Aztec and Mayan cultures. She danced with the Meshika Danzantes in Mexico City and designed and painted traditional trajes for La Danza in Chicago. She painted murals in Chicago, and currently creates surrealist collages and paintings. Her approach to all things artistic are spiritual and improvisational in nature. She is an ordained interfaith minister, songwriter, and a "slightly obsessive-compulsive" free spirit. “…I put myself to sleep at night by doing vocalization spontaneously. At SpiritLIVE I love the idea that there is something going on musically and visually that sparks something inside of me and I am able to just react.”
Jim Davidson and his own handmade African Drums is a percussionist entranced by African and Middle-Eastern rhythms. He teaches African djembe drumming at Bucks County Community College and leads monthly public drum circles in Lambertville NJ. Jim builds many of his instruments and brings an ever-changing selection of drums to Spirit Live Jam events. He has studied drum with many masters including Mamady Keita, Famoudou Konate, and Glen Velez. Jim lives in Lambertville NJ with his wife Allison who is also a member of the band. “…If I had to choose a word to describe Spirit Live Dance, it would be “Spirit” because that's what we create. I play the drum as a prayer, that’s Spirit. Spirit comes from different places, different instruments, but we all have it, that's why we musicians all get along so well. Even though as they say, it’s like herding cats at times!”
“Amala”: Artistic Director/Event Facilitator, Vocals, Shruti Box, Native American Flutes, Crystal & Tibetan Bowls
“…There are no wrong moves here… here we remember that Love is all around us, every moment of every day! In the grace of a band of improvisers and a group of dancers who are creating authentic improvisational music and movement together, we can distill whatever has become stuck within us, whether it has been an emotional blow or a physical injury. We access another way to channel and to heal from them. Music moves us deeply; add to it our breath and we human moving beings calling forth an opportunity to come in to our own integrity with who we truly are!”
Please feel free to send me an email here at SpiritLIVE.org if there is anything more I can provide you with to help you seize the moment and come to one of our Danse/Chant Celebrations or to secure a one on one session with me. Love to hear your thoughts too if you have already been present to co-creating our cOMmUNITY of authentic self-expression at it’s BEST! YAY!
SINGcerely Yours,
Amalalala