Sun-lit, rainbow music for respite after rainy days. That’s how I would describe Alap Jetzer’s largely acoustic renditions of Hindu guru Sri Chinmoy’s compositions. Attracted to the same devotional spiritual path that struck other musicians like Pete Townshend, Carlos Santana, Narada Michael Walden, and Roberta Flack, so was this young Swiss instrument maker and multi-instrumentalist taken by the ascetic path set out by the unlikeliest of gurus.
Eternity’s Sunrise took inspiration from his guru’s own Ashram music, and what appears to be spacey, first-wave ambient music. This album shows that delicate mix of devotional music with fingers dipped in neoclassical stylings of Popol Vuh and the floating music of Brian Eno. Cosmic New Age as its musical style, as it has been described elsewhere on the net, sounds about right. That’s what one hears in it’s mix of traditional styles and instruments, with modern technologies from far flung locales. At times though, when Alap is especially inspired, his music makes the trek closer to that special mana we know as fourth world music.
Originally released on cassette, this collection of music solely arranged/performed by Alap and featuring instruments like acoustic guitar, esraj, electric flute, and drone synthesizers was quietly shared in Sri Chinmoy’s music archive. With heavy application of reverb and delay effects, Eternity’s Sunrise is very similar to Laraaji’s music, sharing that gift of being wonderfully meditative and, at times, mind-bogglingly sublime in its composition. In hindsight, of all the names Mr. Jeter could have chosen as his Hindu name, Alap (the source of music) makes the most sense.