Get all 20 Joel Veena releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Confluence of Raga Guitars, The House in the Woods (lofi remix), Raga Poems, Never Too Late (for a Shower of Rain) feat. Mir Naqibul Islam, Interior Landscapes, Reminder feat. Jasdeep Singh, Raga Bhimpalasi in Jhaptaal feat. Jasdeep Singh, Sacred Groves: Peace at Home, and 12 more.
Excludes subscriber-only releases.
1. |
Mango (Raga Mohanam)
04:01
|
|||
|
Mango, ragas Mohannam and Bhupali
To peel away - the green skin blushed with red.
and reveal the inner ripe pulp -
pale golden core of delight
the smooth honeyed flesh of our dream body.
To sink into that dream body -
and taste the days we knew as children
who devoured all of the hours
when we drank the sun down.
Heedless of our sticky hands
we feast on the sweet meat
surrounding the mango's core,
our lips smeared
with the shreds of golden flesh that cling
|
||||
2. |
||||
|
The House in the Woods, raga Charukesi
It happened again that night
He awoke to find her space empty
in the cool moonlight
and went to the unlocked door
The breadcrumb trail disappeared
into the rustling forest
At length he slept again
And as he drifted off he dreamt
of tracing her trail among the trees
calling out her name as he walked
grinding the bread into the ground
In the morning she said, "Dreaming again?
My love, you know I will never leave
You know / You know that."
She touched his cheek
and he did know and did believe
that everafter they would be happy
That night while she slept
he went to the unlocked door
and placed just outside - a bowl of small white stones
gleaming in the moonlight
that she might not forget
in her haste for the forest.
|
||||
3. |
||||
|
We Are Controlled, in raag Malkauns
We are controlled by what we can not know
The obscure cells that blink within the brain
The wild dark eye of the wary crow.
The tingling seed that lets the child grow
Is washed away by generations' rain
We are controlled by what we can not know.
Mingling lovers sleep, their skin aglow
At dawn they hear outside the window pane
The cold bleak cough of the patient crow.
Soldiers shed their blood upon the snow
And stare in fascination at the stain
They are controlled by what they dare not know.
Old men remember their father's death, and how
He stared and moaned but never could explain
The long dark flight of the weary crow..
The looking glass is old and now can show
The stubborn lines appearing once again
We are controlled by what we can not know
The wild dark eye of the wary crow.
|
||||
4. |
||||
|
Mosquito, in raag Madhuvanti
She will find her way
to that small open spot of your soft skin
floating and flouncing through the air
like the fluff of wind blown seeds
Against her we have only our body hair
to make us aware of her approach
and the buzz of her whirring wings.
She will hover and feint / withdraw then dip
to easily escape that inept slap
How she can lock down upon you
a phlebotomist scrutinizing skin
inspector of your pores
proboscis pressing the spongy flesh
delicate needle probing for blood
Somehow she has slipped in
to alight and sip her fill of your vital fluid
leave you with swollen tender redness
vampire ache
|
||||
5. |
In the Yard (Raga Megh)
05:46
|
|||
|
In the Yard, ragas Megh and Madhyamavati
Denied all day by a dank June rain
The setting sun splits the scattered clouds
to bathe the yard in sudden light
and birdsong silent through all the hours
rises from the dripping trees
In a cleft of time wonder floods the yard.
How suddenly the somber comes undone
ravished by radiance from the suspended sun
and resounding ragas of warblers and wrens
singing from hemlock tops
flecked with stippled gold.
Then it's gone.
Drab descends, the cries subside.
This little world of a familiar yard
has still its sudden visions all along
when I arrived into a time not my time
to be plucked from time
by trees alight with song.
|
||||
Joel Veena Guilford, Vermont
A chance encounter with the 20-stringed Indian slide guitar more than a decade ago in Delhi turned into a life-changing
event for Joel. He has since immersed himself in the oral tradition of North Indian classical music, studying with some of the great musicians of India.
A prayer and a process, Joel’s music aims to heal, calm and strengthen.
... more
Joel Veena recommends:
Soul Mate - Ecstasy of Slide Guitar
by Debasis Chakroborty
Excellent Indian Slide Guitar playing, nice compositions
go to album
God Is Not a Terrorist
by Ustad Saami
What a singer; seeing Ustad Naseerudin Saami perform in New York City was one of the great experiences of my life.
go to album
Mèdaho
by Kaleta & Super Yamba Band
Kaleta is a direct link with the afrobeat music I grew to love as a teenager and playing in an afrobeat band. The Super Yamba live show is not to be missed!
go to albumIf you like Raga Poems, you may also like:
featured on Bandcamp Radio May 23, 2022
go to album
Yusef Lateef in Nigeria
by Yusef Lateef
featured on Bandcamp Radio Sep 20, 2022
go to album
Rest' La Maloya
by Alain Peters
featured on Bandcamp Radio Jun 23, 2020
go to album
