The Trees Music grew out of our search for truth and was built on our common, monastic life.  At first it played through us  in complete surprise, as sounds from all over the world came to us in prayer. 

One night we might travel along a hot, dusty road in Ancient Egypt, with the sounds of donkey’s hooves and clanging pots. Another night we were adrift in a foggy sea, the boat groaning and creaking and a distant bell tolling.

 In prayer a great many voices joined and poured through our own.  Colorful sounds from every part of the globe played through our few instruments.   Their different keys echoing the diverse flavors of humanity.

In this magical time, when we first came together as a community, the music poured into us as liquid, dynamic, ever changing.  Over time, however tried and tested, it never traveled far from these mystic roots.  The music and our story in it remained spontaneous, improvisational, always fresh.
 
 From the original communion in sound came our first name: The Symphony of Souls in Christ.  God handed us each separate parts yet no one envisioned the script to come.

The Christ Tree is our musical meditation that evolved from this root of listening in prayer, and from these global sounds that first came to us.  Its branches form a woven tapestry including Balinese chant, American folk music, Indian raga, African rhythm, Tibetan ritual gong, and Mexican bell wheel Sanctus. These and other musical signatures from different nations and culture from ancient to contemporary, are heard in our meditation.
80 Acoustic Instruments and more are nestled in the Christ Tree.  Starting with an initial collection of Indian Sitar, Tamboura and drums, Venezuelan folk harp, American Guitar, French Flute, Austrian Zither and Tibetan Gongs, we began to add more and more instruments. Everywhere we went people gave us full blown instruments or noise makers, ranging from finger cymbals to Japanese Koto; from African Belanji  to American Dulcimer.  At one point we were given all the pipes from a church organ that had been replaced by new ones - and not just little ones -- the 8 and 16 footers too! 
Intimate while universal, Personal as well as global, our voices and diverse instruments paint an icon of struggle and inspiration from alienation (Psalm 42) to praise (Psalm 45). That range of emotion is layered in cacophony and compositional grace, from unique psalm renditions to original song in the empathetic “Jesus He Knows” and the hopeful, upbeat “I Will Not Leave You Comfortless.”
Improvised and composed the music remained partly spontaneous and partly a body of repeated work that began with a few phrases or melodies and evolved through lengthy practice sessions into a song or other "piece" to be performed.
The audience was an integral part of the music as we handed out organ pipes, bells, shakers and other noise makers for everyone to form the "Parable of the Mustard Seed" or sing other songs in common.  Our invitation was: let's sing some praises and make a joyful noise! Come on and join us!  The inclusive result was at once wild and dignified, freeform and structured.  Encouraging and creative in this improvisational way, the music also retained a consistent discipline.

The Christ Tree Recordings began with sprinkled recording efforts along our voyages.   On two trips to the Abbey of Gethsemeni the enthusiastic brothers recorded every sound we made onto reel to reel tape.  In a similar inspired gesture a complete stranger took us to a tiny recording studio in an adobe shanty in Santa Fe, where, in between the noise of trucks driving by, we recorded the "History of Jesus Christ in Music" onto Cassette tape.
The Christ Tree Vinyl LP was produced later.  Now re-mastered and digitally reproduced onto CD, the LP was produced in 1975 at a converted Flour Mill in upstate Michigan turned  24-Track recording studio (state-of-the-art at that time).  When we were all set to record we were perched on separate platforms spiraling up thru the Mill -- with full eye contact and voice connection from platform to platform.  In addition to the group performing on the CD, there are a "village" of others performing percussion, including children as well as adults.
The Christ Tree Box Set, produced by Timothy Renner of Dark Holler, includes all of our recordings in one keepsake package.  Timothy rescued the original tapes from oblivion, after spending five years tracking us down to get permission to work on the project.  The result is almost perfect in the sense of recreating the live experience of the music.  The box set can be obtained by direct purchase or soon at music stores and on-line sites.

The Christ Tree Box Set may be directly purchased from our publisher, Dark Holler, by selecting this link:

 Purchase from Dark Holler

Selecting the link above will navigate away from this site to the Dark Holler Trees Community Web Site.

Note that Dark Holler is the only approved publisher of The Christ Tree music.

The Christ Tree Box Set is also available for purchase through music stores and will soon be available from on-line music services.  However, this is a limited run edition so order as soon as possible.

Dark Holler is our music publisher and is a source for other fine recordings.
 
Visit the Dark Holler Site

Selecting the link above will navigate away from this site to the Dark Holler Main Web Site.

Tim Renner is the music producer behind Dark Holler and the miracle worker that rescued the Trees music from oblivion. 

Learn more about Tim by visiting the Dark Holler Site.