I quibbled with my college Russian flute teacher over studying the Impressionists. Not because I didn’t love Debussy, it was more a yearning to drop the music sheets and learn to improvise. A few years later, in San Francisco, I heard G.S. Sachdev playing Indian classical bansuri. I knew then that it was this sophisticated and meditative music I wanted to study next. To add to the intrigue, Yusef Lateef was studying with Sachdev at the time and I thought that was cool.

In the span of 12 colorful years of living in India, I played my flutes in the company of very good Indian and eclectic international musicians. I had lessons with a Drupad vocalist from the famed Dagar family. I met a mystic who pointed me in the direction of the source of music, silence. Having an interest in acting as well, I landed a speaking part with the lead actor, Mammootty, in a Bollywood film, Dr. Baba Saheb Amedkar.

The project “Halfway to Midnight” began in India and culminated in Sag Harbor, NY where I presently live. It is about expressing myself artistically, sharing what I love, and collaborating with other artists in music and design. Friends from seven countries and four continents worked on this project with me. It is a culminating point in my life. I am so happy to release this album now. When there is spirit in the music it becomes one of the greatest connecting threads between human hearts.