“I grew up a short distance from the redwood forest and Pacific Ocean in Santa Cruz County, California, so the sounds of these places are even better than music to my ears – waves, the rustling of trees, birds … they are literally the most natural things, and put me at ease in a way that sometimes music can’t.” Michelle Zheng of Lunar Noon in Fifteen Questions
Inspired by nature, musical collaboration, and the mindfulness teachings of Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, A circle’s round is the second full-length album by Michelle Zheng’s project Lunar Noon. It is an epic 66 minutes long and heroic in its blending of styles, including field recordings of water flowing and birds chirping, sweeping classical strings, free jazz drums and bass, guzheng (a Chinese plucked zither), ambient atmospheres, piano jams, and Zheng’s ardent, ever-present voice.
Would this be performed at a concert hall, a dusky jazz club, or an eccentric art space? Any could work, as there are (for the listener) challenging moments of both maximal and minimal experimentation as much as there are easily accessible numbers with melodies that could have been borrowed from a contemporary musical. If there is a thread, it is the theme: Music that is born and dies through mindfulness.
