Baptismal [Crystal Clear LP], Laraaji & Kramer, Vinyl

The Baptismal project started out when Kramer invited me to collaborate with him on a project, and I tend to think in terms of what the listeners are open to hearing these days. In my mind was a recording that let the listeners leave the busy mind generated by mainstream media, so I came up with the idea of a baptism, immersive kind of LP in which the listener would Become totally present with the music. I suggested to Kramer the title Baptismal, and that the tracks would be called "Gedunk", a comical reference to the idea of being immersed in water, my own baptism as a child in the Christian faith, the Baptist church. I started by sending Kramer several tracks of Zither-centric music in the length of individual LP sides. Kramer would complement the tracks with plush drones and return it to me. Then we would discuss. Soon we had enough material to move toward completing the album. I performed with piano keyboard, ZITHER and voice. We collaborated entirely by sending audio files back and forth via online transfer. We haven’t had physical contact at all during the project, but it went smoothly with some minor suggestions to help us to shape up our navigation til we finally arrived. The album cover was suggested by Kramer, which I think is very appropriate. The project started in 2022. Mark Kramer, an old young friend. We connected in New York City when he was here in the 80s. -Laraaji, Jan. 2023