The tongues of the divine converse through music. It is a
creative power that trumps all others and paints our waking existence in sonic
color, made reality. Just as J.R.R. Tolkien mused in The Silmarillion with Eru,
the one creator and his Ainur, subjective eternal spirits that conversed in
music to create harmony. It wasn’t until Melkor, the Ainur bestowed with
greatest power and knowledge, began to sing against the collaborated harmony
that life was given vision of any sort. Different harmonies, various colors;
giving birth to a vast world of many wonders.

        To a much less
dramatically delineative effect, our world and music is very much akin. It is
the root of all things; the very root of thought. What happens when we lie in
our beds at night? We have melodies―mysterious sounds and rhythms repeating
relentlessly. We’re never without a melody or rhythm that guides our step.
Music is life, there is no escaping it. Evidence is being unraveled every day
that pushes the birth of “organized music” back further and further
into the horizon of mankind. Imitating bird calls, banging on surfaces, tapping
fingers, it all comes down to a melody or beat, whether it be incredibly
organized or not.

        Thankfully, we
have a world of music now that is available to us on demand, it doesn’t have to
be reproduced by amateurs or passed along by your grandfather and his old
fiddle. We do, however, take it for granted. The art of music is very precise
in how we organize it, or even disorganize it. Artists take a melody and run
with it whereas in more cultured places of the world, artists may want to
perform an autopsy on a melody and see how far they can take it or what heights
it can reach with multiple musicians to help them in this surgical procedure.
It’s the art of improvisation and anticipation that creates other worlds
entirely; worlds that make Earth look like a drop in the bucket.

        Where does one
go for artists with such a zest for boundless creativity? All you have to do is
look to the South Americas. Through their wealth of turbulence and corruption
in government, they see some of the finest hands and minds of musicianship.
There are two projects that have caught my undivided attention; Lula Côrtes’
& Zé Ramalho’s Paêbirú from Brazil circa 1974 and the modern day Montibus
Communitas from Peru.

        In a time when
music was dangerous; seen as a rebellious form of expression by the
powers-that-be, Lula Côrtes and Zé Ramalho set out for the jungle with a hefty
supply of psychedelics in order to create their magnum opus double album
Paêbirú. Divided into four segments: Earth, air, fire and water, it encompasses
the divine creative spirit behind every aspect of life. They were completely
aware of the divinity music possessed in creation of the world and they
expressed it with fourteen beautifully realized tracks. Their ability to play
together, improvise, and anticipate one another’s next move gives this album a
spiritual life that cannot be denied, even by the harshest nay-sayers. A true
anomally that lies within the album is the psychedelic western influence that
sets it apart from what many would dismiss as simply tribal music. There are
moments you’ll swear that Jimi Hendrix is chowing down on psychedelics with
them in the Peruvian jungle.

        It doesn’t
matter which God is harkening this music, but it is creation in its finest
form. Zé Ramalho renounces credit for his involvement in the recording of
Paêbirú for reasons unknown. Unfortunately for Lula Côrtes, the universe must
not have willed his recording to see the light of day in his lifetime because
the vinyls were all lost to a warehouse fire. Fortunately for us in this
digital age, the masters have since been recovered and cleaned up. Sadly, Lula
Côrtes passed on in 2011 due to cancer, no longer able to delight in the
fantastic world of musical discovery and creation.

        The second
project, Peru’s Montibus Communitas is very much in the same vein of Paêbirú
only more stress is implied on the aspects of improvisation, free form as well
as a more formal nod to Psychedelic Rock with its structured percussions and
adventurous guitar noodling. This is a truly spiritual gathering of
musicians, all headed by Brayan, a peruvian musician, writer and philosopher in
all things esoteric. This is music that all of the divine beings, whether they be
Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Buddha, Krishna, Orpheus, or Apollo can smile upon with
satisfaction for the human race. I had the priviledge of conversing with Brayan
regarding his fellowship Montibus Communitas:

Can you put into simple terms what Montibus Communitas or
Mountains Community is exactly? Is it a band? A fellowship? A literal community
of musicians that alternate in and out of the so-called band?

You’re Montibus Communitas. Save this truth within yourself
and your question will be answered.

When composing, who are you making this music for? Is it
yourself in order to attain some sort of oneness? Is it the people of your
“community?” The world? Or something much larger and more divine?

I always dedicate everything I do to her, the beautiful one.
That which resides inside me is that which resides inside you. That which
resides inside you is the universe. That which is the universe is the divine.
That which is the divine is her, the beautiful one.

Do you subscribe to any one set of beliefs? Or is it a
combination of many beliefs? How does your music pay homage to your beliefs?

I’ve learned from different traditions in order to answer my
doubts and walk my path. I’d say that, from all that learning process, I’ve
[come] up with my own belief, which isn’t exactly a new belief, but more like
simple thoughts-teachings-symbols-actions that help…remind [myself] how
beautiful [life is], how will needs to be use, how everything is constantly
changing, how limitations need to be overcome, how to keep my mind
concentrate[d], etc.

I’ve gotten into a point in my life that I can’t separate my
‘’inner world’’ from the ‘’outter world’’, so everything I do is connected in
some way to my perception of life and my realization as an existent being. I
think that those simple thoughts-teachings-symbols-actions can be easily
translated to a musical language (also to a visual or a written language)
because they emanate a kind of supra energy, so that’s how my music pays homage
to my “beliefs:” getting not only inspired by them but originated in
them.

May I press you to name some bands that have influenced
you and your music?

Of course not! I love to talk about bands that have
influenced me in some way. I’d mention bands like Urubamba, Wara, Phurpa,
Alash, Jaime Guardia, Manuelcha Prado, Mary Hopkin, Pastorita Huaracina,
Älgarnas Trädgärd, Harvester, Sun Ra, Módulo 1000, Os Novos Baianos, The Trees
Community, Ya Ho Wha 13, Arco Iris, Aktuala, Los Jaivas, El Polen, Magic
Carpet, Spinetta, Pärson Sound, Träd Gräs Och Stenar, Arvo Pärt, Gong, Magma,
El Ayllu, Popol Vuh, Yatha Sidra, Tangerine Dream, Manantial, Kluster, Los
Hijos de Lamas, Maria Sabina, Pran Nath, Incredible String Band, Terry Riley,
Karlheinz Stockhausen, LaMonte Young, Taj Mahal Travellers, Steve Hillage,
Quintessence, Mythos and many others.

How are the prospects of touring with your
band/community/what have you?

Really good actually! I’ll be travelling to Europe next year
to play with my solo project (Brayan), Montibus Communitas and Ayahuasca Dark
Trip. Also, I’m already planning a US tour (pretty sure will be early 2015)
with my solo project and Montibus Communitas.

When you are composing, do you have a set idea on where
you want to take a piece or do you ever just let the music free fall?

It depends [on] the situation. I personally love to compose
music as a free flow. It’s like being a vehicle-medium for non-human
ideas/melodies/concepts/Etc. However, with Montibus Communitas, we usually do
improvisation, but it always happens that the musical pieces we improvise sound
like compositions, so I think there’s a kind of magic involve. Of course there
are always pre-conceived melodies-harmonies before [we] start playing, but it’s
really interesting to see how our pre-conceptions can change from the
interaction with other musicians, and how [we] can we guide them into some kind
of meta-communication with the others while playing, that way we can improvise
something as a unity and not only as a bunch of people, each playing something
different and unconnected.

I consider that music is a form of expression for beings,
it’s a vehicle to say ‘’I’m here, I exist, I’m alive’’ or at least that’s how I
think music appeared in this planet. I wouldn’t say that music is the
foundation of everything in life, but I definitely agree that music is really
close to creation (try to imagine it not only visually but also as a mix of
sounds) and the beginning of life properly said.

Are you familiar with Lula Cortes’ Psychedelic Brazilian
album from 1975 titled Paeribu?

Actually yes. [A] friend of mine, Pedro (bassist and singer
of the Brazilian band ‘’Necronomicon’’) got me into Lula Cortes.  Such an amazing album.

And thus was my dialogue with the very wise, talented and
kind Brayan of Montibus Communitas. His band has a somewhat limited catalogue
of recordings so far, but I see much potential for a long lasting life in
music. Pilgrim To The Absolute, their sophomore release is so far my favorite
serving of Brayans uncanny ability to capture divinity within sonic confines.
It serves as both a mellow and at times dramatically rowdy portrayal of the
world with the ever present soundscapes of the beautiful one’s creations, just
as Paêbirú was forty years ago. Nevertheless beautiful are all of Montibus’
creations. Providing us with delicate layers of various wind instruments and
strings, carefully plucked. I, for one, cannot wait to see what insight
Brayan’s beautiful muse grants him next.

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http://psychedelicbaby.blogspot.com/2013