John Pennington

Another great collaborative recording by John and Cyprian
Built on buoyant, soaring melodies, sublime poetry and layers of intricate percussion, the 15 songs on Awakening capture the sweet innocence of morning, the welcome relief of spring, the joy and playfulness of childhood.

Texts drawn from the psalms, the saints and mystical poetry
The texts are wonderfully eclectic, drawn from the psalms, the saints and secular poets grounded in mysticism. John Pennington brings his usual masterful percussion, backing Cyprian's rich vocals with a mesmerizing array of bells, chimes, gongs, wood blocks, shakers, marimba and congas. It's an exotic sound, mirthful, tropical and calm, with warmth and depth added by well-arranged parts for cello, guitar, flute and other instruments.

A metaphor for the journey of the spiritual life
Cyprian and John put it best: "Could the length of a day be a metaphor for the journey of the spiritual life? The initial jubilance of first awakening giving way to the earnest work of enfleshing it in all our affairs, however mundane they may seem to be. The crossing through the noonday devil of the desert, when discipline must remember desire. The warm darkness of mystery, when facile answers fail and a new way of knowing beyond knowing comes to the fore. When our thinking fails, we are called to put love first. When words fail, we fall into the place where everything becomes music."