Inner Rhythm Meditations is a fascinating album by Byron Metcalf, an award-winning musician and recording artist, shamanic practitioner and ceremonial leader whose music career has spanned more than fifty years and covers a wide variety of musical styles and genres. I have to admit that this is the first time (that I’m aware of) that I’ve heard his music. In the liner notes of the CD, Metcalf states that he had been wanting to create an album of relaxed tempos, easy meditative rhythms, and compositions. “My goal was to create a seamless, hour-long voyage, balancing stretches of spacious relaxation with sections of vibrant, energetic composition - a dance between stillness and motion.”

After laying down some percussion tracks, Metcalf felt that the ideal additions to the music would be guitars and flutes. He had been wanting to work with Norwegian guitarist, Erik Wollo, who was enthusiastic about collaborating on the project. An online encounter with Grammy-nominated flute player Peter Phippen resulted in his inspired participation in the project as well. There are six extended tracks on the album - three are collaborations with Wollo and three are with Phippen. Wollo’s parts were recorded in Norway, but the rest of the music was recorded in Metcalf’s studio in Arizona. Metcalf performs on a variety of drums and percussion instruments; Wollo performs on electric guitars, guitar synthesizers, e-bow guitars, electric bass guitar, and keyboards; Phippen performs on shakuhachi and bansuri flutes. The ambient washes of atmospheric sound on each track contrast beautifully with the more earthy drums, flutes, and guitars.

True to Metcalf's original vision, the music ranges from very ethereal, floating sounds to much more upbeat rhythms. The six tracks vary in length from 9-15 minutes, so there is plenty of time to lose yourself in the music, allowing the sounds to soothe and to heal as well as to help you reach a state of relaxed alert creativity. The music was created to help listeners connect to the “pulse of the cosmos” and is ideal for bodywork, and movement practices such as walking meditation and qigong.

Inner Rhythm Meditations is an hour of very relaxing yet energizing music - music with a purpose. It is available from ByronMetcalf.com, Amazon, and iTunes.