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H.H. the Dalai Lama, Chris Hinze and Tibet
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Chris Hinze’s interest in Tibet has a long history. Now that he was traveling in Tibet for a longer time he met the people, saw their lives and got to understand the way they fought for their freedom. Chance or faith would have it that he landed in Tsurphu monastery, some hours’ drive from Lhasa. It is the homeland of the Karmapas (the Karmapa is the religious leader of the Kagyu-pa, one of the four schools in Tibetan Buddhism). At that time, May ’92, everything was being prepared for the expected return (reincarnation) of the Karmapa. The previous one had died in 1981. Also at Tsurphu monastery he saw the people working on the reconstruction of their monastery, which had also been destroyed during the Chinese cultural revolution. The more he saw and experienced, the more he got involved with the Tibetans and wondered what contribution he could make and the first thing that came into his mind was to help through his music, of course.
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H.H. The Karmapa Lama
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He started to record the beautiful chanting of the monks, the sounds of the environment and the singing of the local working men and women. These turned out to be the first elements of the Tibet Impressions CD.
Back in Holland, Chris Hinze read a big article in the German Stern magazine that the new Karmapa had been recently discovered: a seven year old son of a poor nomad family in Eastern Tibet. Somehow Chris felt he had to return to Tsurphu monastery one more time in order to record some more material. In 1993 he visited Bhutan, Nepal and from there again Tibet. Before he set out for a trip to Mount Kailash, he went to Tsurphu and got permission to record one sutra recited by the now eight year old Karmapa. This turned out to be one of the most moving tracks on the CD. In Lhasa he recorded sounds of the streets ('Life in Barkhor'), a street singer performing protest songs , groups and all sorts of other sounds of daily life.
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H.H. The Dalai Lama
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In February 1994 after a successful tour with the Chris Hinze Combination around India he went to Dharamsala where he was granted an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Also in Dharamsala His Holiness introduced him to the Gyuto Monks from the Tantric University. He recorded their incredible overtone chants. This encounter resulted in a connection which led to the European concert tour Tibetan Monks Live 1997, featuring Chris Hinze, and also a live recorded CD. As soon as Chris came back to The Netherlands he resumed his work on the Tibet Impressions CD. He integrated extracts from the recorded interview with the Dalai Lama into some tracks on the album. These unique quotes, Hinze’s interpretation of music based on Tibetan influences, the reciting of the Karmapa, and the chanting of the Gyuto and Tsurphu monks make this a production of contemporary meditative music, with an added a touch of the most modern trends in dance music taken provided by musician/producer Tom Holkenborg. The album immediately became a smash hit, it achieved world wide acclaim, and was nominated for the Edison Award. As a material means of support Chris offered to donate part of the proceeds of this CD to a Tibetan project.
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With Gyoto Monks
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In 1996 Chris went back to Dharamsala, India. He was again granted an audience with His Holiness. During this interview he was proud to officially present His Holiness with the Tibet Impressions album.The profound conversation which followed with His Holiness inspired him to start working on the album Tibet Impressions Volume II, right after his return to Europe.
n the spring of 1998 a third album in Hinze’s Tibet series was released: Tibetan Gyuto Monks Live. Live, because the album contains recordings of Hinze’s 1997 concert tour ‘Tibet Impressions Live’ with the Tibetan Gyuto monks and dancers and singers from T.I.P.A. (Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts).This was one of the most magnificent and remarkable tours in Hinze’s career. What makes these recordings remarkable is that night after night Hinze imagined himself in a temple where monks conducted a puja (a religious ceremony) while he improvised on the flute and thus became part of the ceremony. This was played to packed venues where a breathless audience added an extra dimension to the performance.
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Gyoto Monks
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