Whether you’re a musician or not, it’s amazing how many of us can remember the specific music that related to major moments in our life. I was speaking with a psychiatrist and a psychologist last night, at a gathering of new friends brought together around our common interests in wellness, music, and PTSD [post traumatic stress disorder] and the enormous societal effects of brain-related injuries among members of the military returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

     Recent breakthroughs in research in neuroscience are confirming what has been common knowledge for millennia. Music has magical and healing powers of which we understand only a small portion. Likewise, as Larry King’s program on August 2nd showcased, the frontiers of quantum physics and consciousness with respect to the powers of the mind (vs. the “brain”) are expanding at an astounding rate.

     I flashed on some of my own consciousness expanding experiences that related to music as I was reading a recent issue of one of my favorite publications, The Village Voice. I often open a magazine at random to see what sort of an “I ching” reading the moment may describe. This time was especially memorable.

     I opened to an insightful review of a New York film festival honoring the lifetime achievements of the great Czech filmmaker, Milos Forman. Highlighted in his remarks was Forman’s first foray into the American market, titled Taking Off. The movie centers around the parents of a runaway daughter trying to understand her and get her to come home.

     Seems their daughter had run off to be with a rock musician. When said musician finally makes his on-screen appearance, much to my surprise, it’s David Gittler—one of my best friends, philosophical discussion buddies, and the guy I learned a lot about rock and blues piano from in 1965-66. (Not only that, he’s wearing the shirt I gifted him with when I came out to California in November, 1969.) So I hadn’t seen him in over two years—and suddenly, there he was—forty feet tall.

     Lots of endorphin-stimulating memories kept flooding my mind. You see, in a sense, David was my first piano teacher as I watched, along with three other “students,” as Gittler practiced in the student lounge as we waited for the bus back to our off-campus apartments.

     With that in mind, I want to give David Gittler a shout-out right now, and if anyone knows how to contact him, please do.

     David was at the center of another major musical milestone in my life. He was the one who called me one midnight and said, “You’ve got to come over right now and listen to the new Paul Butterfield album. It’ll blow your mind. He’s got a horn section, so you could finally play your trumpet in public. Let’s start our own band.”

     That began a miraculous odyssey that took me deeper into the world beyond the notes—and into the Quantum Field—than I ever imagined was possible. It opened me to new realms of aural pleasure as well.

     In future months, I’ll be describing some simple sonic techniques you can use to get to some of those places yourself. I think you’ll enjoy the journey.

     Hint: Here’s a preview: Listen to the sample of one of my new duets with David Darling on my latest CD, Relaxation Suite. You can find it by visiting this link: www.innerpeacemusic.com/albumdetail.asp?pid=91

     On the song titled “Mello Cello,” there are several places in which it’s possible to feel the sound of the cello travel right up from your first chakra right up into your heart chakra. It’s a sonic massage that feels incredible. Your homework: Identify at what minute/second the first such Magic Musical Resonance Tour™ takes place.

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Steven Halpern is enjoying his deja-vu memories of his prior life this lifetime, in his incarnation as a high-energy jazz-rock fusion trumpet player and guitarist. Back then, he was sitting in and jamming with Frank Zappa, Pharoah Sanders, Rick Derringer and the McCoys. Now, he’s just completing a new album, Relaxation Suite, featuring the amazing cello of David Darling of Paul Winter Consort fame. Visit www.innerpeacemusic.com/relaxationsuite for a sneak peek and a peak experience in the subtle dimensions of “the space between the notes.”

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