JOHN BALINT: Paradise Within

John Balint

Paradise Within

© 2002 Blisswave Records (820751000223)

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Top-10 on New Age Voice radio. An instrumental fusion of new-age, world, and jazz. Keith Jarrett meets Brian Eno in a celebration of life featuring piano, keyboards and ethnic percussion.

tracks

1 Awakenings
2 Perfectly Present
3 Paradise Within
4 Lullaby
5 Before the Afterthought
6 Journey North
7 Leaving Something More
8 First Cause
9 Another Moment
10 Revisiting the Past
11 Eternal Gratitude
12 Mystere
13 On Eleven Eleven
14 Healing Space
15 Kindness of Heart

notes

John Balint, recording artist and founder of Blisswave Records, says he wants to help people rise above their limitations and move beyond their differences. "Creating beautiful and uplifting music is one of the ways I'm hoping to make an impact." If the reviews are any indication, he's well on his way toward that goal. Chuck Diliberto from Awareness Magazine wrote, "Balint's music is a bright light of inspiration, unjaded by current events, quietly illuminating music's role as a universal communicative of the truth beheld innately in all of us. Excellent offering."

John's second CD, Connected, comes on the heels of his debut success Paradise Within, which went to #2 on the New Age Voice radio charts in the Spring of 2002, and stayed in the top-100 for five months. "Connected is an album that celebrates our shared humanity. We have all these common goals, and yet we can't seem to get along as a species. I'm trying to return the focus to the things that can help us move forward-our compassion, humor, generosity, forgiveness-the qualities that remind us of all the ways we are connected. I'd like to see us stop reacting to one another in the aggressively judgmental manner that currently characterizes our country's foreign policy."

Balint was destined to land in the recording arts because music was his earliest passion. Born in Santa Barbara, he began learning to play traditional Hungarian songs at age four. "My grandfather would play the accordion, and I'd follow along on the piano. Each time I'd visit him, he'd teach me another song-always by ear." Throughout his childhood, music was
a central focus in John's life: "When I was ten, I began taking formal lessons and learned to read music. I was drawn to jazz because I loved the richness of the chord vocabulary.
Although I never stopped playing the piano, in junior high, I also learned to play drums. To this day, when we entertain, our dinner parties are almost always punctuated by drumming circles. Everyone grabs a drum and joins in-it can go on for hours!"

John's interest in electronic music began in the late 70s when he helped his dad build a rudimentary digital synthesizer. "Although the neighbors probably thought we were nuts-with all these weird noises coming from our garage-it was quite an experience for me. It taught me the basics of synthesis, and prepared me for the MIDI revolution of the 1980s."

Balint's early influences included classical composers (Chopin, Beethoven, Copland, Satie), pop/rock keyboardists (Elton John, Ray Manzarek, Keith Emerson), ambient pioneers (Brian Eno, David Sylvian and Robert Fripp), jazz virtuosos (Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays), and synth-pop innovators (Gary Numan and Thomas Dolby). In more recent years, Balint has taken inspiration from Ralph Towner's Oregon, René Dupéré (of Cirque du Soleil fame), Peter Gabriel, Elvis Costello, and Mark Knopfler. "I am drawn to anything that is well produced. Good songwriting, arrangement, and recording quality are very important to me-more so than the genre of the music."

In college, Balint pursued other interests, and graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara with a BA Degree in computer-based design. "The graphic design world was just beginning to embrace computers for certain production tasks, but hardly anyone knew how to use the new tools. My timing couldn't have been better-even before I graduated, I found myself in high demand as a consultant to ad agencies." John wrote and published a book (Type, Graphics and Macintosh) on the subject of desktop publishing for professionals, gave seminars, and within a year started his own design agency. He quickly became a leader in the field of catalog and museum book design, and won numerous design awards.

When Balint finished at UCSB, he also plugged back into synthesizer music. MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) had just come upon the scene, allowing the interconnection of musical instruments with computers. "Suddenly, there was this whole new way to create music. I was in heaven." He began composing instrumental music, and by the early nineties he was hired by Jheri Redding to create musical soundtracks for Nexxus commercials and touring stage shows. "It was an interesting assignment-Nexxus wanted this wild fusion of dance-pop and new age, so I gave it to them!" This led to scoring jobs for several special education videos which later won awards at the New York Film Festival. In the early 1990s, John studied for several years under pianist Larry Karush (who started the avant garde jazz trio Mokave, along with bassist Glen Moore and percussionist Glen Velez). In 1996, Balint released his first album, Beneath the Blue, on a regional basis.

Paradise Within went to #2 on the New Age Voice top 100
airplay chart in Spring of 2002.

reviews

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  • very pleasant
    author: Josh Gretenstein

    Just got up at 3:00 AM (I work nights). Decided to listen to this album for the first time. Very pleasant new age/jazz kind of thing. Definitely recomended.

  • like breathing clean air after the smoke clears
    author: Tima Priess

    After 2 weeks of 80 degrees and smoke from more than 100 forest fires in Interior Alaska, I woke up this morning to blue skies, sun, and a brisk wind shaking the aspen leaves - that's what this album sounds like - like breathing clean air after the smoke clears.

  • Great Spirit Music
    author: Marty Malley

    This is great music to work to, drive to, or just "veg" to. Very uplifting.

  • Very nice music! Great for relaxed listening.
    author: Laryssa Robideau

    I really enjoy this CD. Not sleepy or super relaxed but just enough to keep you in a peaceful place and entertain you at the same time. It has a nice mix of tempo and feel... the songs are all quite different. Some are very smooth and some are more upbeat. I seem to like this music more and more as I listen!

  • New Fan!
    author: Mickie

    My first exposure to John was his "Connected" CD ... couldn't wait to get more ... and I was equally as pleased. Very inspirational and motivating ... I got up and moved!

  • Just needs a beach, a palm tree and a magherita
    author: Craig Andrews

    Very relaxing, one for the car when in traffic or the office between those stressful meetings. Some very interesting compositions incorporating sounds and styles in unusual combinations, such as the excellent 'lullaby'. I admit to not being drawn to it at first, but it has more than grown on me and it's one of my favourite tracks on the album now. Great stuff.

  • Awesome CD, it has become our favorite in the car and at home. So relaxing and p
    author: Sandra and Robert Leonidov

    We had the good fortune of meeting John in Tahiti of all places. We did not know that he was a musician or had a cd out. After we learned that he was a musician, he graciously gave us a copy. Since then, we have had many of our friends listen to it and just fall in love with the music. We take copies everywhere we go and even our 3 kids love it. It is definately mood music, and it puts you in a good mood right away.

  • author: Linette

    I teach a fusion of Yoga and Pilates. This CD creates the correct mood and rhythm without putting you to sleep and without disrupting your flow.

  • Something new?
    author: Tom Leja

    A wonderful synthesis of style, ethnicity and spirituality. I have an extremely diverse music library, but I’ve yet to find anything like this!

  • Peace of Mind
    author: Edward Rockett

    I find great comfort in John's music. I go to his gentle, soulful compositions over and over for solace and peace of mind. His music allows my imagination to soar freely and easily.

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