APLR Presents: **LARAAJI & Arji Oceananda with Kramer**

Tuesday, April 1st, 2025

AyurPrana Listening Room - 312 Haywood Rd, Asheville, NC 28806

Doors 7PM || Show 8PM

**LARAAJI & Arji Oceananda**

Hailed as one of the forefathers of both ambient electronic and new age music, Laraaji is best known for his 1980 collaboration with Brian Eno, “Ambient 3: Day of Radiance.”

Born in 1943 as Edward Larry Gordon, Laraaji attended Howard University in Washington D.C. on a scholarship to study composition and piano. He later spent time in New York pursuing a career as a stand-up comedian and actor. In the seventies, Laraaji began his lifelong study of Eastern Mysticism, was initiated as a swami, and merged music with spiritual practice. Following an intuition, he bought a zither from a local pawn shop, converted it to an electronic instrument, and, while busking in Washington Square Park, Laraaji was discovered by Brian Eno who offered to produce him on the spot, resulting in Ambient #3/Day of Radiance.

His recordings can be found at labels: WARP Records, All Saints Records, GLITTERBEAT, Numero Group, Stones Throw, Leaving Records, Soul Jazz, Virgin, Flying Moonlight, and RVNG Records. His latest release is Glimpses of Infinity.

Arji OceAnanda Cakouros is a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist and composer whose musical artistry spans a wide spectrum of genres, blending elements of world, jazz, and ambient music. Rooted in a deep spiritual connection to sound, Arji's compositions evoke a sense of unity and harmony, taking audiences on a sonic pilgrimage that traverses cultures and landscapes.

Since 2008, she has enjoyed the deep joy and honour of collaborating with Blissmate Sw.Laraaji NadaBrahmananda in many venues worldwide, offering Healing Sound events and Laughter Immersion experiences, as well as a great variety of musical performances in conjunction with other artists.

**Kramer**

Kramer is a filmmaker-musician-producer-composer from NYC living and working in the Asheville area since January 2023.

He is the founder and curator of his internationally acclaimed Shimmy-Disc record label, and the owner of Noise New York and Noise New Jersey, the recording studios where most of the label's releases were made.

He is the producer of seminal recordings by Daniel Johnston, LOW, Galaxie 500, Urge Overkill, Will Oldham, Danielson Familie, and countless other renowned 'indie' artists.

As a musician, he has performed extensively with John Zorn in his 1980s ensembles, and he has been a member of Gong, Shockabilly, Bongwater, Ween, Butthole Surfers, Half Japanese, B.A.L.L., The Fugs, and countless other groups. His recent focus on minimalism and 'Ambient' music has spawned collaborative LPs with Japanese composer Kato Hideki, Pan American, David Grubbs & Wendy Eisenberg (aka "Squanderers"), and a forthcoming duo LP with Thurston Moore, as well as several solo LPs on his Simmy-Disc label. In 2024, he released a compilation LP of poetry by Edgar Allen Poe for which he composed the music, with readings by Joan As Police Woman, Teller, Eric Mingus, Lydia Lunch, Anne Waldman, and Allen Ginsberg, among others.

Having been friends with Laraaji since the early 1980's, their debut collaborative LP "Baptismal" was recorded and released on Shimmy-Disc in 2023. The forthcoming evening of music at Ayurprana Listening Room marks their first live performance together.

All ages

Presented by AyurPrana Listening Room.

AyurPrana Listening Room

LARAAJI & Arji Oceananda with Kramer 

Laraaji & Kramer - Ascension

Laraaji - Submersion

Laraaji

Kramer

Gigs

Asheville

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LARAAJI & Arji Oceananda with Kramer

Top track

About

Lineup

Venue

AyurPrana Listening Room

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