Laraaji

Laraaji is the performing name of Edward Larry Gordon, an American musician born in 1943 in Philadelphia. His work spans ambient, ambient dub, ambient pop, drone, free improvisation and new age, and he is associated with Channel Light Vessel, Medicine Singers and Divination.

He studies violin, piano, trombone and voice in his early years in New Jersey. He then attends Howard University in Washington, D.C. on a scholarship, where he studies composition and piano. After this he spends time in New York as a stand-up comedian and actor.

In the early 1970s he turns to Eastern mysticism, which he sees as a new direction for both his music and his life. Around this time he buys his first zither from a pawn shop and converts it into an electronic instrument, using it in a piano-like way. By 1978 he has developed enough skill to busk in New York parks and on sidewalks.

In 1979 Brian Eno notices him playing in Washington Square Park, leading to Ambient 3: Day of Radiance, the third release in Eno's Ambient series. This is his first album under the name Laraaji and becomes the release for which he is best known. The wider attention also leads him to make longer versions of his compositions for meditation groups on cassette tapes.

His spiritual studies continue with Swami Satchidananda and Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati, the founder of Ananda Ashram in Monroe, New York. He also creates Laughter Meditation Workshops, which he presents internationally.