New Album On The Way!
Thanks to your support, we have raised $15,000 for the new album!
It has been a journey full of discovery and community. We are blessed by a community of collaborators so vast and yet so connected through common passions.
We have discovered that risking, trusting, and boldness bring a deep vitality to our artmaking and we are learning still more about our passion for music that heals and moves - and how to share it, express it...
We send out a final blessing, a cosmic thank you, an AMEN, if you will!
Would you like to pre-order the new album for $25? Please click the button below.
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Who is rEvolve?
rEvolve is a collective of conscientious musicians offering an innovative experience integrating music, guided movement, inspiring poetry, inclusive context, projected visuals, dance and prayer. rEvolve invites people into a music-filled experience of connection to the heart and to the body: awakening joy and renewing passion for the work of social and ecological justice.
| "rEvolve" means to "re-evolve." Evolution in terms of life energy being re-created, evolving out of the old and becoming new. It means to build on and evolve the work of those who came before us, those who have inspired us, educated us and whose shoulders we stand upon.rEvolve also suggests the word "revolution" which may be taken as the development of a centre of gravity around which to orbit. A focal point where we define, clarify and co-create our life paths.
Chris Giffen, Josh McHan, Gord Oaks and Julian Pattison are bringing new energy to communities across Canada and beyond, celebrating and re-working some of the "old" tunes as well as re-grooving contemporary tunes, bringing new life and authenticity to them. rEvolve enjoys celebrating and re-working some of the "old" tunes as well as contemporary tunes, bringing new life and energy to them. We evolve ourselves and our communities in the process of bridging the space between the previous and the current, the "us and them", as we realize our place standing upon great achievements of previous generations, mentors and compassionate rEvolutionaries.
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rEvolve is a popular resource for energetic and inspiring music in concert, sacred settings, workshops/playshops, conferences and various other settings for all ages. Our repertoire includes energetic, poetic and heartfelt original new music, African rhythm & chant, folk & rock classics, jazz, music for children, hymns & sing along favourites, contemplative songs, "Groove" improvisation, classical vocal, and more.
About the logo: the "r" is green, symbolizing Heart energy (the heart chakra) - "Evolve" is blue, symbolizing communication (the throat chakra). Together this illustrates that communication from, with and to the heart is our focus.
The Band
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Chris Giffen is kept alive and well by music, his deepest passion. Chris is currently living in the Edmonton area. He has worked at Naramata Centre with children and youth for a number of summers, and his music has more recently led him to offer music resource leadership for Naramata's programs. As of late, a focus on vocal improvisation has become important to Chris both in communities and on his own.
Chris' longtime vision is to create, with friends, a music retreat centre that would offer music for healing and empowerment, and would explore music as creative activism in the world.
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Josh McHan started playing the violin at age five; music continues to be a primary focus of his life. He has recently completed his music degree at the University of McGill, and is active as a session musician in Edmonton. Josh enjoys playing a wide selection of musical styles from bluegrass to Radiohead, and it is very special to him to be able to play in the accepting world of the United Church.
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Gord Oaks is an Edmonton-based musician/percussionist who enjoys exploring the music and instruments of many cultures and traditions. His grounding in improvisation allows him to build strong rhythmic foundations in a variety of differing situations and styles. He brings with him a compliment of knowledge from a few musical traditions such as West African, Afro-Cuban and East Indian. His muse takes him into the arenas of composing, improvising, and music technology.
He is a passionate advocate for practicing a mindset of Reverence and Health in which we honour ourselves, each other, Spirit and the Earth as sacred. As a drummer, hobby Ethnomusicologist, and with a Diploma in Musical Composition (Grant McEwan University), Gord currently contributes to several musical groups of diverse styles. Through music and other healing arts, he seeks a healthy, empowered and compassionate humanity, in harmony with Life, and the Heart's deepest callings. Gord is currently intent on researching, and living out the qualities of truly sustainable life in purposeful community.
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Julian is active as a pianist/keyboardist in the vicinity of Vancouver, British Columbia, and found his passion for music at an early age. Julian's secondary instruments include voice, guitar, percussion and organ; he holds a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies from Capilano College as well as a Grade 10 Piano Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music, as well as recently completing an MBA at Royal Roads University.
Julian has been involved in the United Church of Canada for many years, and is in increasing demand nationally as a contemporary composer and music resource to congregations and special events. He has recently put out a CD of his own, and his website can be found at http://www.julianpattison.ca.
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