Song by Jo Mall-Kahn (aka VAANI) & Edo Kahn
Vocals by Jo Mall-Kahn (aka VAANI)
Backing Vocals by Edo Kahn
Remix (arrangement, instrumentation, mixing) by Matt Singmin (aka SOLON)
Mastered by Ben Feggans, Studios 301

In January 2015, I was fortunate to have had the chance to collaborate with Jo Mall Kahn (a.k.a. VAANI) on a remix of her debut release The First Ray. Eight months later she unexpectedly died from cancer. There was little warning and it came as a shock for everyone who knew her.

For some time Jo had been working on a body of solo material which she planned to release under the VAANI moniker. Unfortunately her time was cut short and she was unable to realise her creative vision fully.

There were many ways in which Jo felt like a kindred spirit on a parallel life path. We both started our careers working in the corporate world... We both left to pursue our passions for music and yoga... We developed projects that were collaborations with our spouses (Edo & Jo, Future Sound of Yoga) and we both shared in the joys and challenges in doing so.

Like Jo, I've been working for some time on an album that I hope to release in the near future. One of my greatest fears is that some random act of fate might prevent me from realising this creative vision - it’s a feeling that sits with me and drives me each day to keep creating, to keep writing, to keep perfecting and to keep moving forward.

It's this same feeling that compelled me to help bring "The Jewel" to life. Five months ago, Jo's husband Edo left me with a few of her unfinished tracks before he went to India to take some time out after she passed away. When I heard the rough draft of "The Jewel" something clicked - I knew I could help - I knew I could bring to life what was captured in the memory bytes of her laptop.

The message of the song is simple: at the heart of all of us lies something unique, something special, something that each of us has to share. Life is about finding it and realising it. Jo embodied this approach to life. She spent her last six years sharing what she had to share - with no doubt, no hesitation - just full commitment. "The Jewel" captures that spirit in which she lived. She was and continues to be an inspiration.

Pleaste note: all proceeds from the track go towards A Sound Life the charity Jo founded with Edo - www.asoundlife.org

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The Jewel (SOLON Remix)

Producer of meditative electronic music. Founder & DJ, The Future Sound of Yoga. Explorer of the magic in vintage & modern audio gear.

Matt Singmin (aka SOLON) is an English electronic musician based in Sydney, Australia.  He writes meditative electronic music, drawing on the studio as a whole to create absorbing and detailed compositions which incorporate analog synthesisers, orchestral instruments and vintage digital effects. 
 
His initial releases (‘Datta’, ‘Oed und Leer Das Meer’, ‘Phlebas’) were composed specifically to support the elimination of thought at the end of yoga classes, when practitioners are in savasana. These tracks came out of his experiences DJing for yoga events as one half of ‘The Future Sound of Yoga’, an experience he co-founded in 2010 with a yoga teacher he met in the dance tent at Glastonbury five years earlier.
 
His Future Sound of Yoga DJ Mixes reflect the sound of these events and are used every day by teachers and practitioners across the world. They have been streamed more than 100,000 times since inception, and capture the atmosphere of the gigs which feature vinyasa yoga, cutting-edge electronica and beautifully-lit magical spaces. 
 
His interest in the connection between electronic music and meditation began while travelling in India in 1998, where he witnessed the juxtaposition of yoga and dance music in Goa. It was further developed amidst the energy of the late 90’s London club scene, where he spent time while studying philosophy at Oxford. 
 
After exploring similar scenes in San Francisco and Thailand, he moved to Sydney in 2003 and began experimenting with the production of music after an old school friend happened to show him how to make music on a laptop. Experimentation turned into an obsessive odyssey into the world of frequencies, and ultimately led to the creation of a studio filled with vintage and modern audio gear. 
 
SOLON is currently working on an album that meditates on the loss of reason, ethics and spirit in the modern world. It is inspired by the electronic albums of the early 90s (e.g. Leftism, Dubnobasswithmyheadman, Timeless).

The Jewel (SOLON Remix)

SOLON (Matt Singmin)