Jayne: Read

‘Come, come, whoever you are…’ Herein lies the essence of this inspired treasury of celestial/terrestrial sounds. This is nourishing food for every ear that chooses to listen keenly and obediently and promises the listener a sonic experience which is spiritual and wholesome.
There is an Irish ancient ever-wise proverb or sean-fhocal which sings:
Trí nithe nach féidir a fhoghlaim – guth, féile agus filíocht. Three things that can never be learned – voice (singing), celebration and poetry.
Jayne Demakos is a natural genius at all three and her instinctive gifts are set in stone-circle and sound-circle around the spirit-filled four-lettered word, ‘Hush’.
Ultimately, this one woman’s crie-de-coeur is ‘…a music you would never have known to listen for. Listen now again.’ Seamus Heaney

Nóirín Ní Riain Ph.D , Singer, Theologian, Author (“Celtic Soul”; “Stor Ambran”; “Vox de Nube”; “The Gregorian Chant Experience”)

(Jun, 2007)

[“Hush”] from Jayne Demakos, is an album that will cause listeners to relax into a peaceful and un-anxious state. Demakos has taught and performed music for over 25 years and on this album her prowess shows in spades. Her experience in music also includes being a choral director and a capella singer. Her harp work accompanies her vocal tone, which goes from soft to sonorous throughout the record.

The second track starts off with sweet harp music where listeners can hear Demakos as she strums the individual strings of the instrument. The melody of the song is very meditative, making it a song that could have been featured in the motion picture version of “Memoirs of a Geisha.”

On the fourth track a woodwind instrument accompanies Demakos's engaging harp skill. The beautiful rhythm of the instrument is contrasted by Demakos’s deep vocals as she quickly emotes about close companions and keeping them near with lines like, “Make circles of friends…Travel together.”

The fifth track has Demakos slowing down the harp instrumentation, which makes the tone of the song even more ruminative. But the message of the track is a serious one as she speaks of an olden incarnation she feels lives inside of her that is bursting to come out. She gently speaks: “An ancient she bear lives in my skin…She has raged…This morning she wants to lumber…I did contemplate endless sleep this morning…Looked out into the Vermont woods…Still we are all animals…We lick our ancient wounds in a cave of winter…It’s a kind of birthright.” It seems Demakos is trying to alert listeners to the primeval beast that resides in us all that is yearning to be free. The intermittent harp play brings some levity to the song, but the steely message Demakos emotes will hold listeners’ attention and not let go.

Jayne Demakos’s “Harp and Voice” is filled with brooding symmetry designed to make listeners think about elemental things and relax at the same time. Her voice goes from tranquil to quite strict throughout the album, which gives each song a distinct tone which listeners will enjoy.

Reviewer: Sari N. Kent

Sari N. Kent - CelebrityCafe (Dec 6, 2007)

“Jayne has the gift of bringing into harmony the feelings that an event evokes in a great variety of people. Chords of music are threads which pull hearts together, and Jayne is a pioneer in using these threads to weave peace.”

Brother David Steindal-Rast, author, Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer and A Listening Heart: the Spirituality of the Sacred. Founder Gratefulness.org

Jayne Demakos' CD Explores Great Songwriters, Personal Journals
Without apparent worry about genre, yet all holding together, "Hush" contains songs choices that could hardly go wrong-from great songwriters like Stephen Foster and Leonard Cohen to the genius nun composer Hildegard von Bingen....In all its quietness and a refined sense of musical space-with Demakos' lovely choir girl voice, the project has, to its credit, startling, raw elements....

Linda Stout - Ithaca Journal

“Jayne Demakos made a pivotal contribution to several weekend workshops on religion and human rights that we did together. With great skill and sensitivity, her music deepened our thinking, opened our hearts, and guided us to inspired actions.”

Victor Mansfield, Professor, Author, “Head and Heart: a Personal Exploration of Science and the Sacred”.

Victor Mansfied, Chairman of Physics and Astronomy, Hobart and Smith College.

“Working with Jayne Demakos to offer a weekend writing and music retreat was a profound and delightful experience. I loved Jayne’ depth and skills as a a teacher, her gifted musicality, and her flexible creativity. Besides that, she was so much fun to work with. I want to do it again!”

Patricia Lewis, Patchwork Farm Writing Retreats, Senior Partner in Amherst Writers and Artists

“Jayne your music is incredible. It has brought me closer to myself through allowing me insight into things that I didn’t know I had forgotten. It has given my life a richness and depth that I longed for but did not know how to find. Your music has made the world seem a better place. Thank you for the gift your music has given me”

...from the audience