Julie cannot remember a time when she did not sing. She has contributed vocals to a variety of projects including: Talking Heads "Fear of Music", Joni Mitchell "Chalkmark in a Rainstorm", John Boswell "Love", Tom Mank and Sera Smolen "Where the Sun Meets the Blue" and “Paper Kisses”, "Celtic Twilight Lullabies", Prana "The Eternal Embrace" and “Gathering In The Light”, Michael Veitch “Painted Heart”, Charles Lyonhart “Outside Looking In” as well as having a song included in the 2004 Miramax film "Virginia's Run".
"Relics"
"Relics"
"Singer,
songwriter, producer, recording engineer Julie Last writes moving,
literate songs that deal with the poetry and mystery of life. She is
a runaway from the Los Angeles music scene where she worked for over
20 years in recording studios with such renowned artists as Joni Mitchell,
Rickie Lee Jones, John Lennon and Neil Young to name a few. Her debut
CD, “Relics”, has been called by critics “luminous
and haunting ”.
Though primarily a guitarist, on this record she played many of the
instruments, and called upon various friends for extra musical touches
- including bassist Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Peter Gabriel) and
drummer Vinnie Colaiuta (Sting). Her co-engineer and co-producer for
this project was Michael Jay, who engineered YES's 1994 album "Talk",
and has previously engineered for Brian Eno and Neil Young.
Julie's
recording of her song, A Nightingale's Lullaby was released on the best
selling album Celtic Twilight.
By turns mournful and mystical, these 14 Celtic lullabies performed by
musicians from around the world give voice to the experience of mother
and child in haunting, evocative folk songs. "More often than not,"
veteran Irish singer Nóirín Ní Riain writes in the
liner notes, "a true lullaby is more indicative of the mental state
of the mother than of her wish to lull her child to sleep, and so often
her frustrations find a legitimate voice through song." Celtic Twilight
3: Lullabies will become a bedtime favorite, both for its lulling pull
to sleep for baby and the numinous, soothing tones of old-country songs
for parents winding down at the end of the day. --Stefanie Durbin Amazon.com
On “Gathering In The Light”, internationally acclaimed Kirtan master Krishna Das joins Baird Hersey and his overtone singing group “Prana” (Julie Last, Leslie Ritter, Amy Fradon, Kirsti Gholson, Peter Beuttner, Joe Viellette, Julian Lines and Bruce Milner) to make music whose whole is far greater than the sum of its parts. The CD is a melding of musical forces. Prana’s other worldly, ethereal sound creates a perfect setting for both Baird's high arcing overtone melodies and Krishna Das' rich baritone on seven of his most beloved chants. When placed in the sonic landscape of the eight-voice choir, they shine like two spirits in pursuit of the same enlightened goal. On four pieces percussion was added: Jerry Marotta on hand percussion and drums, Subash Chandran, playing ghatam (clay pot), Ganesh Kumar playing kanjira (tunable tambourine), and Arjun Alan Bruggeman on Tabla. The only instrument on the CD other than percussion is the human voice.
While neither purely
a Prana CD or Krishna Das CD, it is a collaboration like nothing else
you will hear. "Gathering In The Light" is innovative, beautiful,
and breathtaking.
The
Eternal Embrace is music to relax the body, still the mind and open
the heart. Baird Hersey and PRANA (Julie Last, Leslie Ritter, Amy Fradon,
Kirsti Gholson, Peter Beuttner, Joe Viellette, Julian Lines and Bruce
Milner) are all working musicians who came together to explore the
fundamental vocal overtone techniques of Tibetan multiphonic chant
and Tuvan throat singing By applying these practices to the "natural
voice" they can sing two pitches at once. This completely opens
up the possibilities for creating complex vocal textures. Singing as
a group in this unique style they create beautiful rising harmonies,
meditative drones and high arcing melodies. Prana has performed at:
a Benefit for The Dalai Lama Foundation, and Omega Institute's "Ecstatic
Chant Retreat" with Krishna Das, They also were honored to give
a personal performance for Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. They have opened for
Philip Glass and performed as a part of the "Gatherings", "Tibet
House", "One Voice" and "Woodstock Cycle" concerts
series. In 2005 “The Eternal Embrace” was featured in its
entirety on the “Hearts of Space ” program which airs on
more than 230 NPR stations.
www.pranasound.com