Jerry Garcia Foundation launches new record label, supports Himalayas with first album

Jerry Garcia still has the power to help the world through his music.

The late Grateful Dead singer and guitarist, who died in 1995, can be heard on "Clouds," an instrumental duet with Indian guitarist Sanjay Mishra at the heart of the new compilation album "Annapurna's Song: Music of the Himalayas."

A tender and evocative musical conversation, "Clouds" was originally released on Mishra's 1995 LP "Blue Incantation." A quarter century later, it's helping to introduce the world to Only Love Records, a new music label launched by the Jerry Garcia Foundation in collaboration with Seven Seas Music.

Released in November, "Annapurna's Song" is the debut offering from Only Love Records and benefits the American Himalayan Foundation. Since its founding in 1981, the foundation has worked for the shelter, health and education of people in the region.

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Jerry Garcia Foundation co-founder and vice president Keelin Garcia, Jerry's daughter, explained via email that their foundation, founded in 2015, "is receptive to artistic collaborations with others who support artistic, environmental and humanitarian causes."

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"The Himalayan project inspired the creation of Only Love Records," said Keelin Garcia. "The foundation has a fine arts program currently, and a music program seemed like a natural fit for the artistic mission and my father's legacy."

"Annapurna's Song" features artists from Nepal, Tibet, India and Bhutan, including Oscar-winning "Slumdog Millionaire" composer A.R. Rahman.

Seven Seas founder and CEO Brooke Wentz, who produced "Annapurna's Song," had previously conceived and produced the "This is Syria" compilation to support the International Rescue Committee's Syrian relief efforts.

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"I always like to try and really diversify and give people an accurate impression of what is out there," said Wentz. "Certainly there's a lot more music from some of these areas but we really did searches. We wanted to get contemporary. We wanted to get old school. We wanted to get more jazzy. We wanted to get more folky. We wanted to get more classical. I always like to round everything up with a variety, and I just go by what I hear."

Mishra, speaking via email, recalled that Garcia had been a fan of his 1993 debut album, "The Crossing."

"(Garcia) had a long interest in playing music that had an international, specifically Eastern bent, but was not that, meaning not traditional Indian music," Mishra explained. "It had to have the 'right' space and mix of the two cultures for him. My music is a natural mix of my consciousness-Indian and western classical, jazz and The Grateful Dead. 'Clouds' was about that, and emotional honesty, which can be heard in the recording."

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The Jerry Garcia Foundation, where Keelin's mother and Jerry's former wife Manasha Garcia is the co-founder and president, served as executive producer for "Annapurna's Song," with American Himalayan Foundation vice president Norbu Tenzing as executive director.

Wentz tells us that Only Love Records will spotlight different regions of the world, while Keelin said her father's work will most likely be featured in future releases.

"Annapurna's Song" is available as a digital album for $20 via the Seven Seas Music website at www.sevenseasmusic.com/music-of-the-himalayas, or for $30 accompanied by a color liner notes booklet from the Jerry Garcia Foundation through the Terrapin Gallery at www.jerrygarciafoundation.org/only-love-records.