Jim Cole began practicing overtone singing in 1991, inspired by Hearing Solar Winds. Also inspired by the reverberant cistern recording Deep Listening, he discovered an empty water tower in which to develop Spectral Voices’ overtone music. In 1996 Jim received an artist fellowship award from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, which supported the production and release of Spectral Voices’ debut CD Coalescence. Jim + Spectral Voices cultivate unique music through group overtone singing improvisation.
To contact please use “thejimcole” at gmail “dot” com
Video playlist of Jim Cole’s overtone songs:
Lyrics for Jim Cole overtone songs
Alan Dow began harmonic singing with Jim in 1992. As a child he learned to sing harmonies and play piano by ear, was in rock groups in high school and college, has sung in a capella groups including the Colgate Thirteen, and dabbled in songwriting, arranging, and recording with his brother Larry for fifteen years. Alan co-produced Spectral Voices’ CD’s Coalescence and Sky with Jim.
Alan believes he may have been an electric guitar in a former life and lists Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Joe Satriani and other guitarists among his main harmonic influences. He lives with his extremely tolerant wife Karol and is a practicing Sesquipedalian Sciolist.
Spectral Voices circa ’99 left to right: Shane Shanahan, Jim Cole, Alan Dow, Berk Meitzler, and Jim Desmond (photo by Grey)
“To be able to sing the way we do together — that is a gift. We tread the nebulous waves of space and cascade into shimmering realms. We eclipse the mundane and move past the known into the intuitive. No words can describe that place or that feeling: it is like some ancient and eternal understanding for what binds the universe, and what connects us all. It reminds us that there are other planes to explore; we see as much or as little as we open our eyes, ears, and heart to. We are fortunate.” ~Jim Desmond