Iasos (musician)
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Joseph Bernardot (January 9, 1947 – January 6, 2024), better known by his stage name Iasos, was a Greek-born American musician and composer who was considered a pioneer of
new-age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation technique, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecs ...
. His company Inter-Dimensional Music is based in Sausalito, California. Iasos performed and lectured internationally, and his music is distributed worldwide. His music has been used by NASA and the Laserium light show.


Life and career

Born in Alexandroupolis, Greece, at age four, Iasos and his family moved to the United States, first settling in St. Regis Falls, New York and then Malone, New York. He began piano lessons when he was eight and the flute at age ten; he played the latter in his school band. He graduated from Franklin Academy as salutatorian in 1964. In June 1968, he graduated from Cornell University with a degree in
cultural anthropology Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of a posited anthropological constant. The portma ...
. He performed in rock and smooth jazz bands during this time, including his group the Nova Shadow Quartet, which he said was "played in a sloppy unprofessional manner. Nothing I would want to share publicly." After he decided against a scholarship he relocated to California to pursue music further, first to
Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...
before settling in
Marin County Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acros ...
. Iasos thought of his stage name as he was walking down a street. He began working on music that he would internally "hear", describing it as "paradise music". He considered classical composers
Ottorino Respighi Ottorino Respighi ( , , ; 9 July 187918 April 1936) was an Italian composer, violinist, teacher, and musicologist and one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. List of compositions by Ottorino Respighi, His compositions r ...
,
Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...
, and
Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
, pianist Martin Denny, and guitarist
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
as particular musical influences during this time. Following his move to California, Iasos collaborated with other musicians for a short period but to no success, so he chose to become a solo artist. It was then when "things got very far out very fast". In the early 1970s, Iasos attended sessions with a spiritual teacher in Sausalito, who paired him with a spiritual being named Vista (or Cyclopea, named after the Elohim of the Fifth Ray). Vista has been a source of inspiration and direction in Iasos's music ever since. He recalled: "As soon as I felt his presence it was like remembering him from long ago, and there's this flood of love coming out from me to him." In 1975, Iasos released his first album, ''Inter-Dimensional Music''. It was in the same year that his friend and fellow musician Steven Halpern also released his debut, ''Spectrum Suite''. The latter features Iasos playing the electric flute. Both albums are now considered pioneers in the
New-age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation technique, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecs ...
genre. Iasos died on January 6, 2024, at the age of 76.


Reception

In 1989, research conducted by Professor Joel Funk at
Plymouth State University Plymouth State University (PSU), formerly Plymouth State College, is a public university in the towns of Plymouth and Holderness, New Hampshire. As of fall 2020, Plymouth State University enrolls 4,491 students (3,739 undergraduate students an ...
reported that of people who have had near-death experiences referred to the track "The Angels of Comfort" from Iasos's album ''Angelic Music'' (1978) as being closest to the music they heard during these experiences by a wide margin. Buddhist philosopher Alan Watts has said "Iasos is doing the classical music of the New Age."''Angelic Music'' 1998, Bluestar Communications (U.S.), Aquamarin Verlag (Europe) Guitarist
Lee Underwood Lee Underwood is an American musician and journalist who played lead guitar with Tim Buckley for most of Buckley's career. Career Underwood appeared on seven of the nine studio albums Buckley recorded during his brief life and on several posthu ...
has said "''Angelic Music''...perhaps exemplif(ies) the best this genre has to offer."Pulse!, The Magazine of Tower Records, March 1988


Discography

Studio albums *''Inter-Dimensional Music Through Iasos'' (1975; also known as ''Wave #1: Inter-Dimensional Music'') *''Vibrational Environments #1: Angelic Music'' (1978) *''Crystal Love'' (1979) *''Vibrational Environments #2: Earth Calm/Space Calm'' (1979) *''Vibrational Environments #3: Paradise Bird of Melodies'' (1980) *''Birds for Morning & Evening'' (1980) *'' Jeweled Space'' (1981) *''Vibrational Environments #4: Throne Realms & Lagoon Waves'' (1982) *'' Wave #2: Elixir'' (1983) *''Essence of Spring'' (1983) *''Bora Bora 2000'' (1991) *''Timeless Sound: Music for Deep Meditation'' (1991) *''Liquid Crystal Love'' (1992) *''Realms of Light'' (2001) *''Javanese Dream Bells'' (2007) *''Celestial Soul Portrait'' (2013; compilation) *''Night Time Jungle Sounds on Planet Allura'' (2014) *''Essence of Lemuria'' (2015) *''Heavenly Dreamscapes'' (2016; compilation) *''The Next Dimension'' (2020) Digital releases *"Pan – Musing" (2014) *"Imaginational Resonance" (2022) *"The Garden of Salathooslia" (2023) Videos *''Crystal Vista'' (1982) *''Realms of Light'' (2010) Appearances * Steven Halpern – ''Spectrum Suite'' (1975) *Kelly Howell – ''Sound Sleep'' (1992) * Jonn Serrie, Iasos, and Kevin Kendle – ''Music for Accelerated-Consciousness Love-Making'' (2012)


References


External links


Official website at Iasos.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Iasos 1947 births 2024 deaths American new-age musicians Greek emigrants to the United States Meditation American electronic musicians Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area