Raphael (musician)

Raphael
Birth name Raphael F. Sharpe
Also known as Raphael Decosterd (or Décosterd)
Born 1948 (age 6768)
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Origin California
Genres Ambient music, new age
Labels Hearts of Space, Kahua

Raphael (born 1948) is a United States musician and composer of ambient music.

Biography

Raphael F. Sharpe was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1948.[1] Raised by Benedictine nuns, when his family got ill, he learned classical music and Gregorian chant.[2]

In 1967, he participated at the San Francisco Summer of Love, masquerading as a velvet-caped European count playing gypsy style violin. He studied piano at the San Francisco Conservatory. From there he moved to the Esalen Institute at Big Sur where he worked for ten years as a teacher and musician. There he started pursuing music as a therapy, mixing world rhythms and western music.[3]

In 1988 he released 'Music To Disappear In' which sold over 500,000 copies.[4]

In 1990, Raphael moved to Maui, Hawaii, and married Swiss-born psychotherapist Kutira Decosterd. They founded the Kahua Hawaiian Institute, where they perform musically and teach Oceanic Tantra.

In 1992, he founded Kahua Records, the label of his latest works.

Raphael's work are all published under his sole first name. Some websites refer to him as Raphael Decosterd (or Décosterd)[5] but it seems to be his Swiss-born wife's last name.[6][7] The Kahua Institute's website refers to him as Raphael F. Sharpe.[8]

Discography

As a solo artist

With Kutira

With Wendy Grace

With The Shaman Dancers

With Alan Cohen

External links

References

  1. http://www.thesirenssound.com
  2. Elevator music: a surreal history of Muzak, easy-listening, and other moodsong by Joseph Lanza
  3. Elevator music: a surreal history of Muzak, easy-listening, and other moodsong by Joseph Lanza
  4. "Over 500,000 albums sold of this megahit."
  5. "Kutira and Raphael Decosterd" and
  6. Kutira Decosterd
  7. spelled Décosterd here
  8. http://kahuainstitute.com/kahuainstitute/raphael-kutira
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