September 27, 2007 Issue
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Classified Chestnut Hill Local Don't Miss an Issue, Tell us what you see or Winner of Two |
Hill lawyer’s CD appeals to spiritual truth seekers
Sam Rossitto slowly unstraps his sandals and sinks into an overstuffed blue sofa. He smiles and begins to speak, but his words are muffled by the staccato rattling behind him. Light glints off the gold wedding band on his right hand as he stands up and turns toward the storm door of his East Meade Street home. He greets a woman in her late 30s and directs her upstairs, where his wife, Patricia, is prepping the makeshift massage-therapy suite. Sam hands me a CD and sinks into the sofa again; this time he tucks his right leg beneath his left and sits perpendicular to the black Yamaha piano against the wall. Sam is serene, although he is a busy attorney with a law office across the street from Borders Book Shop. He makes it look so easy, but it’s taken over 20 years of yoga to cultivate inner peace. His debut album, Lotus Tattoo, is the culmination of his spiritual journey. The disciple has become the teacher, but the lessons remain the same. Simple yet profound themes resonate throughout Lotus Tattoo. Its blissful hymns (called Kirtans by participants) echo the transcendental love and peace that unifies human beings, especially Sam and his family. The Rossitto family tree is oaken. Music is its sap. Sam, 52, and Patricia, 51, met in a student lounge at Villanova University in the late 70s. (They were both graduate students at the time.) The sound of Sam trying to find the melody of Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle” on the community piano arrested Patricia’s attention. She approached him. They talked music and clicked immediately. A few weeks later, their musical relationship grew romantic. They’ve been together ever since.
After 26 years of marriage, their relationship with each other and with their children, is still strong. Their son, Ryan, 27, attended Germantown Friends School and Princeton University. He works as a bond trader for Morgan Stanley in New York, but still finds time to call his mom and dad. Rachel, 21, a senior religion major at Temple University, is also close with her parents. The concept and cover design of Lotus Tattoo reinforces these themes. The title refers to the lotus tattoo on Rachel’s left shoulder, which is itself a symbol of cosmic oneness. On the back and inside flaps of the CD cover, the skin around Rachel’s tattoo has been darkened, suggesting a deeply rooted relationship between nature and humanity. (All of the dominant images are superimposed on pictures of Rachel’s skin, which wrap around the case.) The cover photo adds another layer of meaning: Sam seems to be growing out of an ancient Katsura tree as he meditates at Morris Arboretum. Sam admits that the conceptual soundness of the album was no accident. With the help of Elan Gepner, 24, a Mt. Airy-based graphic designer and Germantown Friends alumnus, Sam realized a compelling visual motif, a window into yogic enlightenment. The songs on Lotus Tattoo fuse ancient Kirtan chants with piano-rock riffs. (Think “Tomorrow Never Knows” by the Beatles translated to Sanskrit and set to skip every 10 seconds.) Sam wrote, recorded and produced most of the music with a Yamaha Motif synthesizer and Pro Tools software, which allowed him to create authentic sounds without hiring an orchestra specializing in obscure instruments. The album also features Neil Phillips, Sam’s neighbor and friend, on acoustic guitar; Hoagy Wing on percussion; and a choir of backup singers, made up of family and friends. (Rachel is a featured singer on three tracks; Patricia also lent her vocals to the album.) Kirtan is a branch of yoga, Sam says, but it’s not what people typically imagine when they think of yoga. Hatha yoga is the more commonly known practice. Kirtan and Hatha are similar in their objectives but different in their methods. Although Hatha yoga does involve chanting at times, its emphasis lies on body movement and breathing. Kirtan emphasizes vocal vibrations through the repetition of Hindu mantras. Both practices have the goal of subduing the mind and achieving a state of pure being. “When you’re doing the chants,” Sam says. “the vibration is very healing and feels good. In Western culture, we’re so much into our minds and so much into our heads. Kirtan chanting helps you be more into the love that’s within you.” The essence of Kirtan is call and response. The leaders sing a mantra over instrumental melodies, and the choir repeats. As the Kirtan goes on, they experiment with volume, tempo and vocal harmonies. “It’s not a spectator sport,” Sam says. “Everybody participates, and everybody sings.” Sam applies his yoga training in other aspects of his life. In his law practice and divorce mediation, Sam listens to his clients without passing judgment until they are done speaking. Solutions come to him in brilliant flashes when his mind is still. In his personal relationships, Sam channels love and positive energy from the cosmos. He feels at peace with himself, his environment and his friends and family. Even after a stressful work week, Sam finds solace in the sanctuary that he has made of his home. “From my experiences as a businessman, as someone who works, like, a 50-hour week…I’m so much more efficient, I think, because of the practices that I do. If you take an hour in the morning to meditate or do yoga, you’re going to make up for it so much because you’re going to be so much more on your game; you’re more focused; you’re not scattered. “It’s like you’re there with all your resources, not just your mind. I think your intuition kicks in a little bit better, and you’re just more relaxed with people. You’re more present with people.” Sam Rossitto’s CD release party will be held Saturday, Oct. 6, at Yoga on Main, 4363 Main St. in Manayunk. The event is free and open to the public. It starts at 8 p.m. You can buy Lotus Tattoo at Sanctuary, 8611 Germantown Ave., or call 215-248-4684.
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