Providing sonic medicine for healing and therapy is the vision of Poranguí, a musician, healer, and producer who resides in the red rocks of Sedona, Az. Raised in Brazil, Mexico and the southwestern U.S., Poranguí serves Pachamama, or Mother Earth, and offers transformational and healing experiences that awaken the body, mind, and soul. His reverence for the earth shines through in “Canto De La Selva” (Jungle Song) that is embellished nicely with the sweet sounds of a strummed charango, blown wooden flute, and synthesized choral sounds from the keyboards. 

“Growing up among such different worlds (cultural, linguistic, spiritual) challenged me as a child,” says Poranguí. “Now I look back and see the blessing it afforded me, to serve as a bridge for others. It taught me to appreciate the salient threads that connect us in our collective human experience. It informs my art and pushes me to find new ways to tell the stories of our ancestors in a way that we can all hear it – in the midst of our contemporary culture.”

Following ethnomusicology studies at Duke University, Poranguí has amassed two decades of international experience as an artist, musician, educator, filmmaker, consultant and therapist. In sound design and media production, Poranguí worked on “Ayahuasca,” a documentary set in the Amazon, the soundtrack becoming his debut solo album, released in 2016. He has followed that with several other albums, including his self-titled album Poranguí in 2019, a sonic prayer woven together from improvised performances at Lightning in a Bottle Festival (California) and Unify Festival (New Mexico).

“Approaching music from beyond the perspective of an entertainer, but rather as a healer,” states Poranguí, “my intention is always to help move the energy in this space.  How can I support this audience, these fellow humans, to shake off their funk and remember what it means to be free and fully expressed, what it means to love and be loved, what it means to be more authentically human.”

Viewing his diverse creative practice as not only a profession but a calling, the artist’s canvas is a sonic landscape of haunting electronica, loops, effects, flute, kalimba, didgeridoo, percussion, natural sounds and vocals. While a little rain stick goes a long way for me, tracks like “Tonantzin” and “Danza Del Viento” (Wind Dance) create lyrically intimate, meditative, and melodically compelling space. Unless you speak Spanish, you won’t comprehend the meaning of the lyrics, but the sounds do generate an incandescence throughout the set. 

Commencing with “Ganesha,” Poranguí opens the portal, welcomes us in, and reminds us that we’re all one family. On the last track of the album, “Stardust,” Poranguí paints a brilliant aural, new age palette. Bringing the festival experience to the listener, Poranguí stimulates us to musically journey through hope, fears, ups and downs, inspiration, joy, bliss, healing and back to life itself. Natural rhythms and sounds allow us to feel the circular patterns from within, eliminate illusion, and illuminate one’s surroundings. Poranguí delivers the creative goods from ethereal textures to energetic cosmic wavefiles that result in a wonderfully refreshing and renewing experience. (Joe Ross, Roots Music Report)