Laraaji, Dallas Acid

Call Edward Larry Gordon (Laraaji) New Age, but he’s not new to music. Since the late Seventies, the Philly-born virtuoso has performed aural meditations on the electric zither, an old-world cross between harp and guitar. In Austin, he plays alongside homegrown ambient trio Dallas Acid, with whom he collaborated on Arrive Without Leaving, due October 2.

Austin Chronicle: Why the zither?

Laraaji: I was guided to the zither in a pawn shop in 1974. I was pawning a guitar, when a mystical inspiration advised me not to take money for it, but to swap it for the zither in the window. It summed up everything I wanted to do with music: communicate the nature of cosmic unity and stay present in the eternal moment.

AC: How did you link up with Dallas Acid?

L: Myself and my musical partner Arji played with them in March at National Sawdust in Brooklyn. We had a very warm, loving connection, and the next day we were taken into a studio. We shared an enormously large gong they travel with, and it gave me a chance to explore Moog synthesizers, I’ve never had one myself.

AC: Will there be much improvisation locally?

L: It’s mostly improvisation, with a sense of tonality. Before my performance I meditate to get a connection with the cosmic universe and a sense of what energy or feelings that should be accented. My music emphasizes the intimate cosmic presence.

Full Q&A online at austinchronicle.com/daily/music.