Schawkie Roth

Schawkie Roth entered the world in Wisconsin during 1943 and ranks among the earliest figures to shape new age spiritual music. His father supplied the Swiss nickname “Schawkie,” which translates to “Jacques.” Musical lineage reached him through a maternal grandmother who performed opera in Bohemia, while ancestral lines connect to Czech composer Anton Dvorák. At eleven he launched his performing life on alto saxophone; a year later he took up piano for improvisation and introduced tenor saxophone into both classical and spontaneous practice. Classical motifs informed his keyboard work, whereas his saxophone language settled into the lineage of modern, lyrical jazz. Music also served as a natural outlet for his pursuits in philosophy, religion, psychology, poetry, and painting.

At the University of Wisconsin-Madison he concentrated on Zen Buddhism while completing a major in religious philosophy. After relocating to California he pursued chakra therapy, described as psycho-spiritual counseling, under Dr. Haridas Chaudhuri and earned a master’s degree in integral psychology. Throughout those years he constructed bamboo flutes, composed poetry, and performed jazz inside assorted ensemble settings. In 1969 he encountered flutist Paul Horn and initiated the discipline of transcendental meditation.

He advanced his formal flute training and acquired technique on East Indian bamboo flutes from G.S. Sachdev. By 1971 the zither entered his palette as a modal vehicle for transmitting spiritual music. Roth composes expressly to channel what he terms “the Holy Spirit.” Recording of this blended idiom—saxophone, piano, zither, flute, bamboo flute, and nature sounds—commenced in 1977, placing him on Steven Halpern’s pioneering release Eastern Peace.

Discussing his 1978 album Heaven and Earth, Roth articulated its purpose: “With Love, this music has come forth into the world for the purpose of healing, upliftment, relaxation, meditation, and to soothe the souls. Feeling a deep sense of unity with the earth and also feeling the warmth and glow of the Transcendent Spirit, the first work to come forth was entitled Heaven on Earth to encourage all others to bring Heaven to Earth for the sake of healing ourselves and our planet as we are destined to do for our Creator and the Creation.”

He maintains an active presence in jazz through the Schawkie Roth Jazz Quartet or Quintet, the Schawkie Roth Jazz Trio, and Primordial Splendor, a seven-member Afro-Brazilian ensemble featuring two vocalists, flute, saxophone, and five percussionists.