Sacred Spirit

Sacred Spirit comprises a collection of new age recordings whose debut installment achieved massive commercial impact after releasing the worldwide chart-topping single “Yeha-noha (Wishes of Happiness and Prosperity)” during 1995. Blending indigenous Native American vocal traditions with atmospheric electronic textures, that first entry—Sacred Spirit: Chants and Dances of the Native Americans—appeared via Virgin Records in 1995 and earned a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best New Age Album in the same calendar year. Its signature track, “Yeha-noha (Wishes of Happiness and Prosperity),” reached the top of the singles rankings across multiple territories, notably Germany and France. The follow-up release, issued under the alternate titles Sacred Spirit II: Culture Clash in 1997 and Indigo Spirit, fused African-American spirituals with ambient electronica and cello arrangements. The third chapter, released in 2000 under the interchangeable names Indians’ Sacred Spirit: More Chants and Dances of the Native Americans and Sacred Spirit II: More Chants and Dances of the Native Americans, returns to the indigenous thematic focus of the opening volume. Additional installments comprise Moroccan Spirit (2002), Classical Spirit (2003), Sacred Spirit, Vol. 8: Jazzy Chill Out (2003), and Sacred Spirit, Vol. 9: Bluesy Chill Out (2003), each issued on the Higher Octane imprint. Claus Zundel, the German producer based in Ibiza who works under the aliases Fearsome Brave and the Brave, oversees the entire Sacred Spirit project. Beyond this series, Zundel’s credits encompass the B-Tribe sequence: Fiesta Fatal! (1993), Suave Suave (1995), Sensual Sensual (1998), Spiritual Spiritual (2001), 5 (2003), and B-Tribe, Vol. 6 (2008).