In the hills above Kathmandu, The Nagi Gompa monastery is home to more than 100 Tibetan nuns, who sing and chant as part of their Buddhist practice of Cho, which involves mentally offering their body as a means of severing ego attachment. Choying Drolma has been a nun there since age 12, born in Nepal of Tibetan exile parents. Jazz guitarist Steve Tibbets heard her and the other nuns singing and, transfixed, recorded their voices. Back in Minneapolis, he added musical accompaniment (including guitar, bouzouki, cello, viol di gamba, violin, bass and percussion) to subtly enhance the music, and sent the exquisite result back as a gift to the nuns. The vocals embody the meditative qualities of Gregorian chants, and Tibbets' musical arrangements are an elegant frame -- very evocative and unusual, and we highly recommend it! Royalties will go to the nuns, with which Choying hopes to build a college of philosophy for other nuns in Nepal. ""So far,'' she says, ""only the monks have the chance to learn all the profound aspects of Buddhist philosophies. I want to create an institute where my f

Drolma/Tibbetts