Awakened Earth Offers Stellar Kundalini Devotional Music
When it comes to super easy listening from the world of kundalini devotional music, it doesn’t get much easier than Awakened Earth. Violins, flute, and harp give this newest release from Mirabai Ceiba a strong classical vibe, yet the album stays grounded in the present with a light bed of loops and electronica.
Mirabai Ceiba is a duo consisting of guitarist/singer Markus Sieber and singer/harpist/keyboardist Angelika Baumbach. Markus is East German and Angelika grew up in a small village near Mexico City. Yet their voices blend naturally, as if they were meant to sing together and have done so for many lifetimes. Track five on Awakened Earth, “Guru Ramdas Rakho Sarnaee,” is filled with lush strings, flute solos and Angelika and Markus taking turns repeating “Guru Ram Das” – a chant to the fourth Sikh Guru. Angelika’s voice is so comfortable and familiar it brings up sense memories from hours on the mat in Kundalini studios.
The name Mirabai Ceiba embodies the influences of both India and Native Latin America. Mirabai was a Hindu mystical singer and Ceiba is a sacred tree of Latin America which grows very tall. You’ll notice the Latin influences most on the rootsy guitar and percussion of “Sat Siri Siri Akal.”
The convergence of these two worlds brings a unique vibration to this album of kundalini devotional music. Just like the joining of their voices, the whole of this album is greater than the sum of its parts.
Daniel Overberger is a Los Angeles-based Yoga teacher, the author of Leaving Stress Behind, and founder of alt-kirtan group Dharma Gypsys. leavingstressbehind.com