With Tina Malia, Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe
Shakti means forceful feminine energy that has the potential to transform and purify. Shakti inspires us to have faith, to love and forgive – and this is precisely the kind of powerful transformation that Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe seek to inspire through their music and their work with the Shakti Tribe Foundation. The nonprofit foundation performs a mixture of kirtan (call and response chanting), mantra (sacred sound), chant, bhajan and raga (forms of traditional sacred rhythmic music) at prisons, orphanages, schools, churches, temples and spiritual centers. On August 9, at the Seaside Church in Encinitas, the Tribe hosted a benefit.
The inimitable Tina Malia opened for Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe. While I listened to Malia’s celestial voice and affecting lyrics, I felt like I was listening to a fairy princess reading the most perfect bedtime story. I was mesmerized and greatly moved by Tina’s mythical “Shores of Avalon,” written for her mother. “Avalon” tells the magical story of a mother passing into death while her beloved daughter searches for her in the night sky.
By the time Larisa Stow & Shakti Tribe hit the stage the crowd was primed to dance. They began with “Peace Prayers,” and continued with musical prayers adapted from different religions interweaving themes of peace, love and hope with gorgeous sounds and profound lyrical messages. Knowing that my attendance at this benefit mades it possible for the Tribe to bringing transformational sounds to people across important borders, such as the prison system, was additional inspiration in an evening that needed no other motivation.
The benefit concert was broadcast live on Sacred Sounds Radio: sacredsoundsradio.com; larisastow.com
Judy Bauerlein lives in San Diego where she is an Assistant Professor of Theater at California State University San Marcos and practices yoga at the Studio at North Park in San Diego:thestudioatnorthpark.com.
By Judy Bauerlein
