In kirtan artist Michael Hathaway's debut album Awakening he’s crafted a 10-song album respectful of kirtan tradition yet innovative in both its use of modern instrumentation and production techniques and its deft integration of traditional Sanskrit mantra. He also includes a plethora of musical influences fused together, including Indian classical, rock, pop, psychedelia, jazz, and gospel. The title [...]
The band Dub Sutra describe themselves as "an eclectic mix of electronic dub downtempo with harmonizing chant and live instruments perfect for chill, yoga, lounge, and moving meditation." They've been taking this music around the world at yoga classes and festivals. Their second album, All Is Love Is All by Dub Sutra, achieves a splendid balance [...]
Deva Premal and Miten and Manose. Photo by Rishi (www.HappyLivingMedia.com) For nearly two decades, audiences around the world have flocked to performances by the beloved mantra singers, Deva Premal and Miten. At the start of their North American Temple At Midnight Tour (which stops at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles on [...]
Jai Uttal at the Parmarth Niketan Ashram The Dream A few weeks after his experience climbing a Stupa (read more here!), Jai traveled to the northern Indian city of Allahabad, where the Khumba Melas are held. The Maharaj-ji was rumored to be visiting there, soon. Jai told me the story, “By that time, I [...]
Photo of Jai Uttal by Jeffrey Newberry Attending a Jai Uttal kirtan, or call-and-response devotional music event, feels like being led by the hand of your beloved into a communal celebration of the Divine. He gives unrestricted access to his heart. We feel a deep, exposed inner truth, rather than a [...]
Music is a refuge. Whether instrumental or with lyrics, the repetition of mantra or other inspirational poetry, it is a source of solace, a way to lift us up, a way for us to find our inner center. When we ride the waves of the world today, this is one of our sources of restoration [...]
The latest album by prolific devotional kirtan artist Jai Uttal Roots, Rock, Rama! is garnering acclaim from around the world. The official music video for “S.A.M.B.A (Shiva’s Adoration of Mata Bhavani’s Ambrosia) reflects the joyous mood of both the song and the album. The gorgeous video was shot in Rishikesh, India, in the winter of [...]
We should be thankful for DJ Drez. He’s one of the LA underground music pioneers who helped expand what our notion of devotional music could be by embracing the stylistic grooves of hiphop, soul, jazz, and chill electronic beats. I remember when a friend lent me The Capture of Sound CD years ago, and what [...]
A commitment to meditation, education, and devotion delivered me to Rishikesh, India, the “City of the Divine” where I completed a 200-hour teacher training course. My activities in Northern India have revolved around yoga, wellness, holistic living, savory and sweet food around every turn, and chakra and ear cleanings offered on the winding paved road [...]
Canadian Brenda McMorrow is a devotional kirtan artist inspired by folk melodies, world beats, and sacred Indian devotional chants. She is one of the most recent artists on White Swan Records, a music label that brought us such delights as Deva Premal and specializes in cultivating spiritual, meditative, healing music for the yoga world and beyond. Kirtan [...]