Dr. James Hopkins is interested in the relationship between musical vibrations, mathematics and spirit. He performs music on an instrument that has 117 strings each of which are seven-feet long and tuned to frequencies intending to generate “infinite harmonic overtone ratios hidden within the fundamental note of each string. For the most part, Hopkins succeeds with his experiment and I would have to say the results are extremely interesting and dharmic. One might think of Hopkins’ performances on the instrument as sounding a bit like someone playing the inside of a piano or a harp but with a deeper resounding tuning.
This album begins with a nineteen-minute piece called “Golden Ratios” which is essentially a meditative experience of recorded strings vibrating in a cosmic symphonic orchestration that unfold geometrically and, according to Hopkins as “audible fractals.” The tonality of Hopkins’ gyrating strings experiment might not appeal to everyone seeking a new experience of vibrations to meditate to, but I do think this work is interesting and has validity and depth. I would imagine the impact of his seven-foot strings vibrating at once would be incredibly powerful in a live setting.
If there is a challenge to this recorded work, it is in the technical recording of the strings. For the most part, the job is done about as well it could have been, but there is still the absence of the instrument’s vitality which is hard to dismiss. The recordings can get a bit harsh at times, but generally the swells of the vibrations generate a tremendous amount of internal energy. I would recommend this album to those meditators and alchemists out there who are curious about these sort of experimentations. Hopkins is a master at playing the strings and as a spiritualistic intellectual thinker wishing to break new ground in the lessons of how vibrations and musical notes have healing and contemplative impacts on soul.drjameshopkins.com. –– Reviewed by Michael Mollura
Suzanne Sterling is known primarily as an ecstatic vocalist who invokes vibrations of the sacred with tabla loops and instruments that invite the heart to open up. Her music has been used for film projects including in Gifting It which is a documentary about the Burning Man Festival. She has performed and toured internationally with critically acclaimed world groove artists such as Medicine Drum, Alcyone and Kali’s Angels. Sterling’s energy is full of fire and if she had it her way she would have the whole world singing.
Blue Fire Soul is Sterling’s best spiritually driven album. It is essentially a series of alchemical chants performed with a caravan of skilled musicians containing electronic grooves with Sterling leading the way with her sensual vocals. The album is composed of ten tracks that all embrace the spirit with an esoteric and meditative mood. While not a call and response-oriented chant album, it caresses the sacred nature of any practice. Her voice and delivery has a celestial approach that harmonizes with an alchemic eclectic electronic mix.
Chinmaya Dunster was born in England in the 1950s and it was through his world travels into Afghanistan and India as a guitarist that led him to eventually discover the abundant density of the sacred stringed instrument known as the sarod. The sarod is a 19-stringed North Indian creation that could be compared in the West to a guitar or banjo, but with Shakti. Land of the Buddhas is Chinmaya’s latest release and it is an excellent piece of work that invokes the inner beauty of more than simply the instrument, as well as embracing the sacred nature of the ragas he performs with perfection.
With every note, Chinmaya reveals a profound respect for the devotional alchemy of the music he has composed based on ancient scales. “Rag Shivranjani” is a romantic five-note minor scale that is an original composition based on improvisation and intuitive choices. “Gir Forest” delivers a synergy between sarod and a Manipuri influenced bamboo flute performed brilliantly by Bikram Singh.
The pieces on this release are performed with what Chinmaya calls the Celtic Ragas Band which consists of tablas, flutes and additional stringed instruments. The results are gorgeous. I have not been able to stop listening to the beautiful phrases and well-arranged instrumentals found on this collection of songs that are saturated with compassion, kindness and spirit.
The enduring balance of the musical texture of each of the instruments and the melodic depth of the ragas will invoke sublime harmony and the integration of the inner and material nature of the world. I highly recommend this album to any fan of sacred instrumental music that moves effortlessly through the body. This is the sort of album that can be used for anything from personal enjoyment, meditation, healing environments or yoga classes. newearthrecords.com –– Reviewed by Michael R. Mollura
Sterling delivers a well-produced selection of well-known mantras including the popular Buddhist-grounded incantation “Om Mane Padme Hum” and an ode to Kali with “Jai Ma.” The album begins with a soft and ethereal “Saraswati” layered with rhythmic sequences and harmonic vocal tracks that sit on top of a loungy bed of sultry percussive drives and keyboard patches. “Nataraj” is a ten-minute contemplation that features flute and synthetic patches with Sterling moving through the Shakti with ecstatic calls as if she was rolling in the leaves of Mother Nature’s womb.
This could be used as a go-to CD for any Yoga class or for private personal use. The performances are clear, nicely executed and the production is excellent. suzannesterling.com –– Reviewed by Michael R. Mollura
Sheri Watson is a Yoga enthusiast who has been a part of the Los Angeles spiritual community for many years. With this ambitious debut CD of six kirtan chants, she offers her sadhana in a new light using her egoless heart to open the door for others. This CD is a huge production that has a lot going on. Watson carries a big sound that packs an epic nonviolent punch using drums, synthesizers, flutes and sax solos, along with all the bells and whistles to walk the path.
Watson has a refined voice with an impressive range, confident demeanor and knock-out harmonies. Many chants are Kundalini-oriented with devotional mantras like “Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo” and “Ra Ma Da Sa.” The eleven-minute “Sat Say So Hum” takes the energy deep with world-groove beats. The English sung title song “Shuniya” shows off Watson’s voice with dramatic flair that echoes of pop-country influences. Watson’s approach to kirtan is enthusiastic and festive with some musical interludes that might give you the impetus to leap off your Yoga mat and dance. She even makes good use of a Bollywood feel on “Gobinday, Mukanday.”
Watson knows how to bring rhythm to the hearts of her listeners and her music is appropriate for festive dance gatherings and Yoga classes that wish to keep the heat up and the devotion exciting and epic. The transitions are sophisticated and well-thought out musically.
Overall, Shuniya is a sweet offering with plenty of talent and a production that could fill up an arena. If you’re into that big-sound approach (sung half in Sanskrit and half in English) to chanting you might love this. Her rendition of the legendary “Long Time Sun” will either inspire you to dance or want to look for something more organic and less self-conscious. There are always pros and cons to sacred chant albums covering as much ground as this one does. Watson’s heart is as wide-ranging as her interest in production. naadmusic.com –– Reviewed by Michael R. Mollura
Mala Ganguly has been singing chants from her early beginnings as a seeker who hails from Calcutta. This album is a humble and deeply devotional collection of bhajans (chants) that are bathed in authenticity and nectar. Ganguly’s virtuosity is stylistically reflective of the chanting styles one hears out of India with trained North Indian inflections and unpredictable arrangements. Under the tutelage of many great Indian singers – such as Himaghna Roy Chaubury and Sudhin Das Gupata, Mala Ganguly has a voice that can go anywhere her spirit wishes.
Malaji’s voice embodies a classic nasal “Ma” voice and, if you just focus on her singing, this album has a lot of bhakti nourishment.
The western instrumentations that accompany her on “Sita Ram” tend to get in the way of the energy though. There are a lot of distracting funky bass lines and electronica grooves that just feel a bit unnecessary when you have someone like Malaji carrying the melody.
The “Chalo Mana Ganga Jamuna” bhajan features interesting violin tracks to accompany Malaji’s devotional voice and harmonies. I cannot get enough of Malaji’s phrasing and inflections. She has that ability to move on top and through the melodies with a sense of ease, grace and serenity that most western bhajan singers can not hold a candle up to. “Hara Shiva Shankara” delivers more of the same amazing singing performances while the percussion and instrumentation arrangements tend to keep the shakti contained in electronic materialism.
This album could certainly be used for Yoga classes and it has plenty of bhakti amrita or devotional nectar. Malaji has a beautiful range and a voice that sings right into the core of the heart. dharmapalarecords.com –– Reviewed by Michael Mollura
Aykanna is the result of the love and efforts behind the musical journeys of Pauline Sukhdev and Akahdahmah. With Lovelight, the duo has recorded a CD of music that is an invitation to its listeners to take a journey into the depths of the self though music. The inspiration of the eleven tracks found here can be traced back to the transformation the couple experienced within the modalities of the sacred and the union of body, mind and spirit through song, mantra and body postures.
Lovelight is a celestial collection of Kundalini chants that are intended for Yoga usage and meditation. The first piece “Ong Namo Gur Dev Namo” sets the tone of the album by inviting the heart to open using repetitions of the mantra accompanied by Akahdahmah’s percussive taps, some electronic patches and Pauline’s soulful singing inflections that are maternal, kind and penetrating. The duo’s focus on all of the tracks on this album is consciousness and the integration of body and soul using alchemistic composition. By chanting these mantras, Aykanna channels the internal source of abundance through the production of songs and chants that are melodic, vibrant and authentic.
This is a Kundalini album that is full of devotion and nectar that would also appeal to Yoga enthusiasts of any discipline. Pauline’s attractive inflections are soft, sensual and nicely harmonized. The guitars, flutes and percussion are tucked in low under her voice which keeps the focus on the vibration of the mantras.
I recommend this chanting CD for Yoga classes and for those yogis who can’t get enough of the endless resource of love that resides in the heart. aykanna.com –– Reviewed by Michael Mollura
Michael R. Mollura is a holder of the bhakti flame, music journalist, musician and composer currently working on his PhD at Pacifica Graduate Institute. He was the compoer for the film Climate Refugees, which was featured at the Sundance Film Festival, 2010. Email him at michaelmollura@gmail.com or find him at: michaelmollura.com.
Shem McCauley, aka Slacker, is no stranger to music. In the late ‘90s and early to mid 2000s, he was at the forefront of progressive house. All over the world, the best of the best played his music. Then, at the height of his career, he did the unthinkable: He disappeared. Shem landed in Bangkok with two suitcases and a Yoga mat. Disillusioned with the music scene, he turned to Yoga to recharge his batteries and clear his mind. He began practicing Yoga “daily and deeply” and enrolled in a month-long teacher training program with Bangkok’s Absolute Yoga team.
“That was one of the most amazing months of my life,” he says, and “as I became more chilled, so did my music.”
Inspired to write music again, but without access to a studio, Shem used his laptop to compose the entire album. What emerged is an honest, emotionally translucent musical offering. Start A New Life is a homage to the downtempo, chill, trip-dub and ambient genres of electronic music, while simultaneously offering up the wisdom of a man gone deep in search of himself. The first song sets the mood for the album. In it, a female vocalist muses, “I’m going to start a new life, and I don’t know how it’s going to be.” The next few songs sample vocals over bits of uplifting progressive house, down tempo drum’n’bass, and dreamy disco and guitar. The last half of the album returns to joy.
Sonically powerful and multifaceted, this album is sometimes funky, sometimes dark, but always engaging. Shem’s journey through the darkness of past uncertainty and into the joy of newfound expression is a beautiful testament to the liberating spirit of yoga. The album emits a phenomenal energy. Its soaring, uplifting atmospheric melodies will leave you emotionally breathless. This release is highly recommended for Yoga, car trips or just chilling out.
–– Reviewed by Aria Mayland, a Yoga teacher, writer and mother who loves some good uplifting danceable music. Find out when and where she’s teaching at: yogawitharia.com.
Featured artist Lucy Woodward chants, “Here is something to believe in” in the chorus of The Yoga Sessions fifth track “Daylight at Sunset.” If you’re looking for an album to aid your Yoga practice, here is something to believe in. The Yoga Sessions, a compilation of tracks inspired on and for the mat, is the integration of Yoga and music in its finest form, especially when considering the track record of the minds behind the creation. Producers Derek Beres and David “Duke Mushroom” Schommer know what they are doing. Beres has taught Jivamukti
Yoga for five years in Manhattan and is a noted DJ, spinning alongside everyone from Karsh Kale to Jamiroquai. Schommer is a first-class percussionist and a platinum-selling producer.The results of their experience and creativity could be enjoyed in any lounge, home or Yoga studio alike.
The songs flow together so fluently they could be one stream of consciousness – one with an inspirational soundtrack for practice. The compilation integrates traditional instrumentals with a 21st century electronically inspired essence. Sessions features performances from a diverse selection of vocalists and musicians. From recording artist Lucy Woodward, Pharaoh’s Daughter Basya Schechter, France’s Morley, Lital Gabai, Morocco’s Hamid Boudali, tabla player Dave Sharma, guitarist Shahar Mintz, Daniel Dworkin to Juno nominee Eccodek, the contributors are both reputable and infinite.
We’re not the only ones who are raving about the album. According to a piece in the Boston Globe, Yoga Sessions “resembles a Thievery Corporation album, but with the attention to the pace and sequencing of yoga practice.” And one of its tracks, “Rama”, was featured as one of Fitness Magazine’s top 100 songs for 2009. earthrisesoundsystem.com –– Reviewed by Vanessa Harris
Join Derek Beres and EarthRise SoundSystem at the Elbo Room, Thursday, March 18 for an Afrolicious party and Beres, EarthRise and Suzanne Sterling for a Yoga class, kirtan and dance party at Yoga Tree, Saturday, March 20 at 8:15 P.M.
James Wvinner
How to Make Your Own Exercise DVD
Yoga Tribe and Culture
The means to produce and distribute video content have become increasingly more accessible at a rapid pace. The result is that almost anyone with a camera and a message can broadcast it out into the world. But there is a difference between content that is beautiful to watch with clear communication, and well, the alternative that isn’t as attractive.
Filmmaker and yogi James Wvinner certainly knows something about producing content. He’s won awards and accolades for his photography, commercials and his body of work of more than seventy titles of Yoga, dance and other exercise DVDs and downloads. He’s discovered the pitfalls that plague amateurs and professionals during production and now, he’s sharing those teachings in this audio program. This is an incredible and rare gift.
Wvinner’s voice is easy to listen to and his easy sense of humor comes through, making this a welcome tutorial that’s helpful to listen to again and again. Repeated sessions with this information are invaluable since Wvinner provides gems with each line. Often we learn from our mistakes, and when making a DVD, this can be an expensive proposition. Wvinner gives the listener everything they need to know to produce something gorgeous and effective from beginning and end.
In this tutorial, Wvinner covers everything from how to develop a budget, what to have on hand for wardrobe, setting up hair and makeup, the number of cameras to set up at the shoot, selecting the set, when to feed your crew, the intricacies of negotiating with an editor, music composition and rights and even how to shoot and select a winning cover image. The program comes with a collection of documents that are necessary from budget planning to contracts.
Even if you’re merely considering developing your own media content, want to put yourself on YouTube or need to know what to think about during a photo shoot to get the best effect, this audio program is a must-have. –– Reviewed by Felicia M. Tomasko, RN
Check Out Other Yoga Music CD’s Here
By Michael R. Mollura, Aria Mayland, Stephanie Parent & Felicia M. Tomasko
