I'm SO excited!!! This weekend I'm going to a 3-day Kirtan workshop with Jai Uttal, my favorite world music artist. Check him out: www.jaiuttal.com

A brief description of the workshop is here: http://www.jaiuttal.com/htm/kirtan.htm

Embark on a vocal journey through the sacred sounds of ancient India. With call-and-response group chanting and storytelling, Jai Uttal creates a space of invocation, prayer, and heartfelt expression.

Drawing from an unbroken tradition of Indian devotional singing, Jai will introduce the ancient practice of "kirtan" (or chanting), the heart of devotional yoga. This meditative practice of calling to the divine creates a bridge between the individual and the eternal, opening the heart and welcoming the spirit. Jai will relate stories from the spiritual epics of India as well as from his personal experiences to create a modern context in which to explore this tradition.

"These ancient chants," writes Jai "contain a transformative power and healing energy. By singing these prayers and expressing a full range of emotions through our voices we join a stream of consciousness and devotion that has been flowing for centuries."

Jai has been leading Kirtans worldwide for over thirty years.

The workshop starts Friday night and ends Sunday night. There will also be a concert on Saturday night! I'm looking forward to seeing him live, I've been wanting to for sooooo long.
http://www.yogapura.com/kirtan05.html
[Edited 5/31/05 15:10pm]
[Edited 6/11/05 21:39pm]

excellent...should benefit both your spirit and some interesting vocal intonatins. I await your next song

"Power and Healing" whoa, is there funk? I ask because I know it's power and healing abilities.

Can't wait to hear all about it and take pictures

Slave2daGroove said:

Most of his music is a world-jazz fusion. Not too much funk... It's very ecstatic though...

Red said:

I have to ask my parents about that stuff. They are kind of experts in yoga and indian tradition in general...

Enjoy your experience!

SimonaleX said:

Thank you!


I'm doing some final packing right now and getting up bright and early to head out into the desert.

Slave2daGroove said:

I took a few pics on the last day of the workshop: http://vinablue.net/galle...me=album03

It was 107 the day we got there and 114 the day before we left... Going from the mild heat in San Diego to the heatwave in Arizona added to the whole Alternate Universe effect of the weekend. Thank God for air conditioning.

The Kirtan Workshop was a transformative experience. I'm still processing everything I've learned, but to put it in a nutshell, I am a much more complete person, spiritually and my voice has improved a great deal in just a few days. By the second night, I was making sounds I have never heard come out of me... almost like I was speaking in tongues.

I posted a new remix of Naked on my myspace page, which I re-recorded a few months ago. Listening to my recordings now, I know I can sing much better, but it's all good. We live, we learn and we love and that's all that matters. New recordings will be coming soon.

Namaste.


http://www.myspace.com/vinablue

If you go here: http://www.jaiuttal.com/h...vunrel.htm and download the Sita Ram Kirtan you'll hear basically what we did all weekend, different chants of course... Here is another cd with Kirtan chanting: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jaiuttal6 but it's got more instrumentation than what we experienced in the workshop. For the workshop it was only harmonium and tablas, a lot more intimate.

It was really amazing, and very musical. Jai comes from a musical background so that made the call-and-response element more exciting. He would variate the melodies, speed things up, slow it down, change the time signature. etc. It was so blissful. The tabla player was AWESOME and Jai really got into some of the Kirtans, vocally. He sounds almost Indian when he sings. It's so magical.

VinaBlue said:

Sounds like you had lots of fun...114? I thought Texas was hot...the most heat I've ever been in was 105...which wouldn't have almost killed me if we hadn't have had drill team field practice in it... I've never really listened to Kirtan chanting before...sounds pretty cool...

VinaBlue said:

Growth and hind sight are cool. Speaking in tongues, huh? Indian sounds, huh? It all just sounds amazing and I can't wait to hear what YOU do with it.
I'll check out these web sites and Org note you when I have a little time to absorb this.

I used to live in Phoenix and I do not miss that heat (just like they do not miss the snow) but the pictures don't tell me enough of the story.

Vina that sounds beautiful and awesome. It's good to see you pursuing this, and even better that you're sharing. Thanks.

otan said:

Wow, I got some attention from Mr.Beauton!!!

I've got sooooo much to share about this experience... a really long blog is coming soon, if you're up for it.

NikkiH said:

He also does traditional Indian vocals which are outstanding... I want soooo badly to learn that. The Ali Akbar Khan College of music ( www.aacm.org ) offers vocal instruction, but I'm going to see if I can find something here in San Diego. I did find a Sitar/Tabla ensemble class at UCSD. I want to learn tablas!




I also want to play the harmonium.

Slave2daGroove said:

Re: speaking in tongues. It was very minor... but it gave me a sense that if I continued singing these chants it would develop more. Plus, the thing is, I don't know if I could do it yet in my songs. The thing about Kirtan is that you kinda get into a trance, because you are invoking the Gods and Goddess you are chanting. The names are said to hold their very essence. I would pretty much go into an active meditation during each Kirtan we sang.

I was also singing in a voice that was much more natural to me, in the range of my speaking voice... yet I never sang in it before. I always sang too high and would strain myself. In this way, the Kirtan chanting was a good vocal exercise to find what felt comfortable and get to know my voice better. When you have to learn a song in a voice class, like a showtune for example- or even when you sing your own songs, it's like you have to be conscious of the words, the pronunciation, the diction, etc. When you're chanting the same line over and over you can focus on just your voice.

Keep in mind that when I would record a song at home, doing several takes for a few hours, I would be sore the next day. The Kirtan workshop went from 6-9pm on Friday night and 9am-4pm on Saturday, plus there was a concert on Saturday night from 7-9pm which we participated in. I was a teeny bit sore on Sunday morning... I was also getting more volume out of myself... all this with hardly any effort... It's truly amazing. So my mission now is to find a good Kirtan here and go at least once a week if not more. There are a few places. And if I don't find the ideal one, I'm going to start my own.

Re: pictures. I was so absorbed in the experience I didn't take any pictures until the final Kirtan we sang. I mostly had my eyes closed for all the kirtans we sang, which is why a lot of them turned into meditations for me and I was able to really focus on my voice: how it felt, how it sounded, I did harmonies, etc. During the final Kirtan there was such great energy in the room. It was really joyous. Some girls got up to dance in the back of the room... Grateful Dead style, lol.

OMG OMG OMG

I just found a Hindustani Vocal teacher here in San Diego. http://www.classicaleast.com/index.htm

I just sent her an email.

Very cool, I'm glad you had a positive experience!

This goes to show anyone out there that religion and spirituality can be peaceful and beneficial to a person's soul and nature. I am very happy that Vina is trying to find inner peace and harmony. Many people these days are more focused on destroying themselves instead of helping themselves and helping others. I am glad that Vina is taking the high road.

Talk you you soon!

Your friend,
Jason

Now!!!!!


This is where it's at----period!




jshua

co-sign!

1.618

I haven't heard from Jai yet... (He said he'd check out my music.) But I was trying to find out if his band is going to play any shows in Southern California anytime soon. There is a show in 2 weeks in San Francisco that I was thinking of going to. Crazy, I know, but I love this music sooooo much! I've been listening to these two albums non-stop since the workshop: Beggars and Saints: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/juatplo1 and Shiva Station: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/juatplo4 Awesome jazz/Indian fusion.

Anywho, I emailed the company that does their booking to inquire if the Pagan Love Orchestra is going to play live in Los Angeles anytime soon. They said a stripped down version of the band will play LA in October... I want to see the full band, so I decided to email the tabla player that was at the workshop and he just emailed me back! He said a version of the band will possibly be playing in October... So that REALLY makes me wanna go see them in SF. I'll probably go to the LA show too though...
I'm

Saturday, 06/25/05
JAI UTTAL & THE PAGAN LOVE ORCHESTRA

One of the most spectacular and intriguing of Bay Area music ensembles, Jai Uttal’s Pagan Love Orchestra is also the only Hindu jam band around, with reggae bass, hip-hop drums, rock guitar, jazz trombone, Indian tablas, harmonium and flute, and a small choir of voices, in a spiritual quest through the music. In addition to performing with the Pagan Love Orchestra, Uttal more deeply explored kirtan chanting and traveled extensively.


The current Pagan Love Orchestra plays Uttal’s compositions from throughout his career, with more space now for jamming in what Uttal calls “world spirit music.” Given Uttal’s background, it makes sense spiritually and musically. He came to attention with the revival of Peter Apfelbaum’s Hieroglyphics Ensemble in the ‘80s, a big band that played African rhythms under wild group improvisation on the leader’s brilliant charts. Uttal played electric guitar and harmonium, adding the Indian stringed instrument the dotar. Members of Hieroglyphics and their friends formed the nucleus of his own Pagan Love Orchestra, issuing a half dozen CDs, including the Grammy Award-nominated “Mondo Rama.” This concert features the full PLO, with Uttal joined by electric bassist Keith McArthur, drummer Deszon Claiborne, Daniel Paul on tablas and vocals, trombone wizard Marty Wehner, keyboardist-guitarist-singer Ben Leinbach, bansuri player Manose, and vocalists Tina Malia and Sasha Butterfly. If Uttal achieves his goal, everyone will be spiritually uplifted. “It should be fun,” he adds.


www.jaiuttal.com

ok,

can I say.....



now or should I wait?



jshua

Heck, I'm wootin' already! I got Jai's e-newsletter today and here is the press release about the show:

The latest incarnation in Jai Uttal's creative endeavor into what has been called "World Spirit Music", 'The Pagan Love Orchestra/Kirtan Love Experience' weaves together the many facets of Jai's musical journey into one transcendent devotional event. Combining the cutting edge rhythmic and compositional style of the 'Pagan Love Orchestra' with the intensely meditative and invocational mood of his kirtans, 'The Pagan Love Orchestra/Kirtan Love Experience' invites audiences to sing and dance in a new form of ritual offering to the gods within and without. With reggae bass, hip-hop drums, rock guitar, jazz trombone, Indian tablas, harmonium and flute, and a small choir of voices, 'The Pagan Love Orchestra/Kirtan Love Experience' bridges the individual and the eternal as Jai explores ancient chant in a contemporary context.

I got my tickets and a friend to drive up with me. Daniel Paul, the tabla player said to make sure I introduce myself to him next time I see him. (I didn't get to speak with him personally in Phoenix.) So I emailed back and said "Don't know how I'll be able to introduce myself this time around... Hopefully I'll be smiling at you from the front row...


He emailed back and said:
"You better just wear a little name tag or sumpthin...
I'm off to Esalen manana...
hope to see ya at Ashkanaz..
D."

This next week they are going to be at Esalen for a yoga festival. I was originally going to go to that, but it was filled up so I went to Phoenix instead. If you guys remember I went to Esalen last year for that Vocal Awareness Seminar. Anywho... now I HAVE to go to the San Francisco show... Daniel is expecting me...



This is sooooo gonna kick ass! I'm gonna try to take pictures.

Here are some pics from a performance earlier this year: http://www.jaiuttal.com/p...005&page=1

Most of the pics are of his wife dancing, but you can see the band members in some shots.

Please keep me posted!



jshua

I just read your thread Vina. It's great you're doing so much to explore and improve your voice. Daniel Paul recorded some early albums with Jai Ma Music, the group I told you about led by my teacher. I have a friend in LA, Girish Gambhira, who also plays tablas, records and performs all over the place. Anyway, I'll try to find someone to go to the show with me other than my boyfriend, because he'll think it's wierd.

heartbeatocean said:

You can go with us!

I get to meet VinaBlue...!

heartbeatocean said:

I get to meet Heartbeatocean!!!!

See you Saturday! I'm sooooo excited!!!

The show is gonna be sooooo great.