Light of Consciousness Magazine Music Review: Liberation’s Door Review

Light of Consciousness - August 2009

Liberation’s Door

by Snatam Kaur

CD: 73 Min

Snatam Kaur’s spirit and radiant voice shine in this new release of Gurmukhi mantras, Shabds (traditional Sikh prayers put to music), and sweet devotional songs.  The words of Guru Arjan blend gracefully with the Prayer of St. Francis of Assissi in Servant of Peace.  Liberation’s Door, a lofty chant about faith, is composed from teh words of Guru Nanak.  Crimson, from teh words of Guru Ram Das, is the only solely English track in these primarily Punjabi songs.  Mother’s Blessing, delightfully sung by Snatam Kaur in Spanish, is translated from the words of Bibi Bani, wife of Guru Ram Das.  Richly layered instrumentation throughout includes guitars, keyboards, sarod, santoor, flute, sax, esraj, tabla, cello and percussion.  Snatam Kaur pours her heart and soul into this offering that will captivate you with its sublime beauty.

Snatam Kaur’s ‘Charan Sat Sat’ from Sukhmani Sahib on New Album, Liberation’s Door

In continuation of my interview with Snatam about her upcoming release, Liberation’s Door, she talked to me about an incredible experience she had in the studio while recording the vocals for the track Charan Sat Sat.  In listening to Snatam speak, I realized the depth of devotion and meditation that she experiences with her music, and I am just beginning to understand why so many people are so deeply touched by her music – because it comes from such a pure place within her that is transmitted to you as you listen.

Karan: Can you tell me where the chant ‘Charan Sat Sat’ comes from?

Snatam Kaur during her visit to record 'Liberation's Door'

Snatam:

The words are taken from Sukhmani Sahib which is a beautiful prayer written by Guru Arjan Dev.  Guru Arjan was an amazing poet and teacher.  He gave his life standing up for religious freedom during the reign of emperor Aurangzab by not bowing down to change his faith.  He was tortured and killed for keeping his faith.  I had always known this story and was inspired by it. 

When I was recording this track, I was trying to get into a deep space so I could sing from the purest place possible.  Each time I sang it,  I would go deeper and deeper, trying to connect with the words but also trying to connect to the life growing in my womb so my baby’s soul could be there and present with it too, since she was a part of me and a part of the process of recording the music. 

As I was chanting, I suddenly felt this shift in the space around me and had this experience of being taken to see what it was like for Guru Arjan when he was on his way to the Emperor’s Palace to face his death.  I was literally transported to that place and time – I found myself as one of the disciples carrying Guru Arjan along the road to the palace, and I knew that we were all walking to our deaths.  As I was experiencing that, I kept chanting and everyone with me was chanting.  With each chant, we knew that victory was in the power of Guru Arjan’s sacred words.  We knew that the prayer we were singing would live well beyond us.  With each recitation, we chanted more powerfully because these words were our only defense.  We felt carried forward in knowing that these words would ring through the planet through time and space for all to hear it. 

Then suddenly, I realized I was not only marching towards my own death, but also the child in my womb.  I became very emotional at that point feeling my child did not have a choice in the matter.  Then I felt this soothing presence that I recognized as the soul of my child or some wise soul telling me that my child had already given herself to the guru and was making that choice for herself.  It was a really emotional moment, but I kept singing through it.

It was a beautiful experience for me to tune into that time of Guru Arjan, because I have always known the stories, but that kind of intensity of what it must have been like to fearlessly go towards your death while having the strength of the sound current carry you there was really powerful.  Guru Arjan’s mission was to bring forward the sound current as the teacher that we show our reverence to.

Karan: What did you take with you from that experience?

Snatam: I really felt how strong the words and the sacred sound current are – even more powerful than weapons or swords. 

—————————————————————————

Listen to Charan Sat Sat 

See the entire album: Liberation’s Door

- Karan

Snatam Kaur’s Spanish Offering: Mother’s Blessing – La Bendición De Tu Madre

On Snatam Kaur’s upcoming release, Liberation’s Door, she decided to stretch her offering and took the daring step of recording a track in Spanish.  The track turned out to be an epic track.  It is translated into Spanish and English from a poem that is a prayer written in the 16th century by Bibi Bani who was the wife of Guru Ram Das and mother of Guru Arjun Dev.

Listen to a Sound Clip Here:

 Mother’s Blessing 

I sat down with Snatam and asked her about recording this track.  Here’s what she said:

Karan: What inspired you to record this particular track?

Snatam and Sopurkh - 6 months pregnant

Snatam: During my pregnancy, I was reciting the words to this shabd 11 times per day to pray for the baby in my womb, and I was really inspired to hear it with other mothers.  I wanted to share the experience I had with this shabd.  While I was pregnant, every day people would ask me things like if I had gotten a stroller yet, or a crib, or if my nursery was set up yet.  People were always asking me if I had gotten all of the physical things I needed.  But I’m just not a planner or a “things” person – I don’t really relate to “stuff”.  To me, the most important thing was that I connected with my child energetically, so I was reciting the shabd in English and Gurmukhi and started getting deeper into  the meaning of it, and it really inspired me.  It says “May your clothing be the protection of God and your food be the singing of God’s praise .”  It really helped me prioritize and relax about the material things, and I really felt like the right thing to do was to pray for the soul of the baby coming in.  As a mom, I realized that would be my most important job.  After reciting just the words for a while, I sat down one day and came up with the tune we used in this piece and I knew I wanted to record it.

Karan: Why did you decide to translate it into Spanish?

Snatam with her daughter Jap Preet Kaur

Snatam:  I had been really wanting to sing something in Spanish for a while, and the tune I wrote for this piece inspired me to find out the Spanish lyrics.  My friend translated it in such a beautiful way, and the words ended up fitting so beautifully with the tune, I knew it was meant to be.  Over the years, I have received so much love, so many e-mails and letters from Spanish speakers and I wanted to give a gift to them and that’s how it all came about.

—–

So, here are the words from the shabd in both English and Spanish:

Track 4:  Mother’s Blessing – La Bendición De Tu Madre
Words of Bibi Bani, wife of Guru Ram Das the Fourth Guru of the Sikhs

Retoño mio, esta es la bendición de tu madre.
Oh my child this is your mother’s blessing.

Nunca olvides a Dios, ni un momento
May you never forget God, even for a moment

Adorando, por siempre, al Señor del Universo
Worshipping forever the Lord of the universe.

Recordando a Dios, todos los errores son purificados.
Remembering God, all mistakes are washed away.

Y todos nuestros ancestros son acogidos y salvados.
And one’s ancestors are redeemed and saved.

Siempre canta el nombre de Dios, Har Har
Always chant God’s Name, Har Har

Dios esta en tu interior, Dios es infinito.
God is inside you, God is Infinite.

Que el Verdadero Guru te sea amable
May the True Guru be kind to you

Que ames estar en compañía de santos.
May you love to be with the Saints.

Que tu prenda de vestir sea la protección de Dios
May your clothing be the protection of God

Que tu sustento sea el canto de la alabanza de Dios.
May your food be the singing of God’s Praise.

Bebe el néctar del nombre de Dios, y vive una larga vida
Drink the nectar of God’s Name and live long

Que la meditación en Dios te traiga dicha incesante
May meditation on God bring you endless bliss.

Que el amor sea tuyo propio y tus deseos se cumplan
May love be yours and your hopes fulfilled

Que la preocupación nunca te consuma.
May you never be worn by worry.

Haz de tu mente el abejorro
Let this mind of yours be the bumble bee

Y que los pies de loto de Dios sean la flor.
And let the Lotus Feet of God be the flower.

Oh sirviente Nanak, ata tu mente de esta manera
Oh Servant Nanak, link your mind in this way

Como el gavilán encuentra la gota de lluvia, y prospera.
Like the sparrow hawk finding a raindrop, blossom forth.

See More about Snatam’s New Release Mother’s Blessing – Release Date: June 18th

- Karan

Snatam’s Upcoming Album: Liberation’s Door

So, it’s been 2 years since Snatam released her last major release album, Anand.  After Anand, she spent a good amount of time touring.  We then released  Snatam Kaur Live in Concert and she continued touring.  During her tour, she discovered the wonderful news that she was pregnant.  She was very busy during her pregnancy!  She recorded and released a children’s yoga DVD, Shanti the Yogi, and a chilren’s CD, Feeling Good Today!   But then she needed to start to slow down a bit as her pregnacy moved forward,  and during that time she began to work with GuruGanesha on a new album.  This album has all of those amazing creative juices that race through the body during pregnancy infused into every note.

Snatam finished recording right after Jap Preet’s (her daughter’s) 40-days were done.  But after she finished her part of the process, that’s when the rest of us really kick into gear to make it ready to share with the world.

Snatam's New Release "Liberation's Door"

Thomas Barquee, the incredible producer, brought in musicians from LA to Calcutta to create the perfect support for Snatam’s vocals.  GuruGanesha, whose guitar and vocal accompaniment is so much beloved on Snatam’s tour and all of her live music, added his special spark to this music, taking part in both writing the music and recording vocals and guitar on the album.  Sopurkh, Snatam’s husband and an extremely talented graphic designer worked with Snatam to create this beautiful album cover. 

We will have this album ready in time for Summer Solstice , but stay tuned  you’ll get to hear sneak peeks here over the next few weeks!  And I promise, you will be awestruck!

You Can Pre-Order the Album Now for Shipping as soon as it arrives (our stated release date is June 18th, but we are trying to get them in as early as the 8th, so if you pre-order, you’ll get the first ones out the door)

Click Here to Pre-Order Now!

As Promised, we have the first sound clips – take a listen!!

Track 2: Liberation’s Door (Mokh Duaar) 

Track 8: Ardas Bhaee 

- Karan

A Spiritual Practice

(I read this great article on www.grammy.com about Kirtan – they interviewed GuruGanesha for the article.  Very cool!  Check it out!  – Karan)

Yoga’s music movement is gaining popularity while broadening horizons and sales

This article taken from GRAMMY.com
Alan di Perna

While many sectors of the music industry are learning to live with decreased sales and diminished expectations, one niche music market that’s remarkably robust is the growing yoga/chant genre. The expanding popularity of this genre is directly tied to the explosion of hatha yoga over the past decade, with yoga studios springing up in a number of cities across the United States and Europe.

“It’s part of a whole cultural movement that includes yoga, meditation, devotional chanting, and ayurveda [traditional Indian medicine],” says Bette Timm, head of alternative music retail promotion company Bette Timm Marketing.

As a product of the yoga and spirituality boom, leading chant artists such as Krishna Das and Deva Premal are enjoying album and concert sales rivaling artists in more mainstream genres.

Deva Premal

“Deva Premal has sold, between her four albums, over 750,000 units, which is not something to sneeze at in anybody’s world,” says Parmita Pushman, owner of White Swan Records, the label that released Premal’s second album in 2001. “The highest-selling Deva Premal album is her first one [on White Swan], The Essence, which at this point has sold about 300,000 units. And I imagine Krishna Das is up in the same numbers. With all the problems in the music industry, and with so many segments of the industry going down, this is one market that has been immune to that.”

The music performed by these artists is largely based on kirtan, an ancient Indian form of rhythmic call-and-response devotional chanting that creates an ecstatically meditative mood. While the paradigm is ancient and South Asian, some of the genre’s top performers express the mantras while drawing upon other musical styles. Das sticks close to the Indian tradition and also incorporates the harmonium, African percussion and electronic influences, while Premal employs ambient New Age style synths in her music. Jai Uttal, a GRAMMY-nominated kirtan artist, explores Brazilian rhythms on his latest album, Thunder Love, and MC Yogi has created a sensation by setting mantras to hip-hop grooves on his debut album, Elephant Power.

With the genre infusing a variety of musical textures, the audience has reflected both baby boomers and a younger demographic. “I go to a concert by Krishna Das or Deva Premal and half the audience is the older spiritual crowd,” says Terry McBride of NuTone Music, a label specializing in the yoga/chant genre. “But the other half are people who have heard this music in a yoga studio and they’re all 25 to 40 and about 80 percent female.”

Yoga studios are an important component to the genre. “When my partner and I started White Swan in 1991, yoga studios weren’t really playing music,” says Pushman. “Yoga teachers have become the radio stations for this music. They’re the DJs. And that provides a vital way to reach listeners, which is one thing that more mainstream labels lack these days.”

Yoga/chant CDs are also sold at other non-traditional outlets such as New Age stores and gift shops at meditation or spiritual centers. “The problem is that a lot of the sales don’t go through [Nielsen] SoundScan,” says Pushman. “So they get short shrift on the music industry’s radar.” And while digital sales are up across genres worldwide, CDs are still a major focus for the yoga/chant genre. “People aren’t buying the music for one song they love, but rather for an experience that fits their life, such as a yoga class or meditation,” says Pushman. “So they tend to buy whole albums and they tend to actually like buying CDs.”

Compared with pop music, “kirtan music clearly has a longer shelf life,” adds GuruGanesha Singh, founder of the Spirit Voyage label and manager of Spirit Voyage’s flagship artist Snatam Kaur. “As an artist like Snatam Kaur gets embraced by more and more people around the world, they’re going back and buying the whole discography. It’s not likely to go in and out of style.”

Live performance also plays a key role in CD sales. “I really see a huge difference between the artists who are touring and the ones who aren’t,” says Timm. “It’s really hard to sell CDs if an artist is not touring. Whereas those who are out touring consistently and have been doing it for a while are doing great.”

“We’re seeing consistent increases in attendance at concerts, especially over the last eight to 10 years,” says Singh. “We’ve been averaging audiences of maybe 300 to 400 in the U.S., 400 to 600 in Canada and 600 to 1,000 or more in Europe.”

The involvement of Nutone Music’s Terry McBride is a development that may help catapult the genre to a new level. As CEO of Nettwerk Music Group, architect of Lilith Fair and an instrumental force in launching the careers of artists such as Sarah McLachlan and Barenaked Ladies, McBride began attending yoga classes a few years back and became an avid yoga practitioner. He revived Nettwerk’s defunct world music imprint NuTone in 2008 as a new outlet for yoga/chant music, signing artists such as Bhagavan Das, Donna De Lory, Wade Imre Morissette, David Newman, Uttal, and Wah!

“What I see missing and what I’m going to work on over the next couple of years is a more mainstream touring circuit for this music,” says McBride. “We’re going to market this music in ways that it hasn’t been marketed yet.”

Perhaps his most adventurous plan is to create a Lilith Fair-style festival based around mantra music, yoga and wellness. “The initial thought for this would be sort of a half-day festival, like from noon till 10 at night,” he says. “It would combine spiritual music — someone like Krishna Das or Deva [Premal] — with a more mainstream musical artist like Michael Franti. And that would be combined with sessions led by some of the more well-known yoga teachers. The whole thing would be something that resonates with what today’s society is looking for, because there will be a lot of people coming to these events searching for something. And I’d love for them to find it.”

For all the artists involved, kirtan is a spiritual practice first, and a profession second. Newcomers should realize that it is by no means a fast track to stardom.

“Unfortunately some people do try to get on the bandwagon,” says Timm, “but it’s not really what’s in their hearts so it doesn’t have the right essence. But I think the music itself tends to weed those people out.”

So while the market for this genre will continue to grow in the future, it will most likely do so on its own terms. “You can’t force a flower to bloom any faster than it’s going to bloom,” says Singh. “It feels to me that this genre will grow at a slow and steady pace, like a good spiritual practice. We’re in it for the long term.”

(Alan di Perna has been writing about music for more than 20 years and is currently west coast editor of Guitar World magazine.)

Joy is Now Review – Yoga Journal May 2009

GuruGanesha’s latest release, Joy is Now, is an incredible album, and I was so excited to see the review in the most recent issue of yoga journal. 

Here is the review:

Joy is Now by GuruGanesha Singh and Snatam Kaur:

GuruGanesha Singh is best known as the guitarist for Sikh chant singer Snatam Kaur.  But on Joy is Now, GuruGanesha steps into the spotlight with a set of kirtan compositions that showcase his lyrical guitar playing and relaxed singing style.  On most tracks he alternates lead vocal lines with Snatam, an exchange that creates a winning contrast.  The compositions also leave ample space for improvisation.  Instruments like sitars, sarods, flutes, esrajs, and violins dapple the music with traditional Indian tonalities that twine with GuruGanesha’s guitar.

The songs are varied in mood and style.  “Peace Has Begun” is jazzy, while the title track is a study in blissful acoustic psychedelia that wouldn’t have been out of place on a late ’60s album by GuruGanesha’s longtime heroes, the Grateful Dead.  the final two selections, “Sat Narayan” and “Guru Ram Das Love Song,” are more vocally driven and closer in style to Snatam’s own albums.  On Joy is Now, GuruGanesha and Snatam offer an agreeable blend o fthe new and the familiar in teh world of kirtan, taking you deep into the quiet hear of devotion and meditative awareness. 

- Reviewed by Alan di Perna

 

Listen to Sound Clips from this album here:

Song Title	Length
1. Peace Has Begun	–
2. Hari Om	–
3. Joy is Now	–
4. Aad Sach	–
5. Sat Narayan	–
6. Guru Ram Das Love Song	–

Click Here for More Information and to Purchase the Album

A Night of Pure Joy!

GuruGanesha with his band including Nirinjan Kaur, Arvind and Sat Kartar Singh

On Saturday night, GuruGanesha Singh’s Joy is Now Tour was here in Vienna, Virginia, and what a treat!! It was non-stop fun.  GuruGanesha has assembled quite a group of extraordinarily talented people on this tour, and it made for such a full experience, I could have stayed for hours longer!  I had my video camera with me, so I have posted clips on youtube from the evening.  The quality isn’t the best, but I really wanted to share the experience!

The evening started with a dance by Jai Khalsa.  Jai has studied Classical Indian dance in South India from renowned dance teacher C. Radha Krishna and continued her studies in the US under dance instructor and well-known performer Christel Stevens.  She has performed all across the country and is now mesmerizing GuruGanesha’s audiences with her incredible talent.  Here is a video clip of her opening dance:

And the music….it was incredible.  I found myself completely awestruck by the guitar – having the guitar so centrally presented made this concert as much about the instrumentals as the vocals to wonderful effect.  I looked around and saw people just mesmerized by the guitar.    During the Siri Wahe Guru track from Joy is Now, Jai danced again to the instrumental sections, and the combination of Jai’s dance and GuruGanesha’s guitar was so amazing.  See the clip:

There was some really soulful, lively music.  They did a gospely, Grateful Dead-like version of a song called Bright Star that was great fun!!  See the clip:

They also brought this great flavor to the Hari Om track, with Nirinjan taking off into the ethers with her improv vocals.  See the clip:

Nirinjan shared a song that she introduced as her favorite English song called “I Am the Light of the Soul.”  Her voice is so pure and rich.  See the clip:

It’s hard to really get the amazing experience of this concert through the clips – the sound quality is a bit iffy, but I thought I’d share them just the same.  What you don’t see here is the incredibly powerful connection with the musicians you get sitting in the audience.  GuruGanesha’s stories were extremely powerful – while being wildly hilarious at times, I felt that they really helped the audience get a great window into the history of 3HO, the stories behind GuruGanesha’s evolution into the musician he is today, and some profound world-views. 

I would urge anyone and everyone to go to this  concert when it comes to their town.  It’s an experience not t be missed.

 

Here are the rest of the dates on the tour:

Winston-Salem, North Carolina   – November 11

Mt Pleasant, South Carolina – November 12

Altamonte Springs, Florida – November 14

Atlanta, Georgia - November 16 

Asheville, North Carolina – November 18

Baltimore, Maryland – November 21

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – November 22

 

Click Here to Purchase Tickets

 

There are also some GREAT clips by other people who have attended the concerts.

This page has clips from the concert in Vermont: http://www.youtube.com/user/ThinkBachs 

 

 

And here we are after the concert!

Hargobind, GuruGanesha and me (Karan) after the concert

Nirinjan Kaur – A Voice Full of Love on Tour with GuruGanesha Singh

Nirinjan Kaur Khalsa is joining GuruGanesha Singh’s Joy is Now tour, and what an incredible addition to this upcoming tour.  One of the great perks of my job is getting to see some of the behind the scenes work that our musicians do.  Yesterday, I went to the final day of rehearsal before the band jumped on their tour bus to head up to Toronto for tonight’s first concert on the tour.  They set up their entire sound system in the Sterling Yoga Center, so i felt like they were playing a concert just for me, and it was truly pure joy in the here and now! 

I had never heard Nirinjan sing in person before, and as they opened their first song, Ong Namo, I felt the sweetest love just pour right into me – she has an unbelievable range, her voice flowing from low harmonies all the way up the scale to angelic frequencies.  The entire set was amazing, with GuruGanesha and Nirinjan singing in a call-response style throughout the set, and GuruGanesha’s guitar just genius carrying right along with their incredible vocal interplay.  (Sometimes the eloquence of GuruGanesha’s guitar makes my jaw drop – it’s like living, breathing art flowing from his fingers into the air and right up your spine.)

So, I got a chance to ask Nirinjan some questions about herself and this upcoming tour.  Here they are:

Nirinjan playing guitar

Karan: How long have you been singing?  What do you like about singing, chanting, and playing music? 

Nirinjan: Well, since I was born I’ve been surrounded by sacred music. Chanting, Meditations, classical indian music…  My mother sings sacred music (she has made a few albums), and my father is a music producer. I’ve always loved singing, as long as I can remember! When I was little, I used to love singing in the car with windows open and the music turned up super loud. I remember wanting the music so loud that I couldn’t hear myself sing… so that I just felt surrounded by it.

Nirinjan: When I was around thirteen, I took Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training, and got really into practicing yoga. More than anything else, Kundalini Yoga opened my awareness so that I could experience the divine. Singing and chanting just came naturally out of that. I love singing because it’s like calling on God, being with God, connected to everything… it’s where nothing is good or bad, just perfect. Love.

(Nirinjan’s mother is Guru Raj Kaur, an amazing musician who lives in Vancouver.  Her music is known and loved around the globe.  She has released two CDs, The Narayan Shabd and Japji: Song of the Soul)

Karan: Did you study music formally?  Can you tell us about it?

Nirinjan: When I was a little girl, I took piano lessons for about six years, which provided an excellent foundation in western music. My father then taught me some simple guitar when I was a little older. In the way of vocal training, I studied formally a little bit while I was going to school in India. There is a teacher there who is a master of Raag (the technology of classical indian music). He is a phenominal musician and vocalist. It’s hard to put into words specifically what I learned from him; only that my relationship to music changed, and my awareness expanded. I got so much from him just by osmosis…by sitting with him…listening. As if I just absorbed the music and technique into myself, instead of learning it through my mind, like I do most things. It’s important for me to say though, that the world of Raag is so vast and deep, people spend years and years studying it full time to really be good at it, and still, there is always more to learn. I really only learned a tiny bit of raag, but that tiny bit took my experience of music and singing to a whole other level of feeling music and hearing it. I am so grateful for the little bit I was able to learn from him.

Karan: What would people be surprised to know about you?

Nirinjan: Surprised? I don’t know what would really surprise people these days! Hmm…well, I was born three months early, I guess that’s pretty unusual. I spent the first three months of my life in a little life support box…! During that time, my mom put a little tape player in there and played Gurbani (Sacred Sikh music) for me all the time. I like to think that played a part in my love for Sikhism, and helped me have a very personal relationship to it through the sound current.

I also really love dogs, and would adopt the whole darn animal shelter if I could! I have a little black mini schnauzer at home named Baalu, who I love to train to do funny tricks. If you ever want to make me relax and feel happy, let me hang out with a dog.

Karan: How does music play into your spiritual beliefs and practices?

Nirinjan Kaur Khalsa

Nirinjan: In Sikhism we believe that our Guru is the sacred sound current. A line in our sacred scripture reads “Bani Guru, Guru hai bani, vich bani, amrit sare”. This means “the sound current is my Guru, my Guru is the sacred sound, through the sacred word, the nectar of bliss is found.” in almost all of our practices as Sikhs (which means “students”), we are constantly chanting and singing to the divine. Our whole sacred scripture is full of songs called “shabds”. These are all essentially love songs to God, to the divine. So music fits pretty perfectly into my spiritual practice!

 

Karan: What are you most excited about in this upcoming tour?

Nirinjan: Well this is going to be the most I’ve ever sung in a five weeks period I think! It will be an amazing experience to sing that much! It will also be very educational singing with a whoe band of proffesional musicians. A tour is such a big deal…I’m pretty much just excited for whatever happens!

Nirinjan has released two CDs on her own, and this summer she released a new album, Healing the Wounds of Love, which will be available for the first time online in early November.

Here are her CDs:

 

To see when the Joy is Now tour is coming to your area, CLICK HERE

Jai Khalsa – Dance Enchantress

Jai in her dance costume

There is something magical that happens when you see Jai dance – something joyful and expansive, and so there is a perfect synchronicity in the fact that she will be joining the Joy is Now Tour with GuruGanesha Singh.  Jai is one of those people whose step always has an extra bounce, whose eyes always twinkle with a hidden light, and whose smile takes you over. 

Jai will open each night of the tour with her spellbinding dance “The Birth of Joy”; referencing classical Indian dance in a way that is simultaneously ancient Eastern and contemporary Western.

I’ve known Jai for many years.  In fact, we lived in Bangalore, India at the same time when she was undergoing some of her dance training - I can remember seeing her practicing her dance in this beautiful outdoor pagoda, looking just like on of Krishna’s gopis.  I sat down with her recently to get her to share a little bit of the magic that she is.

Karan: How long have you been dancing? What do you like about dance?

Jai on Stage

Jai: You know, I feel like I’ve been dancing my whole life. It’s just always felt so natural, so innate, like breathing. What I like about it is the way it makes me feel. It opens up my eyes, my heart, my soul. My mother tells me that she can see my soul when I dance. It took me a while to understand what she meant, but I do now, and on a very deep level. Dancing feeds my soul, and in doing so, it unlocks the essence of who I truly am. Not to mention the immense gratitude it allows me to feel for my physical body as I discover what it is capable of doing. That amazes me every time I work in the studio or finish a performance.

Karan: Can you tell us about your formal dance training?

Jai: After graduating high school, I spent a year in the south of India soaking up the teachings of a Bharatha Natyam master by the name of C. Radha Krishna. He was so wonderful. I still have absolutely no idea how this little man in his seventies – who walked with a cane and taught all of his classes from a chair at the front of the room – managed to impart so much wisdom and crystal clarity about movement, energy, fluidity and precision. It’s incredible. I know that in his heyday he was given the title “The Gem of Dance”, so I can imagine he was really spectacular to watch, and I would have loved to see him perform. But I was fortunate to get to learn from him for that short time.

Jai performing in Washington, DC

When I returned to the States, I began studying with another gem of a person, a wonderful woman named Christel Stevens. She had been a student of the dance program at Kalakshetra, a unique and magnificent spiritual village in Chennai dedicated to a holistic training in the different ancient arts of India. I spent 5 years in her Bharatha Natyam classes in Virginia and performing with a troupe called The Megha Shakti Dancers at festivals and events all over DC, Maryland, and Virginia, and stepped out for some solo work in New York as well.

Karan: How did you get involved in the Joy is Now tour?

Jai at Summer Solstice

Jai: Cosmically. I can’t explain this very divine alignment any other way. In June, I performed at the International Peace Prayer Day celebration in New Mexico. In the days that followed my performance, I was approached by several yoga teachers and a concert producer who expressed an interest in having me come perform at their centers and venues. Then one day I got a call from GuruGanesha saying that Mahan Rishi Singh – who is producing the New Jersey and Pennsylvania concerts – had suggested inviting me to perform at his two venues. And somewhere between that seed having been planted and getting me on the phone, GuruGanesha had decided to invite me to be a part of the entire 5 weeks! In my heart, I immediately said “yes!”

And I’m so excited to be joining the tour. The message of this concert series is one I believe in very strongly, one I’m eager to help share. And my fellow “messengers” are some of my favorite people on the planet.

Karan: What would people be surprised to know about you?

Jai: I’m not really sure. Perhaps that I have an irrational fear of dinosaurs? Even I find that surprising!….. and I can’t believe I just shared it!

Karan and Jai in 2006

Karan: What are you most excited about in this upcoming tour?

Jai: Honestly? Everything. No exaggeration. I’m excited about going to places familiar and unfamiliar (Canada is at the top of that list!) with friends and family whom I adore, doing something that I truly love to do, and meeting as many magnificent people along the way as I can possibly meet. Just talking about it makes me joyful! If that’s not cosmic perfection, I don’t know what is.

About Jai:  A graduate of Yogi Bhajan’s foreign education program in India, and a member of the yogic community from her very first breath, Jai Khalsa has been surrounded by devotional music of the far East for as long as she can remember. While still a student overseas, she began to recognize the dancer in herself; percussion was her heartbeat, and the sounds of the sitar pulled at her heartstrings in a way nothing had ever done before. She knows now that her soul has been filled with this music for far longer than her own lifetime. She studied Classical Indian dance for a number of years before embarking on the journey that has led her to the creative expression she is now exploring. Her inspiration comes from Yogiji’s teachings, and is set to music ranging from ancient to contemporary, Eastern to Western, The Beatles to Bjork to Tabla Beat Science. Jai sets her body in motion across the floor in the same way a writer sets his or her pen in motion across the page, and with the same intention: to tell the stories that live within.

Click Here to see when the Joy is Now Tour is coming to your area

Feeling Good Today Pizza Party with Snatam Kaur

Taken from Snatam’s Blog: http://snatamkaur.blogspot.com/

Recently we went to LA to record for our new (as of yet to be named) album which is planned for release in May. This gave us the opportunity to meet the very talented and beautiful children who sang on our new CD for children called “Feeling Good Today”… to be released in just a few weeks!!! Krishan, our producer, recorded all of the children out of his studio while we were on tour. I actually didn’t know most of the kids before the recording. We reached out to the Kundalini Yoga and Sikh community in LA, and were blessed to find these kids! When Krishan sent us the first mixes and I got to hear the children sing, I was really struck by the joy and purity in their voices which gives the album so much life and love!! So the pizza party was an opportunity to meet them in person, and in some small way say thank you to the kids and their parents. Not all of the kids could make it however. So, here are some of our stars.
From left to right, bottom row of kids: Siri Guru Dev, Antonia, Cynthia
From left to right, top row of adults: Simran and Guru Prem (Siri Guru Dev’s parents), Anabela (Antonia’s mom), Sarah (Cynthia’s mom), yours truly, Krishan (our producer)

Our goofy shot… you gotta have at least one of those, right?

From left to right: Angelo, Leo, yours truly, and Antonia

Here are some more pictures of our time in LA.

While in LA, we got to stay a few doors down from Guru Ram Das Ashram, where I have for many years received musical and spiritual inspiration. This year was very beautiful. Not only did I feel the presence of God in this sacred place, but felt like I was bringing our baby in womb to be blessed. Here’s a picture of Guru Ram Das ashram, one of my favorite views, that often comes to me in meditations. If you ever want to visit the address is 1644 Preuss Rd in West Los Angeles, and the phone is 310-858-7691… someone always answers.

Here’s a picture of GuruGanesha recording his beautiful guitar. Yes, for all of those GuruGanesha fans out there… we are blessed to have the warmth and joy of his guitar and voice on the yet to be named album. We could call it “To be Named”. How about that? And by the way, if you live on the East Coast of the US and Canada, he’ll be on tour with an incredible band in just a few weeks. Check out www.spiritvoyage.com for more details!

Thomas, who is producing “To be Named”, is seen here talking to GuruGanesha, as GuruGanesha is recording in the sound booth the next room over.

Here I am singing, with the soul of my baby in womb very present. Sometimes there would be little kicks and movements, and other times just a pure feeling of presence, confidence, purity and love. I am grateful to this beautiful soul who chose us at this time.

- Snatam Kaur