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Rutgers University Loves Kirtan

rasa.acharya — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:34:45 +0000

Last week was our second visit to Rutgers University. We were invited by Aksh Sharma, one of the facilitators of the Bhakti Club, and a good friend of ours. Over 220 students filled a large hall as Gaura Vani, The Mayapuris and Acyuta Gopi started the night with stories of the Ramayan and beautiful chants.

Towards the end of the evening Gaura Vani invited Gopika, a student from Rutgers and a facilitator of the Bhakti Club, to sing Hare Krishna while the Mayapuris got the crowd off their feet and dancing. What ensued can be described with a thousand words, or this one short video.

We are all excited to be going back to Rutgers University in October of this year. The student newspaper, The Daily Targum, also covered the night with an article posted here.

EXCERPT FROM ARTICLE

Students were able to tour the world through meditation and cultural celebrations on campus at the Busch Campus Center with the help of the University’s Bhatki Yoga Club.
More than 220 people experienced a night dedicated to musical meditation, cultural singing and dancing Thursday, as they listened to world-famous, Indian-style kirtan bands As Kindred Spirits and Mayapuris while performing Bhakti yoga.
“Kirtan is the sound of the soul singing. Its purpose is to reunite with the divine through the medium of mantra or sacred sounds and to clean the heart to reawaken our true identity. It helps us realize who we are really,” said Gaura Vani, leader of As Kindred Spirits.
Yoga in the western world is known typically as a physical workout leading to flexibility and muscle tone. But Bhakti yoga achieves a higher-level, inner awareness connection through the tradition of singing sacred sounds known as kirtan, according to the club’s Web site. READ MORE…

Recordings from the night coming soon…

February 12 Hour Kirtan MP3s

rasa.acharya — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:34:19 +0000

Enjoy these photos and MP3s from the second monthly 12 Hour Kirtan at the Bhakti Center. This 12 Hour Kirtan was a meditation on Sri Chaitanya who is the founder of the modern kirtan movement. Join us at the 3rd 12 Hour Kirtan on March 20th 2010 with special guests The Mayapuris.

To listen, click on the links below then press play. To download, Right Click on the word “Download” and select “Save As…” from the menu. Having trouble downloading? Read our Help Section.

MP3s and Photos from the January 12 Hour Kirtan

rasa.acharya — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:52:56 +0000

It’s been too long since we’ve posted some recordings on GauraVani.com. As things have been getting bigger, so have the pressures of keeping it all running. Accounting, planning, recording and events have sucked up our time. But hopefully we’ve gotten into a rhythm that makes time to do what’s important, keep the kirtan flowing.

Here are the recordings from the first of hopefully many 12 Hour Kirtans at the Bhakti Center in NYC. We are planning for this to be a monthly event that is co-hosted by Mantralogy. It is part “kirtan open mic”, part party and all blissful. The next event is schedule for Feb 20th and will have special guests the Mayapuris as part of it.

We are planning to have a webcast during the kirtan, so stay tuned to GauraVani.com on Feb 20th!

To listen, click on the links below then press play. To download, Right Click on the word “Download” and select “Save As…” from the menu. Having trouble downloading? Read our Help Section.

Mantralogy Tour 2009: The Final Stop – Bhaktifest

Jahnavi — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:32:24 +0000

Our last three days of the Mantralogy Tour were spent in Joshua Tree, California, where a large gathering of kirtaniyas and yogis was being held. Joshua Tree is a beautiful place – a desert studded with strange, shaggy, Dr Seuss-like trees and cactuses. At the retreat centre where the festival was held, tents were set up over a large site with an impressive stage at the heart. For 24 hours a day, different singers and bands chanted – celebrating the different names of the divine. Our friends from the Burning Man Krishna camp were there too, tirelessly serving up delicious meals (and fresh coconuts!) throughout the festival.

The heat was intense, but the desert evenings once the sun had set were beautiful. One night we did 7 hours of kirtan on stage, including our two hour slot of chanting, dance and dynamic drumming by the Mayapuris. On another day we played for a yoga class by Shiva Rea. Deities of Jagannath, Baladeva and Subhadra brought by Shakuntala Zakheim presided over the class, and after chanting throughout, we all joined together for an energetic circle dance (raas-garba) kirtan.

MC Yogi led more chanting of the maha mantra, performing the track ‘Bhakti Boombox’ from his album, and Shyam Das closed the class with a sweet meditation on the divine form of Lord Krishna. After that we carried the deities outside in procession and had the most wonderful spontaneous outdoor kirtan. People joined us as we walked, and by the time we got to the main stage, we were surrounded by a huge crowd, taking pictures and chanting ‘Jagannath, Jagannath!’

Spring Down Under

Jahnavi — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:50:31 +0000

After a 24 hour journey we finally reached Australia! It’s spring here and the beauty of the season is completely enchanting – magenta sprays of bougainvillea, clustered lilac jacaranda trees with branches like embroidered thread, long carob pods, and brilliant red flame trees. We’ve tried to just relax today but went down to a local park where we came across a Hang drummer. We couldn’t resist getting into a little jam with him and inviting him to the Brisbane Maha Kirtan on Saturday.

Mantralogy Tour 2009: Back at Burning Man!

Jahnavi — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:20:34 +0000

No sooner had we arrived back in LA (via a blink and you’ll miss it stop in London), and we were preparing to return to the Nevada desert, where we’d attended our first Burning Man festival last year. Burning Man is an avant garde creative arts party/rave/music festival that is attended by thousands from all over the world, including many high profile professionals from all kinds of fields who want to escape their lives for a few days. One of our first performances was at Center Camp, at 6am. This time is precious at Burning Man, as the cool, peaceful time before the intense desert sun pushes people to look for shade. As it rose, we sang ‘Utti Utti Gopala’ a traditional Marathi bhajan that Krishna’s mother, Yashoda sings to him to wake up and greet the day. A large portion of our audience were asleep, exhausted after a night of partying, but as we played, they opened their eyes and gradually began to move in time to the music.

At other times we loaded into a flatbed pickup truck and drove to other areas of the ‘playa’ to chant and dance in different spaces. In between, we spent time at base camp, the ‘Krishna camp/24 Hour Kitchen’. The Krishna camp at Burning Man is headed up by Nitai Das, a dedicated and inventive manager, who also helps to organise the 24 Hour Kirtan in New Vrindavan, West Virginia, as well as many other events throughout the year. Along with his team of builders, carpenters, artists and cooks, he tries to give ‘Burners’ a taste of kirtan and Krishna culture amidst the craziness every year. Here we helped cook and prepare meals for several hundred people, who arrived twice daily and spent time listening to kirtan from our beautifully constructed stage.

As always, it was intense. Dust storms abounded and nights were loud and late – mornings hot and busy. Inbetween all of the chaos, were moments of true joy and friendship, as Burners from all backgrounds joined us in chanting and dancing, always in true Burning Man style -sometimes clothed, sometimes not!

We left after four days, exhausted and a little sunburnt, but happy. Next stop on the road was a jump in Lake Tahoe and a three hour laundromat excursion – the dusty Burning Man experience is hard to forget in more ways than one!

Mantralogy Tour 2009: Janmashtami in London

Jahnavi — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:44:23 +0000

After many weeks touring in the US, we travelled to England for the world renowned Janmashtami (Krishna’s birthday) festival. This celebration is held all over the world, but this one continues to be the biggest outside India, with almost 70,000 attending this year. Colourful tents and stages are set up over the 80 acre property of Bhaktivedanta Manor (donated by George Harrison in the 1970s), and worshippers flock to see the ornately decorated altar.

We felt such a strong sense of unity as we all joined together to celebrate the festival, and had many hours of joyful, moving kirtan together. When we did kirtan on the main festival stage, I’d look out and see the most incredible variety of people – from close family and friends of all ages, to local villagers, to Gujarati grannies (who we actually got to clap and sing – much to our surprise).

It was also nice for me to get to show the rest of the band around my hometown a little bit, though most of our days were packed with kirtan engagements! One day we got to go sightseeing, and ended up at the temple of Sri Sri Radha London-isvara (Krishna, the Lord of London!), where we had many hours of soul-stirring kirtan with our dear friend from Switzerland, Madhava.

Our brief stay culminated in a final Sunday stage kirtan, after which we were whisked out to the car park and driven straight to the airport to fly to Mumbai, where we would be performing a kirtan concert for a special launch of Radhanath Swami’s book ‘The Journey Home’.

Mantralogy Tour 2009: Bottoms up at the Bhakti Bar!

Jahnavi — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:00:41 +0000

After a long period in Los Angeles, we traveled to San Francisco for a very special event arranged by our friend, Andrew Zenoff. He is a recently converted kirtan addict, and had been thinking hard for a while as to how he could share his passion with others. He came up with the idea of the ‘Bhakti Bar’ – and evening of kirtan in a supportive environment, where ‘people of all practices, musical orientations, faiths, traditions, and ages can gather to sing, dance, chant, share, create and lift their hearts and get drunk on the joys of devotion’.

The debut Bhakti Bar evening was held at the Swedish American Hall in downtown San Francisco – a charming, old fashioned concert hall that proved both intimate as well as spacious enough to hold the hundreds that attended.

The evening overflowed with sweet and soulful kirtan as Tina Malia, MC Yogi, Jai Uttal and As Kindred Spirits took to the stage.

The next day we all went to Jai Uttal’s house to hang out with him, MC Yogi and Robin and a few other kirtan lovers. Jai pulled some interesting instruments and we had some sweet kirtan.

Mantralogy Tour 2009: Yoga Glo!

Jahnavi — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:50:17 +0000

After the fun of the trance dance at Zanzibar, we were eager for our next evening with Shiva, MC Yogi and DJ Drez. This time we were at Yoga Glo, a very big yoga studio in Santa Monica that doubles as a studio to film yoga classes in HD quality. These are then sent out online to a large community practising yoga at home. Our evening of kirtan was filmed also.

It was exciting to see many of the same faces as we’d been seeing at other events in LA – they claimed they were hooked and couldn’t miss the chance to come and chant and dance in kirtan again!

Mantralogy Tour 2009: Zanzibar Trance Dance

Jahnavi — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:37:51 +0000

To celebrate the final night of a teacher training course being run by Shiva Rea in Los Angeles, we were invited to come and play alongside MC Yogi and DJ Drez at a hip downtown club called Zanzibar. It was a beautiful venue, decorated in an ornate Middle Eastern style. In the green room we were surprised to find framed paintings of Radha and Krishna and took it as a good sign!

By opening time the crowds were streaming in, many of whom were just coming for their regular Friday club night. Many stopped us to ask questions as we finished setting up, wondering what we were doing, and if we had ‘come from India?’

The night was a real success. Shiva got the crowd warmed up and ready to dance with some kriya yoga, and then MC Yogi launched into a set of all his well known songs like ‘Rock On Hanuman’, ‘Bhakti Boombox’, and Ganesh is Fresh.’ The crowd went wild as he began the famous lines of ‘Krishna Love’ (Sri Krishna, you’re pure charisma, your flute playing – so intoxicating).

Gaura Vani featured in the Boston Globe

rasa.acharya — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:45:29 +0000

By Tripp Underwood
Globe Correspondent / September 18, 2009

Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits were featured in the music section of the Boston Globe on September 18th 2009. The article ran in the printed paper as well as their website.

Gaura Vani, a Hare Krishna musician who combines traditional Indian kirtan music with Western elements such as 12-string guitar, gospel choruses, and hip-hop rhythms, is a musical product of his environments.

Born in Los Angeles, Vani was sent to India at a young age to study sacred music by his Hare Krishna parents. Upon completing his studies he returned to the States, where he began combining spiritual Indian kirtans – a form of rhythmic, call-and-response chanting over various musical accompaniments – with the other music of his youth: rock, pop, and world music.

The result is a genre-defying hybrid of ancient Indian sacred music and modern Western styles. Sitars, mridanga drums, and chanted vocals meld smoothly with guitars and the occasional hip-hop vocal flow, all with clearly defined verses and choruses and a focus on melody not usually found in traditional Indian music.

And though his music contains deeply spiritual lyrics and a layering of styles that spans centuries and continents, Vani maintains a surprisingly simple interpretation of sacred music and its relationship to its audience.

“Kirtan is just the process of using chant and music to clean the heart,’’ he said from his home outside the nation’s capital. “It’s like an ancient can of Scrubbing Bubbles to clean our hearts and help figure out who we are beyond the body.’’

Comparing a 5,000-year-old form of meditation chanting to a modern-day bathroom cleaner may sound like an odd analogy, but it makes sense when coming from a cross-cultural artist like Vani, whose latest CD, “Ten Million Moons,’’ is gaining attention in spiritual music circles as well as in the secular world.

“Music is just an expression of the heart and soul,’’ he says. “All I’m doing is drinking from different springs and bringing together in my heart what seems natural.’’

Intentional or not, Vani’s eclectic style has allowed him to take his songs and message from Krishna temples and yoga studios to a wider range of audiences. In the past year Vani has performed at diverse venues for all types of music fans from backpacked Chicago indie rockers at Lollapalooza to hippies and modern primitives in the Nevada desert at Burning Man to a jubilantly dancing crowd at the Church of the Holy City in Washington, D.C., who had gathered to celebrate President Obama’s inauguration.

Vani and his band, As Kindred Spirits, bring their unique brand of kirtan music to Boston Common on Sunday. The performance is sponsored by the Boston chapter of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness to celebrate Rath Yatra, one of the most sacred holidays in the Hindu world.

The embracing of different cultures and musical styles is apparent not only in Vani’s music but also in his signing to Matrology, a subdivision of Equal Vision Records, a New York label best known for releasing punk rock and hard-hitting emo albums.

Ray Cappo, a yoga teacher and former punk musician who leads spiritual pilgrimages to India and now answers to the Krishna name Raghunath, says elements of the hardcore punk subculture and Hare Krishna teachings have far more in common than many realize. “A lot of people in the hardcore scene are very concerned with similar issues that occur in Krishna consciousness like anti-materialism, vegetarianism, and straight edge,’’ Raghunath says, referring to the cultural movement that eschews drugs and alcohol.

“Twenty-five years later that is how we still live our lives,’’ says Raghunath, formerly of the underground band Shelter, which combined Krishna-influenced lyrics with razor-sharp guitars and blistering drum beats. “Some things may have changed with time, but it’s a form of continual evolution, and in one sense it’s exactly what we were doing in the punk scene when we were teenagers.’’

Vani shares Raghunath’s belief that music inspired by spirituality should retain core elements but be able to evolve with the times and changing tastes of followers.

“Spiritual music is a living tradition . . . from ‘Johnny B. Goode’ to the Bad Brains,’’ says Vani. “It grows and is alive. The music we make is just a natural progression of that.’’

Read the entire article here.

Mantralogy Tour 2009: Californikirtan

Jahnavi — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:00:37 +0000

We’ve been in California for just over two weeks now, spreading kirtan in the sunshine state. Our first kirtan was at Urban Yoga in Palm Springs, where we were invited by the owner, Kristen, to attend a pre ‘Bhaktifest’ (link) event. It was a great night. Everyone chanted with energy and enthusiasm, and we ended in an uproarious circle dance, chanting the Hare Krishna mantra.

Since then, we’ve been busy chanting at different venues, including Exhale yoga studio in Santa Monica, Bhakti Yoga Shala, ISKCON Los Angeles and the Ford Theater for KuliMela, and at the 37th Annual Festival of Chariots on Venice Beach. It’s been a wonderful opportunity to get to know many new friends here, and reach out to so many budding fans of kirtan.

Mantralogy Tour: Downloadable Desktops

rasa.acharya — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 21:42:50 +0000

Enjoy these photos taken during the Mantralogy ‘09 tour. Read about the making of them here.

As Kindred Spirits vs Mayapuris (695)

Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits (608)

Mayapuris (648)

Mantralogy Tour 2009: Wanderlust Festival with Jai Uttal, Shiva Rea and MC Yogi

Jahnavi — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 16:09:04 +0000

After our kirtan with Shiva Rea at Kripalu, she invited us to the Wanderlust festival, a big celebration of both yoga and music in the beautiful ski resort of Squaw Valley, California.

We were only able to attend for the first day of the three day event, arriving at 2am and leaving the next morning at 6am. Still, it was a great day. We played for two yoga classes with Shiva, and in the evning, took to the stage at the Yoga Tree tent with Jai Uttal. Afterwards we had fun joining the audience for our friend, MC Yogi’s performance with another newfound friend -DJ Drez.

Mantralogy Tour: Trouble on the way to Tahoe

Jahnavi — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:22:07 +0000

Stopping yet again to fill up on gas, hot air blasted into the car. Moving gradually westward, we’d finally reached the dry state of Utah.

‘This must be some kind of hell,’ someone complained. We were all hot, tired and after fifteen hours of driving, pretty cranky. We piled back in and continued driving. Suddenly, the landscape changed dramatically.Vast stretches of white salt lakes spread out in every direct – almost blinding in the bright sunlight.

‘Hey we should do a photoshoot,’ shouted Rasa from the back. ‘Pull over!’

Before any of us knew what was going on, Gaura veered off the road and into the sand of the Bonneville Salt Flats. It was only a matter of seconds before we realized the wheels had become complete stuck. In the searing heat of the day, we were stranded. Fortunately, we had some kirtan power on our side. Chanting mantras and using all our strength, we managed to unhook the trailer and lever it out of the sand.

‘Ok guys, get out your clothes, we’re still doing a photoshoot’, said Rasa, who’d been happily taking photos of us pushing the van. After a little protesting, we realized we might as well make the most of the opportunity, and got busy jumping and posing. Passing drivers must have been taken aback at the sight of eight people holding strange instruments and dressed in Indian clothes, jumping crazily around in the sand.

Before we packed up and continued to Tahoe, we decided to take one last shot of us all pretending to hitchhike. We didn’t expect anyone to actually stop, but only three minutes after we stuck out our thumbs, a big truck pulled over, offering to tow us to safety! He drove off again, looking more than a little confused and holding a copy of Ten Million Moons.

Mantralogy Tour 2009: Kansas to Denver

Jahnavi — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:40:34 +0000

After another gruelling drive, we reached the oasis of Bhaktivana, the rural home of our friends Gopimata and Ankotta in Lawrence, Kansas. We also met the Krishna Culture festival tour bus there, who had been busy preparing a wonderful feast for all of the guests attending the kirtan. Bhaktivana is home to a wonderful family, as well as beautiful Swiss cows and peacocks. Those of us who have been to the sacred town of Vrindavan, India felt transported there – even the intense heat was the same!

Many people turned up to sing with us, most of whom have been introduced to kirtan through the yoga classes run by Gopi in her home studio. We were fortunate to be joined again by Bada Hari, who lead a powerful kirtan in praise of Lord Rama. The glorious sound was complete with Purusartha on electric bass, and Jaya Sita’s emotive cello playing. We were also lucky to have Prtha and Nadia, two Bharatanatyam dancers from the Bhaktikalalayam dance academy in Alachua, Florida, who performed an electrifying routine to ‘My Body Is A Temple (Krishna Murari)’.

After marveling at the star filled Kansas sky, it was time for bed. We would need to leave very early to continue our drive – another ‘all dayer’ to Denver.

Almost fifteen hours later, we parked up outside Gaura’s childhood home, opposite the Denver temple. He hadn’t been back for over twenty years, and he exclaimed at how small everything looked.

There were just a couple of hours to rest until our evening kirtan concert within the temple. We were scheduled to begin after a Bhagavat Saptah reading – a type of narrative recitation describing the activities of the Divine, accompanied by music. Hundreds of people had come to attend the reading, and as it ended, they all danced and chanted with abandon, celebrating the pastime they had just listened to about the birth of Lord Krishna. Many stayed on for our kirtan and eagerly continued to chant.

We left late, packing everything up and stopping for a quick van cleanup at a gas station. The next day was to be the longest drive yet – over 24 hours to Lake Tahoe.

N.B. We apologise for not posting any recordings right now. We are recording all shows, but because we are on the road, we have limited facility for editing and uploading. Please stay tuned!

Mantralogy Tour 2009: DC to Toronto

rasa.acharya — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:42:06 +0000

Putting lemons under our tyres for good luck, we set off from Gaura’s home in DC in high spirits. Ten sandwiches, six rest stops and a box of granola bars later and we reached New York, where we performed two very different shows – opening for a fundraising evening at Club Le Royale, and then an evening at Jivamukti Yoga.

Next we drove to Albany, NY for a workshop with our friend Shiva Rea at the Kripalu yoga centre.

From there we traveled straight to Toronto, only stopping to drop off our trusty trailer before we crossed the border. We were invited to come and participate in the 37th annual Toronto Festival of Chariots, as well as its sister event called ‘Yoga Meltdown’. An ongoing city workers’ strike meant that the normal, secluded venue of Centre Island was completely inaccessible, but nevertheless, the festival organizers worked even harder and put on a dynamic event on the harbor front.

A diverse crowd attended on both days, enjoying the delicious feast, yoga classes, cooking demonstrations and entertainment. Of course, the best part of the event was the non-stop kirtan in the specially dedicated tent.

Today marks the end of our first week on the road. It has been driving so much every day has been tiring, but we continue to be enlivened by the enthusiastic response to kirtan everywhere we go. Now we head for Lawrence, Kansas – another stop on the way to the Wanderlust festival in Lake Tahoe, California, where we will be performing with Shiva Rea and Jai Uttal.

N.B. We apologise for not posting any recordings right now. We are recording all shows, but because we are on the road, we have limited facility for editing and uploading. Please stay tuned!

24 Moments of Bhakti – A Photo Collection

rasa.acharya — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:35:12 +0000

A series of photos were taken during the 24 Hour Kirtan 2009 in New Vrindban, WV.

Kirtan with Mayapuris and Lokanath Maharaja AYNY

sachi — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:50:44 +0000

We had an amazing kirtan at Eddie Stern’s Ashtanga Yoga and Sri Ganesha Temple with the Mayapuris and Lokanath Maharaja. The music went late into the night…

Listen to the entire Kirtan!

To listen, click on the links below then press play. To download, Right Click on the word “Download” and select “Save As…” from the menu. Having trouble downloading? Read our Help Section.

Prabhupada Festival LA

sachi — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:00:57 +0000

We had an invitation to perform and chant at the two day Prabhupada Festival, which happens at the Los Angeles Krishna temple on Venice Boulevard (New Dwaraka). It was an opportunity to honor the spiritual teacher, or guru, of the Hare Krishna Movement, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who founded the movement in the 60s. He also my mother’s teacher, so we were especially excited to come and honor him.

It turned out that my cousin, who lives in Los Angeles, was getting married at the same time as the festival, and I thought that I would be able to juggle going to both events. In the end, the rest of our group performed without me while I went my cousin’s wedding, which was a beautiful ceremony in downtown Los Angeles. Despite how beautiful it was, I was a bit distracted thinking about the band having a party without me. At ten o’clock, when it was over, I came rushing back in my suit and tie and jumped on stage to chant with the rest of the group, who had been chanting since seven o’clock in the evening. Unfortunately, in my exuburance to join in, I hit the microphone stand that had the recorder hanging on it and it fell and caused the recordings to be corrupted. So all you’re left with, unfortunately, are the recordings from after I got there. Sorry AKS!

But it was beautiful night, culminated in a couple of kids going wild and jumping into the pool in front of the stage, which was full of floating lillies. Some of these guys just went nuts in their ecstatic kirtan bliss and dove into the pool, sending water in all directions.

Gaura Vani

Listen to the entire Kirtan!

To listen, click on the links below then press play. To download, Right Click on the word “Download” and select “Save As…” from the menu. Having trouble downloading? Read our Help Section.

Power Yoga with Zat Baraka

sachi — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:00:40 +0000

Through Ray Ippolito, our classical Indian guitar player extraordinaire, we connected with a friend named Cooper from Los Angeles, who is a fabulous musician and wonderful guy with an amazing, angelic daughter. Cooper hooked us up with a man named Zat Baraka who is a kirtan host for a group called The LA Kirtan Collective. Zat is an amazing musician, a spiritually enlightened person, and a yoga teacher. He regularly hosts gatherings at a place called Power Yoga, Santa Monica, which is where we had our first real LA performance.

It was beautiful. We went back and forth with Zat, sometimes playing a song from his work, and sometimes playing a song from ours. Everyone was singing, and at one point, dancing, well into the night. We were joined by one of my old friends, Krishangi, who is a classical dancer, and she did an interpretative dance of one of the songs on our new album, Siksastakam (Moods of Kirtan). It was really touching.

Gaura Vani

Listen to the entire Kirtan!

To listen, click on the links below then press play. To download, Right Click on the word “Download” and select “Save As…” from the menu. Having trouble downloading? Read our Help Section.

24 Hour Kirtan – Post Your Media

rasa.acharya — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 04:00:10 +0000

The 2009 24 Hour Kirtan was the best yet! We are working on processing the multi track recordings that we recorded but in the mean time, please add a comment and share links to your own photos, videos and recordings from the event!

Listen to the entire Kirtan!

To listen, click on the links below then press play. To download, Right Click on the word “Download” and select “Save As…” from the menu. Having trouble downloading? Read our Help Section.

LA Tour: Yoga Classes, Interviews and a Chat by the Pool

sachi — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:00:58 +0000

Our new good buddy, Ashley Turner, invited us to sing for her yoga class as a follow-up to the kirtan we had done for her at the Yoga Journal Conference in NYC. We were already excited to come to Exhale, Santa Monica to do that. Then, Saul David Raye, who had performed beautifully at the Chant4Change event in January, found out that we were in town, and asked us to sing for his class, too.

We went down for Saul’s class and had beautiful kirtan. Ashley, so sweet and humble, attended one of Saul’s classes as a student and then stayed afterwards to teach her own class. Singing for both classes was a phenomenal experience. It is always wonderful to work with teachers who love, cherish and incorporate the music so deeply into their classes. It was also uplifting to be able to play with our friend, the incredible musician and yogi, Zat Baraka.

Later that day, we went to our friend, Narayan’s house in the Sunset Hills, which is an amazing place. It looked like something between a Kung Fu movie and an ancient Indian or Tibetan temple. Narayan is an amazing chef, and he cooked some tasty prasad: rice and beans. While we were still at Narayan’s house, we met up we our friend from Yogamates, Kasey Luber. She did a video interview of me for the website, Yogamates.com. We were sitting outside with her and her friends in the warm California sunshine, under a small tent near Narayan’s pool, beaneath the cascading hills of Hollywood. It was beautiful. We talked about the ancient history of kirtan and sacred sound.

Listen to the entire Kirtan!

To listen, click on the links below then press play. To download, Right Click on the word “Download” and select “Save As…” from the menu. Having trouble downloading? Read our Help Section.

Bhajans at Rukmini Dwarkadish Temple, Los Angeles

gaura.vani — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:00:45 +0000

It’s always wonderful to be back in LA. The beautiful deities of Radha Krishna at the New Dwarka temple are called Rukmini Dvarkadisha, and I grew up with Them. In fact, in that very temple, my mother offered me to Krishna when I was a baby.

We got together on a Wednesday night with a lot of our friends, and it was so uplifting! Energetically, we were zooming through the universe. Friends from all over were dancing and singing. Everyone was touched. A special treat was that I got to sing with one of my oldest and dearest friends, Madi Brinkman, who is not only an amazing writer and producer of plays and films but is also, and more importantly to me, an amazing singer and kirtaniya.

Gaura Vani

Listen to the entire Kirtan!

To listen, click on the links below then press play. To download, Right Click on the word “Download” and select “Save As…” from the menu. Having trouble downloading? Read our Help Section.

Kirtan Hits Broadway – Kirtan at The Shala

sachi — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 14:00:38 +0000

Our show at The Shala was an intimate gathering of about fifty people, but all fifty of them had a smile plastered on their faces throughout the entire show. When our enthusiastic friend and fan, Dennis, stood up and began dancing, his energy was infectious. Suddenly, everyone was dancing, and I thought for a minute that the floor was bending like the fabric on a trampoline.

Eventually, everyone sat down again (whew!) and Ananta lead a sweet, slow bhajan. It was so sweet, in fact, that it inspired Acyuta to dedicate her next song to her older brother, Ananta, who, she said, “taught me everything that I know about kirtan.”

Unfortunately due to a recorder malfunction we only have the last part of this amazing kirtan.

Listen to the entire Kirtan!

To listen, click on the links below then press play. To download, Right Click on the word “Download” and select “Save As…” from the menu. Having trouble downloading? Read our Help Section.

Yoga Journal Conference with Shiva Rea and Ashley Turner

sachi — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:00:50 +0000

As part of the Yoga Journal Conference, Shiva Rea gave a Flow Yoga class titled “Rasa: The Yoga of Liberating Love.” We accompanied her with some kirtan, drumming and, thanks to MC Yogi, a little bit of rap.

Later, we played a deep, mellow kirtan during a free community yoga class given by Ashley Turner. Then, we quickly packed up to get ready for our evening show at The Shala.

Listen to the entire Kirtan!

To listen, click on the links below then press play. To download, Right Click on the word “Download” and select “Save As…” from the menu. Having trouble downloading? Read our Help Section.

Yoga Journal Conference with MC Yogi, Sharon Gannon and David Life

sachi — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:00:17 +0000

Sharon Gannon and David Life gave an all-day yoga workshop at the first Yoga Journal Conference in New York City with MC Yogi, a spiritual activist/rapper. Their yoga school, Jivamukti, is known for being a little bit different. That is why they invited us to join them and our new best buddy MC Yogi, to do a special kirtan. The workshop was called “Hot, Hip and Holy” and it lived up to its name. With Wah! on bass, we first accompanied MC Yogi in a rap about Ganesh, the elephant God, and then continued on with a song about Krishna. Our kirtans are always hot and holy, but never have they been quite this hip!

Listen to the entire Kirtan!

To listen, click on the links below then press play. To download, Right Click on the word “Download” and select “Save As…” from the menu. Having trouble downloading? Read our Help Section.

Kirtan for the Kids

gaura.vani — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:02:52 +0000

In Alachua, FL, which is just outside of Gainesville, there’s an elementary school called the Bhaktivedanta Academy, which holds a fundraiser event every year. This year, they invited us to perform for their Gitanjali concert. It was special for me because I got to play with a lot of friends who were in the area: Bada Hari played keyboard, Vishvambar sang and played flute, and Purusharta played bass. Many of our friends danced, including Vrinda, Vishvambar’s fiancé, and Anapayani and her students from the Bhaktikalalayam dance school. We only had one day for rehearsal, but we had a blast putting music together with a bunch of old friends, and came up with a performance that the community really appreciated. They had been hoping to bring in someone famous for their special event, but instead they just ended up with us, so we gave the performance our full heart. In the end, the Gitanjali fundraising concert raised over $21,000.

The next day, I had to leave for a friend’s wedding up in Philadelphia, so my trip south was a whirlwind tour. I came in on Thursday, spent all of Friday and half of Saturday practicing and performing, and then left sunny Florida to go back to the chilly north.

Gaura Vani

Listen to the entire Kirtan!

To listen, click on the links below then press play. To download, Right Click on the word “Download” and select “Save As…” from the menu. Having trouble downloading? Read our Help Section.

Kirtan at Jivamukti with Nahdi

sachi — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 12:15:58 +0000

We know Nahdi from the Bhakti Immersion Retreat with Sharon Gannon, and she invited us to play some soothing instrumental music during one of her yoga classes at Jivamukti Yoga in NYC. Before the performance, Nahdi was kind enough to run some of us up to the Jivamukti Cafe for a tasty lunch, while the rest of us set up the equipment in “The Krishna Room.” Then, a nice slow, soothing kirtan during an hour and a half long yoga class.

Listen to the entire Kirtan!

To listen, click on the links below then press play. To download, Right Click on the word “Download” and select “Save As…” from the menu. Having trouble downloading? Read our Help Section.

Hudson Kirtan Workshop and Performance (with CBS News)

sachi — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 12:15:02 +0000

EDITORS NOTE: Sunday June 7th CBS will premiere “Faith, Culture and Music” which features As Kindred Spirits. Click here to find you local show time.

CBS contacted us to find out if they would include a segment about our band in their upcoming show on religious music. We invited them to follow us around on one of our typical show days, which, as usual, was atypical. We gave a kirtan workshop and performance as part of the yoga teacher training course our friends, Raghunath and Sondra, were offering in beautiful Hudson, NY. During the day, Gaura taught Raghunath and Sondra’s students the lyrics to “Krishna Murari,” while Yamuna showed them some garba steps to a rocking kirtan.

In the afternoon, the CBS crew interviewed Gaura, Acyuta, Janaki and Ananta, as sixty people stood in the tiny hall of Sandana Yoga waiting to claim a spot for the evening kirtan show. Whew! Talk about crunch time!

All the guests eventually squeezed on through, the kirtan was roaring, and CBS got some great footage for their show. The show is called “Faith, Music and Culture” and will be broadcast Sunday, June 7 on the CBS Television Network nationwide.

Listen to the entire Kirtan!

To listen, click on the links below then press play. To download, Right Click on the word “Download” and select “Save As…” from the menu. Having trouble downloading? Read our Help Section.