JAI UTTAL - Kirtan / CD release party

Saturday, May 2nd...

Exhale Center for Sacred Movement, Venice Beach, CA...

Entering the studio was like entering a nest, bathed in warm light and filled with welcoming, embracing energy. The atmosphere was full of love before the Kirtan even began.

"Kirtan" is a devotional form of yoga, where mantras are chanted/sung in call-and-response, accompanied by Indian instruments, like harmonium, drums, bells, and cymbals... Defined by Jai Uttal on his website "Kirtan is the calling, the crying, the reaching across infinite space — digging into the heart’s deepest well to touch and be touched by the Divine Presence."

Jai Uttal was our leader, or Kirtanwala this Saturday evening... Telling short stories and anecdotes between songs, he began by explaining that he was unaware until that very afternoon that this Kirtan was a "CD release party" and he had gone back and forth in his head as to whether or not to perform his Westernized music from his new CD 'Thunder Love' in which he forgoes the traditional harmonium, playing a guitar and singing in English... He blamed his being a Gemini as the culprit of his indecision... After playing several more traditional pieces, and with plenty of excitement and coercion from the audience, he moved aside the harmonium and to my surprise, picked up a Banjo! A guitar I was expecting, but a Banjo I was not. He explained that the Banjo was his first love as a child, and as he began to lull us with his melodic tunes and poignant lyrics, the banjo seemed irreplaceable as a component to his beautiful music...

Anyone who was dubious of this western Kirtan with English words, was soon wrapped up in this music as much as his traditional Kirtan, which he flowed back into for the last part of the evening.

The whole event was so joyous... As the pace, tempo, and volume accelerated during each chant, I felt utterly compelled to jump up and dance, which I found most of the entire studio felt too. It was hot, sweaty, and entrancing. Audience members pulled out their own instruments, found their own harmonies, and made the experience their own, adding to the love and divine light each person in the room added to this cosmic blast of brightness that surrounded us.

As the Kirtan came to a close, with the vibrational residue still spinning in our souls, I felt myself mentally hugging everyone in the room.... and i felt the hug coming back to me...

I am looking forward to experiencing Jai Uttal's Kirtan again at Bhakti Fest in Joshua Tree, September 11-13, 2009. I encourage any and all to come and loose yourself in pure devotion during this three day festival where Jai, among other amazing yogis/yoginis/Kirtan-ers will be performing and coming together to celebrate all that is...

Photo #1 (above) right to left, Jai Uttal onstage with a phenomenal singer, who's name I do not know, and Daniel Paul...

Photo #2 (right) right to left Zan Roberts(me), Susan Nichols, and Heather McCall with eyes still glowing after the Kirtan..