Bhaktifest SpotLIGHT #3: Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band

Seán Johnson And The Wild Lotus Band

-Bhakti Fest Ticket Special: $150- through July 31! www.bhaktifest.com-

New Orleans mantra musicians Sean Johnson and The Wild Lotus Band are a critically acclaimed kirtan trio appreciated equally for the spiritual depth and dynamic musicality of their sound. Yoga Journal has praised the band, “A joy to listen to whether you’re a yogi or anyone who appreciates wildly creative music.” Yoga Chicago says, "Their kirtan will ignite the world...a hybrid of East and West that will bring joy to your heart and get your body boogieing."

The band’s unique music is a savory potion for the spirit, evocatively blending the elixir of ancient eastern mantras with western musical taste, passionate vocals, funky grooves, and dreamy melodies. Their unique approach to chant music transcends genres—shades of rock, jazz, funk, choral, Indian, Irish, Middle Eastern, and folk styles merge effortlessly with the magic of the mantras. Yoga City NYC says, “Their music is capable of being energetic, grounding, mellow, tender, sweet- eerie, rapturous and blissful all at once.” They express kirtan with guts and soul and are not afraid to explore the darker shades of the heart which makes their brighter material even more transcendent.

Vocalist and harmonium player Sean Johnson is the founder of the band. He’s been leading kirtan across the U.S. and abroad for over a decade. His soul-stirring voice is equally influenced by vocal exploration of his ancestral Irish heritage as well as study in Indian vocal music and love of the path of bhakti yoga-- the yoga of the heart. Sean is also the founder of Wild Lotus Yoga Studio and Soul School, a yoga and spirituality teacher training program in his native New Orleans. He has a Master’s degree from The Naropa Institute with a focus on teaching chant as spiritual practice. He shares the practice of mantra in an inviting and accessible way that taps into the universal spirit of life and music- weaving stories, myths, and poetry. Grammy nominated kirtan artist Jai Uttal says “Sean’s voice is a warm, soothing river of serenity.” From time to time, Sean also contributes a little beatbox to the band's eclectic musical mix-- honed as a youth in New Orleans' public schools in the early days of hip hop.

Bass and guitar player and New Orleans' native Alvin Young spent years on the fabled Crescent City music scene playing with Wynton and Branford Marsalis, local legends James Booker and James Black and many more. His voice on bass and guitar weaves the jazz, rock, classical, and folk styles he's been immersed in for the last 35 years. Alvin's playing is incredibly funky, bringing a modern aesthetic to the ancient spirit of kirtan. The hallmark of Alvin's expression on the bass is a rare and deeply melodic quality that illuminates the trio's sound. Music has been a pivotal part of Alvin’s spiritual journey.

Percussionist and singer Gwendolyn Colman brings a unique ethnic sound to the band with years of experience drumming with middle eastern ensembles, flamenco troupes, and avant garde bands. Her ‘ride’ includes frame drums, cajon, high hat, kick drum, doumbek, and karkobs, playing with merging ancient rhythms with a modern, urban flare. Gwendolyn can move seamlessly from a traditional middle eastern trance rhythm, to subtle jazz brushwork, to a New Orleans hip hop street groove. Her powerful vocals are influenced by early opera training. Gwendolyn’s spiritual quest has led her from Rastafarian to Baha'i to yoga - with the heartbeat of her drum always at the center.

Together Sean, Alvin, and Gwendolyn create a contemporary world-spirit music that evokes the magic and mystical feelings first stirred in the pioneering golden age of East-West musical exploration in the 1960's. The soul of New Orleans meets the spirit of India.

Sean Johnson and The Wild Lotus Band's 2007 release Calling The Spirits, with its funky, tropical kirtan sound, has become a big hit in the yoga world. Their rocking, groove-driven Nettwerk/Nutone debut Devaloka to be released in September 2009 promises to expand their ever-widening audience.

The band tours worldwide playing at festivals, theatres, yoga studios, retreat centers, yoga conferences and will be featured performers at the Bhakti Fest in Joshua Tree Sept. 11-13, 2009. For more info and/or to experience their version of the 'Chakra Rock' go to www.seanjohnsonkirtan.com

Bhaktifest SpotLIGHT#2: Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits

~*Bhakti Fest Ticket Special: $150- through July 31! www.bhaktifest.com*~

Seek the Nectar! Come sing, dance and fly with the honeybees of devotional world-music! Dive into the lotus of ecstasy. Escape the illusion, confusion, pollution, and delusion with Gaura Vani and "As Kindred Spirits."

The music of As Kindred Spirits is the sound of cultures colliding.

Join this sacred world-music experience and discover the uplifting power of As Kindred Spirits. Rich ethnic rhythms and melodies, with fresh western harmonies and grooves, are crafted with the ancient tradition of kirtan- devotional Indian musical meditation, creating music that is both hip and inspired.

You will not be able to resist the urge to dance! And sing! Sing..! As Kindred Spirits features the voice and harmonium of Gaura Vani, and the rhythms and melodies of multi-instrumentalist Shyam Kishore, along with a multicultural group of talented musicians, dancers and performers.

Allow this music to place you in direct contact with the Divine through the universal language of sacred dance and music.

“I was given the gift of devotional song from birth, raised with the music of the temple, taught to sing and play beautiful instruments and dance…for love and for God,” says Gaura Vani. “I am one of a group of children called gurukulis or those raised in the village of the guru. Even as children, we were aware that though it felt like we were partying when we played music, we were in the physical presence of God himself, who danced with us.”

“An old friend said he saw me as a baby for the first time, cradled in the arms of my father with a group of devotees, chanting God’s ancient names. Hare. Krishna. Rama. It’s in the blood.”

The As Kindred Spirits "Nectar of Devotion" Album

This unique recording of World Music perfectly captures the uplifting and energetic atmosphere in which As Kindred Spirits crafts their music. Ancient Indian songs of devotion, with rich ethnic melodies are infused with fresh, Western grooves and modalities.

The music of As Kindred Spirits is like a lotus growing from the mud of American materialism. We are the honeybees swarming to drink the nectar of this flower.

The New CD: Ten Million Moons

This second album from Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits transforms your heart and fills you with visions of a divine world. Epic and cinematic arrangements, lush vocal harmonies, hypnotic ethnic rhythms and grooves, magical textures and instrumentation. This is kirtan as you’ve never heard it before. Conjuring images from the temple towns of India to the streets of New York City, this album is a journey from the world of “now” to the world of “forever”.

Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits are one of the most sought after kirtan/chant groups in the world. This second album from the ground-breaking group transports us to their divine universe with lush, cinematic arrangements, beautiful vocal harmonies, dynamic ethnic rhythms, and rich textured instrumentation.

Featured in this summer’s “Bhakti Fest,” the largest gathering of yoga musicians in the US, Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits are touring both coasts of the US as well as internationally with performances in Brazil, India, Europe, and Africa. (More info: www.bhaktifest.com)

Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits will also be featured performers at a "Pre-Bhakti Fest Celebration" at Kristin Olson's Urban Yoga Center, 458 S. Palm Canyon in Palm Springs CA Saturday Night, July 25th. For more info please go to www.urbanyoga.org or call 760-320-7702

For more info on Gaura Vani and As Kindred Spirits, and to listen to their music via their Myspace and Facebook pages, go to www.gauravani.com

1st Bhaktifest Spot-LIGHT: MC YOGI

(*~Special Announcement: 3-Day Tix to Bhaktifest $150- until July 31st!~*)








What happens when you combine yoga and hip hop? In the hands of recording artist MC Yogi, you get a first-of-its kind new record mixing the energy, beats and vocal stylings of rap music with traditional Indian instruments, kirtan-style chanting and yoga-inspired lyrics. With 13 original tracks celebrating Indian mythology and spirituality, MC Yogi’s genre-bending debut, ELEPHANT POWER, offers a devotional hip hop experience.
“Someone could make the argument that yoga and hip hop are polar opposites,” admits MC Yogi aka Nicholas Giacomini, a yoga teacher and studio owner in Point Reyes, California. “But yoga—which means ‘union’ in Sanskrit—is about joining opposites. It was really just taking two things I loved and putting them together.”
Yogi, a graffiti artist as well as an MC and yoga teacher, has been listening to hip hop since he was six years old and free-styling since he was 14. He first began rapping about the inspiring characters and ideals of ancient India around 2000. His simple yet revolutionary idea was reignited at his wedding reception when, watching a friend singing along to the Beastie Boys‘ “Brass Monkey” while pointing to a statue of Hanuman, the mischievous monkey god of Indian mythology, Yogi realized he could create an album bridging the cultures of yoga and hip hop .
The result is not a preachy record. ELEPHANT POWER features upbeat, enlightening tracks singing the praises of Hindu deities and celebrating the higher principles of yoga—a refreshing contrast to mainstream rap’s notorious glorification of thug life. Hip hop-style break beats form the backdrop to MC Yogi’s rhyming, while an impressive list of guest singers and musicians add vocals and instrumentation. From tablas to turntables, sitars to samples, the music was masterfully composed, engineered and co-produced with the help of Yogi’s childhood friend Robin Livingston, engineer at Ursa Minor, a recording studio in San Rafael, California.
Featured guests on ELEPHANT POWER include Grammy-nominated world music pioneer Jai Uttal; iconic wandering mystic and musician Bhagavan Das, who introduced the famed Ram Dass to his guru in the 1960s; kirtan singer Krishna Das, dubbed by the New York Times as “the American chant master”; Sharon Gannon, singer and co-founder of Jivamukti Yoga in Manhattan; and Rita Sahai, a vocalist referred to by Ali Akbar Khan as “the jewel of music.” Other guests include Pakistani qawwali singer Sukhawat Ali Khan, popular Nepalese flute player Manose and multi-percussionist Geoffrey Gordon. New York native Sean Dinsmore, whose Dum Dum Project pioneered the mixing of Indian sampling with electronica in the late-1990s, flew in from Shanghai to co-produce the record after hearing a few sample tracks.
"I got a random email from a rapper one day saying his name was MC Yogi," remembers Sean. "Clicking on the attached mp3, I heard something I wasn't expecting. That early version of “Ganesh is Fresh” had mad energy jolting through it. A month later I was landing at SFO, ready to produce ELEPHANT POWER!"
Standout tracks include the revelatory “Rock On Hanuman” and the galloping anthem “Ganesh Is Fresh”—sophisticated productions described by Giacomini as “sonic pujas” (a puja is a Hindu form of deity worship). The psychedelic “Son of Shiva” is a modern telling of how Ganesh, the elephant-headed god known as the lord of beginnings and god of prosperity, came to be (after mistakenly cutting off his own son’s head, the god Shiva replaces it with the head of an elephant). “Be the Change” is the timely tale of Mahatma Gandhi’s life story, sampling his speeches and reminding us of the power of the individual to inspire change in the world—a philosophy well-exemplified by Yogi’s approach to making ELEPHANT POWER.
ELEPHANT POWER is a new musical hybrid, the result of two cultures colliding - and then merging. Through his love for the yoga tradition and urban American music, MC Yogi brings us
a modern incarnation of an ancient tradition: Yoga Hip Hop!

Come do the Divine Dance & Sacred Chant with MC Yogi,
(among many others!) joined by Robin Livingston of the "Bhakti Brothers" and DJ Drez at the Bhakifest in Joshua Tree Calif., September 11-13.
For more info on the Massive Lineup of Kirtan Wallahs, Festival Features and Tickets: www.bhaktifest.com
~*ADVANCE TICKET SPECIAL*~ 3-Day Tix: $150- Until July 31!
For more info on MC Yogi and how to get his Chakra-Opening CD "Elephant Power," go to www.mcyogi.com