Hey there, friends……

I hope this beautiful Spring day finds you all in good spirits. Life is so complicated and odd sometimes, isn’t it? But we can still try to keep our hearts and minds fresh, regardless of the challenges that cross our paths. Uh oh, sounding kind of ‘Hallmark’, aren’t I? Well, I’m just trying to remind myself!!!

Anyway, here I am, in between traveling and daddy-ing and husband-ing, working on a new album. Well, new and old at the same time. I’ve been recreating my CD Shiva Station for a 15th anniversary remake. But while the original was a completely rocking, band oriented project featuring the ‘Pagan Love Orchestra,’ this one is solo and acoustic, a very intimate take on a very extroverted BIG album. And it’s sure been challenging. First of all, trying to at least suggest all the orchestral parts on acoustic guitar and banjo really stretches me way beyond my limits, technically…. (Thank God for digital editing, I’m embarrassed to say.) But there’s more to it than that. As I revisit these lovely songs, I’m, of course, revisiting the moods and emotions of 15 years ago. You know how you feel when you listen to an old song that meant a lot to you in a completely different period of your life? Or when you go through a box of old photos? Well, this is sorta like that. And in those days my life was SOOOOOO different. The longings of my heart were pretty much the same, but my external circumstances were quite different and filled with a lot of sadness and anguish. I’m so thankful for the grace that has brought me to where I am today, and it’s healing but difficult to re-experience those feelings that birthed these songs… And rediscover them with the energy and joy the permeates my life now… Does that make any sense? I hope so.

I’m writing this quickly and I gotta go because I’m late for my recording session. Ben just texted me: “Where are you? I bought lunch!” So I’ll ‘see’ you all later.

Lots of love,

Dear friends,

Greetings from Northern California!!!

I hope the last days of winter find you all healthy and happy… I know there’s been a lot of colds and flus this season – I’ve struggled with a bad one – but don’t despair, the warm weather is just around the corner.

Also around the corner is our 11th Annual Summer Kirtan Camp, from August 5th to August 11th, in San Anselmo, California. This yearly adventure has grown and grown in depth, joy, music and devotion. If you’ve been thinking about it for a while, now’s the time to take the chance and go on a heart-adventure you’ll never forget.

A year and a half ago we said we were skipping our summer camp, but as usual, God had other plans and last summer we had a beautiful Bhakti journey with about 50 sweet souls. We did, however, skip our winter camp! Not again!!! Next December we will be returning to Blue Spirit in Costa Rica, from December 28th, 2013 to January 4th, 2014 – “New Year’s Kirtan and Bhakti Yoga Camp”!

Yes, we are going back and we are sooooo looking forward to it! Omega will be offering a weeklong program after our retreat and both Nubia and I are teaching at that one as well. You can come just for our New Year’s week or if you wish to go for 2 weeks and rest, bath in the warm waters, sing, dance, move your body, hike and play in the pool and ocean with Nubia, Ezra Gopal and I, SIGN UP SOON AND GET THE BEST ROOMS AVAILABLE.

To sign up you can email:
nubiacoruja@gmail.com

Lastly, I’m starting 2 new albums… hmmm… surprises in the air!!!!!!!

And if you haven’t heard Kirtan Kids you are definitely missing out. My wife, Nubia, who’s completely unbiased (!!!) has this to say about the kids CD: “It is one of the most artistically and inspiring albums for children I have ever heard!!! and I heard a lot with little Ezra!!! Your friends with children will simple LOVE the gift!!!!”

You can buy it at my website, but if you would like a special deal – 10 copies for $108 plus $10 for shipping – write to Nubia at nubiacoruja@gmail.com

I guess that’s it for now… I’m late for my recording session, as usual…

Lots of love to you all,

Dear friends,

I know I’m a bit late which is totally normal for me, but better late than never! HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE AND ALL!!!

May 2013 be a year filled with joy, love and peace for all beings in all the universes, seen and unseen…..

My family and I have just returned from a beautiful trip to Brazil and I’m finding the adjustment a bit difficult… Summer to winter, relaxing at the beach to getting back to work…. Jet lag is a weird disorder. But basically, all’s well.

Brazil was a time for reconnection. First reconnecting with our lovely Brazilian Kirtan community, then with Nubia’s vast and incredibly affectionate family (who are now my family, as well) and, lastly, with the divinely human trinity of Nubia, Ezra Gopal, and myself….

In São Paulo we had such great Kirtans. Thank you Gui, Rama Kumara Dasa, Govinda Dasa, Dacha, Jose Neto, Charlie at Yoga Flow, Andy & Fe at Aruna Yoga, and all our sweet friends. The light on Solstice night was shining brightly! And guess what…. The world didn’t end!

Then Christmas Eve with family. Seeing Nubia’s happiness melting in the arms of her mother made the whole trip worthwhile. But, gosh, when am I going to get my Portuguese together? Ezra was speaking perfectly, making friends wherever he went and feeling so comfortable with the Brazilian side of his heritage. Playing soccer, telling jokes, sneaking sips of Coca-Cola!!!!!

On Christmas Day we traveled to Bahia, to an island called Morro de São Paulo. A plane, a boat, and a long hike through the sand and we collapsed into the gentle embrace of Yemanja, the mother of the sea…. Every day we’d step outside of our little cottage and into the ocean where the tide pools allowed us to visit with thousands of colorful fish. Then some coconut water and a dip in the pool before our daily foosball tournament. It was boys against girls – Ezra and I on one team versus the mighty Nubia… Touch and go, but us guys emerged victorious….

Ok, I’m rambling again. But really what I want to share is that this period of downtime was so healing and nourishing and so needed after a long and somewhat challenging year. Yes, it took me several days to unwind, to stop worrying about being ‘productive’. (After all, it was the first New Year’s in 10 years that we didn’t do our Kirtan Camp.) But after a little while I found myself surrendering to the amazing spirit of the ocean and the earth, and to the truly blessed love of my family. Happy New Year!!!!!

So now we’re back home… Many projects, concerts and tours are in the works for 2013. Hopefully I can keep my internal rhythm a bit slowed down to really enjoy and give my best to the work I do… And, God-willing, I hope we can all keep our hearts more and more in tune with the Divine melody, the inner calling, our true essences in the year to come….

Much love and light,

The world is a stage for Chicago Children’s Choir as they bring the world musical and cultural treasure ‘Sita Ram’ back to life in Chicago and beyond.

Chicago – Chicago Children’s Choir is collaborating with Lookingglass Theater Director David Kersnar and the critically-acclaimed Natya Dance Theatre to re-launch the world musical “Sita Ram” on stage at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance on December 14 and 15.

A youthful melting pot of a musical based on an ancient Hindu epic and performed with an operatic intensity, “Sita Ram” uses nearly every musical genre, from classical to hip-hop to South African, to reflect the multiculturalism of the city and the world.

After the show wraps up at the Harris Theater, Chicago Children’s Choir will take it to India to tour the cities of Jaipur, Delhi, Bangalore, Agra, and Chennai.

“The performance is an uplifting way to reflect the rich diversity of the globe and foster peace through cultural understanding,” said Chicago Children’s Choir Director Josephine Lee, who commissioned Kersnar and Grammy-nominated world music composer Jai Uttal to co-create the production in 2002. “It reflects my passion for the Choir and its mission.”

Directed by Kersnar, “Sita Ram” will feature nearly 200 performers, including 110 singers, 32 dancers from the Natya Dance Company, twelve principle actors and actresses, and 23 acrobats from the Inappropriate Theater Company. Azeeza Khan, creative director of Chicago-based Atelier AZZA and “TimeOut Magazine’s” 2012 Breakout Emerging Designer is creating the costumes.

Azeeza Khan, creative director of Chicago-based Atelier AZZA and “TimeOut Magazine’s” 2012 Breakout Emerging Designer is creating the costumes.

“It’s going to be a party on stage,” Lee said, referring to the bombastic opening scene the show has in store this December. “We see this show as something that could become the next ‘Lion King.’ The collaboration brings so much life to the stage, and it exposes the children to a culture they would not have exposure to otherwise.”

Premiered at Lookingglass in 2006, “Sita Ram” is a modern interpretation of the Hindu epic, “Ramayana” (Rama’s Journey), a sacred 20,000 verse religious poem that teaches morality and ideal behavior through allegories.

“The young prince and princess find each other on earth again to bring the world righteousness, awareness, and love between all beings,” said Natya Dance Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director and Principal Dancer Krithika Rajagopalan.

The tale is just as critical to East Asian culture today as it was in 300 BCE. Children grow up hearing the tale that explores human values and demonstrates how powerful love is created when the two elements (protagonists Sita and Rama) come together to bring the world peace and harmony that is made possible only through love.

Chicago Children’s Choir: http://www.ccchoir.org/
Sita Ram: http://www.sitaramthemusical.com/
FBSitaRam: http://www.facebook.com/sitaramthemusical
Twitter @SitaRamChicago

TICKET INFORMATION
Harris Theater for Music and Dance
200 East Randolph Street, Chicago, IL
-FRI 12.14.12 / 7:30PM
-SAT 12.15.12 / 2:00PM
-SAT 12.15.12 / 7:30PM
Tickets: $15-$65
www.sitaramthemusical.com/tickets/

ABOUT CHICAGO CHILDREN’S CHOIR
Founded in 1956, Chicago Children’s Choir is a multiracial, multicultural choral music education organization, shaping the future by making a difference in the lives of children and youth through musical excellence. The Choir currently serves nearly 3,200 children, ages 8-18 through choirs in 60 schools, after-school programs in eight Chicago neighborhoods and the internationally acclaimed Concert Choir. Under President and Artistic Director Josephine Lee, the Choir has undertaken many highly successful national and international tours, received a Chicago/Midwest Emmy Award for the 2008 documentary Songs on the Road to Freedom, and has been featured in nationally broadcast television and radio performances, most recently on The Oprah Show, NBC’s Today and the PBS series From the Top: Live from Carnegie Hall.

ABOUT NATYA DANCE THEATRE
The Natya Dance Theatre (NDT) is amongst the most critically acclaimed and culturally treasured Indian dance companies in the United States. The professional dance company was founded in 1994 and is based in Chicago. The highly innovative work of NDT offers profound and subtle expressions of humanity’s deepest questions and values in the context of our present day lives. Rooted in Bharata Natyam, one of the great classical dance forms of India, NDT preserves and perpetuates Bharata Natyam in its entire classical rigor, and moves the art form in innovative directions n to foster cultural exchange through dance.

ABOUT DAVID KERSNAR
David Kersnar is a founding ensemble member of Lookingglass Theater Company. Kersnar founded and currently instructs with the Lookingglass Education and Community Program and served as its director from 1992-1997. David recently directed and co-wrote The Last Act of Lilka Kadison for Lookingglass and Charles Mee’s Iphigenia 2.0 for the Next Theater Company. Kernsar is also writing and co-directing sequences for Don Pasquale at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. David holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Northwestern University.

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For more information about Sita Ram, please contact Misho Ceko at info@sitaramthemusical.com.

Jai will be doing a live interview on The Golden Age Music Show on Sunday at 9pm ET/6pm PT. Call in to request a song— if you’re one of the first three callers, you’ll win a copy of “Queen of Hearts!”

More information about the show can be found here.

Hey there, friends…..

Well, it’s been many years since I released my first album, Footprints, in 1990. Life’s panoramic vistas have changed immensely in many many ways; personally, I’ve passed through beautiful, joyous mountain tops and dark, lonely, despairing caverns, chronicling it all in fourteen CDs and many smaller musical and spiritual projects. Although stylistically my music has developed quite a bit over the years, in some ways I’d say that I’m still exploring the same themes…. What is the most beautiful, perfect melody that will heal my spirit, share my soul, and connect my heart with the eternal heart of divine love…. What are the colors and rhythms in which to dress that melody…. How deeply can I rip open my being and let my voice and feelings free to fly to God…. And how can the melodies and colors of ancient India intermingle with the sounds of today…. It sounds kind of pretentious to put it into words, but isn’t this the eternal quest shared by everyone? And as an artist, I’m also always struggling to improve my craft, my vocal and instrumental techniques, to support this emotional and spiritual process….

Meanwhile, the world has changed and the “business” of music has also changed drastically in recent years. I often ask myself “is there any real reason to make another CD?” Most people are so over saturated with music that, at most, they’ll download a song here and there, not even considering the purchase of a new CD. Or else they’ll tune in to Pandora, Spotify or other similar music services. And then, of course, there’s the issue of bootlegs. Ohhhh, don’t get me started on that!!!!

So, what to do… One day early in this year I called up my musical partner Ben Leinbach and said, “Hey!!! Let’s record a single and I’ll release it on my website and Facebook and see what happens.” And then I thought, rather than charging a set price I’ll put it up for donation. This way folks with no money can just download it for free, and those who have a little extra money will perhaps remember that this is how I make my living and support my sweet family…

Listen and Download “Parikrama – The Path Of A Thousand And Eight Tears…”

So, to the song itself:
Circling the ancient town of Vrindavan in North India is a dusty dirt and sand road called Parikrama Marg (or path). Like a garland placed around the lotus neck of Sri Krishna Govinda, or perhaps a flower garden surrounding the bed chamber of Srimati Radharani, Parikrama Road is considered a great and holy place of pilgrimage. Walking barefoot around Vrindavan morning after chilly morning, my feet numb from the frigid cold, I’ve witnessed the simple miracles of the devotional life; “Bhaktas” literally crawling in the dust crying Radha’s name; aged Sadhus tearfully chanting the Srimad Bhagavatam as peacocks danced around them; an elephant turning into Sri Krishna, his trunk stretched out to the side like a bamboo flute; men and women dancing in ecstasy, seemingly lost to the outer world, singing the Mantras of divine love; little kids momentarily interrupting their wild games to bow before an image of Hanuman, the Monkey God; young renunciates shaving their heads and bathing in the blessed Yamuna river; on and on….. Experiences of deep longing, uninhibited joy, compete commitment to the path of Bhakti….. My new song, “Parikrama – The Path Of A Thousand And Eight Tears…”, though it bubbles along on a distinctly Bossanova-esque rhythm, remembers and offers obeisance to this holy journey, the dirt path that circles the sleeping body of Gopala, Parikrama Road. I hope you enjoy it…

Love,

Credits:

Produced by Jai Uttal and Ben Leinbach
Engineered and mastered by Ben Leinbach

Recorded at Old Bull Studios, San Anselmo, California
Written by Jai Uttal
All instruments played, sampled or programmed by Jai and Ben.
Vocals by Jai, Ben, Prajna Vieira, and Mary Redente
Track art by Giuliano Guarneli

Lyrics:
Shri Krishna Govinda Hare Murare
Hey Natha Narayana Vasudeva

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare