Kirtan Concert
with Joss Jaffe
Joss Jaffe performs as a Vocalist, Tabla player and Multi-Instrumentalist. As a composer and producer he has created innovative albums including Svara Mandala, Echosystem and Dub Mantra to critical acclaim. Joss has collaborated with numerous artists including Grammy Award nominees Jai Uttal, Silvia Nakkach and Dave Stringer as well as Grammy Award winning Reggae artist Mykal Rose of Black Uhuru.
His music is rooted in his desire to unite people through spirit, love, joy, community and consciousness. Joss creates innovative songs that bring international artists from different cultures and languages into a nexus where new music is discovered. His music invites the audience into a space of spontaneous joy.
Friday, April 24th
7:00 - 8:30 pm
Cost: $20 Advance / $25 at the Door or 1 Stamp from Class Card
WHAT IS KIRTAN?
Kirtan is a unique type of music. Its roots are in India, where it has been practiced for longer than anyone can remember. Kirtan in America is different, however, and has its own style. The chants are call-and-response audience participation, similar to singing around the campfire. It's not necessary to know the chants in advance, they're usually pretty simple and very repetitive, so you'll catch on quickly.
Most chants contain words that are in Sanskrit, mantras from an ancient language. The music however is modern and recognizable, and ranges from folk-type melodies and harmonies to popular rock. Some blend aspects of both Indian and American music.
Kirtan is a rhythmic music-filled celebration that brings peace to the mind, playfulness to the heart and an opportunity to experience connection to the divine energy that resides in each of us. Dress comfortably for floor sitting, and/or movement/dance if you are so inspired!
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"Kirtan is for all people. There are no masters of kirtan, no experts, no teachers, no advanced students, no beginners. The practice itself is the teacher, guiding us to ourselves. Kirtan teaches itself by allowing us to enter into a mystery world - a world where all the logic of our minds, all the conditioning and learning are left outside, and we allow ourselves to expand into the mystery. And in this mystery, we create a temple inside of our hearts, a place of refuge, a place of love, a place of being, a place of sanctity - whatever we need." - Jai Uttal
WHY CHANT?
Here's what Robert Gass says in his book Chanting:
We chant to join our voices to the voices of countless seekers, worshipers, mystics, and lovers of life, in every time and in every place, who have shared in sacred song. We chant to fill our hearts and fill our homes with loving and peaceful vibrations of sound. We chant because it's fun. We chant to help the stress and freneticness of our busy lives melt away. We chant to spread our wings and let our souls take flight. We chant for the sheer joy of letting our God-given voices sing out. We chant for the heartful communion that we feel with others when we come together in song. We chant our prayers to God, so that our lives may be graced by more intimate presence of the One known by so many names.
PREVIOUS GUEST APPEARANCES:
Ganesha Das: Peter/Ganesha Das is a Kirtan Minister from The Heart Consciousness Church of Harbin Hot Springs.
Bhakti Rasa: Bhakti Rasa Kirtan began in February 2009 when some yoga teachers decided to get together informally to chant. Members of the local yoga community enjoyed the chanting so began regular once a month Kirtans open to the public. Since that time the band has continued to evolve and has expanded to lead Kirtan events at yoga centers and retreats in the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California. Andy teaches Meditative Movement (Gently Hatha Yoga) at our Center.
Lakshmi Devi: Lakshmi is an inspired and ecstatic multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and kirtan leader. Some of her extensive musical involvements include: producing music events, leading ecstatic Kirtans, directing music for ritual performances, singing for yoga classes, and leading interactive sound ritual journeys.
David Estes: Ananda Rasa (the bliss of Divine rapture, the nectar of bliss) Kirtan is led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist David Estes who is currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area. David grew up in India, has studied music since childhood and spent several years completely immersed in the practices of kirtan, swadhyaya chanting and meditation as a resident in daily ashram life.
Prabhu Nam Kaur: Prabhu Nam Kaur is a kirtan recording artist and Master of Naad Yoga (the yoga of sacred sound), having been deeply immersed in this sacred practice for 40 years. Her chanting stirs the heart, quiets the mind, and awakens divine consciousness. Her recordings include Seasons of the Soul and Mother's Blessing; she is currently working on another CD to be released later this year.
Joss Jaffe: Joss performs extensively in the world of kirtan and yoga music, accompanying numerous of the most popular artists today including Jai Uttal, Dave Stringer, Suzanne Sterling, Jaya Lakshmi, C.C. White, Shimshai and many others on tabla, percussion, bass and vocals.
Kundalini: Kelli Sat Siri Kaur and Mike Buckman brings sweet kirtan Kelli teaches Kundalini Yoga at our sacred Center. They travel around the Bay area performing Kirtan at local yoga studios and special events. They often have two or three other people they add in the band to sing sacred chants and enhance the energy with audience and overall well-being in the the room.
Astrud and The Cosmic Caravan: Astrud Castillo is inspired by the practice of Nada Yoga, the deep inner listening and exploration of the unstruck sound. From this exploration, the inner and outer vibration and expression of Kirtan arises. Astrud brings with her a host of talented musicians from the Bay Area with whom she is honored to play. The band is a caravan of Bhakti Yogis who love to sing in the key of "We".
Daniel Stewart: Daniel's Kirtan is a unique blend of rocking western soul and jazz style improvisation with authentic Sanskrit mantras. He is known for his joyful, ecstatic singing and for the dharma talks (about Self-realization and consciousness) that he weaves throughout. The numinous connection he feels singing is evident in the bhakti energy that grows in the room and the heart opening and Self-awakening often experienced by participants. He believes that together the musicians and the audience find union as they create an ecstatic experience of blissful music, deep meditation, and sweet, expansive consciousness.
Amitabhan: Ami (Amitabhan) shares his music at retreats and events with well-known spiritual teachers, at yoga studios, and at new-thought churches/centers throughout the US and Canada. A guitar player for over 25 years and performing since 1989, Ami has been deeply influenced by a variety of spiritual traditions. Equally comfortable performing original songs "born in the depths of a quieted gratitude," or in Kirtan settings, his music evokes the sacred — blending reverence with a sense of surrender into the changeless.
Kirtan with Rudra: He has a Guru from the North who chooses to remain in secrecy. Rudra's spiritual practice is one that spans from Asia to the Caribbean, and into the Greco-Egyptian Alchemical Traditions.
Orenda Blu: Orenda Blu hails from the pristine Sierra Nevada in Carnelian Bay nestled upon the azure shores of Lake Tahoe. Fascinated by the sacred and indigenous chants of world cultures, and emerging from a pop/rock background, Orenda Blu’s sound is both high energy and devotional. A singer songwriter and keyboardist, her debut C.D., “Sacred Chants One” on the Paradise Music label, showcases her unique songwriting in which she effortlessly transforms traditional Sanskrit mantras into eminently singable tunes.