Jai Uttal

"THUNDER LOVE" AND THE BHAKTI TRADITION
Many people have asked me why I didn't just do another strictly "Kirtan" album. Kirtan and Bhakti Yoga are so popular these days and this, of course, is what everyone associates me with. Well, although Kirtan is very crucial to the practice of Bhakti Yoga, it's not the ONLY compon...ent. The tradition of 'Bhajan' singing goes back for centuries and has always been hand and hand with Kirtan. A 'Bhajan' is, very simply, a devotional song. Usually these songs have verses which either praise, invoke or describe a deity, or which express more personally the thoughts and feelings of the devotee/composer/singer. Most of the time the choruses are repetitive call and response Kirtans, which give great power to the singer's prayer. My experiment or intention with Thunder Love was to create modern Bhajans for THIS century. And since my language of thought and speech is English, of course the songs are in English. And since the language of my prayer and meditation is Sanskrit, well, there are the choruses!Read More

A week of Kirtan concerts and workshops around the New York area with one daring adventure into Pensacola, Florida. The first night, at the Community Church of New York, night will be me plus a great band consisting of Daniel Paul on Tablas, Charlie Burnham (my oldest friend and Gurubhai) on Violin and members of Gaura... Vani and As Kindred Spirits and The Mayapuris......... Wow, hold on to your hats and hearts. Then Daniel and I lead a weekend workshop at IYI on 13th street and for the rest please check my website www.jaiuttal.com. Peace and Love, JaiRead More