It was an excellent weekend for music, of all kinds.

on Saturday night I went to see my ole Baba, Bhagavan Das, and chant the night away at Yoga on Main



Baba's main message, which I really appreciate, is the preciousness of human life. How easy to lose and how difficult to obtain. The importance of making the most of it, when you have it.
It was powerful times, as energy swirled, and subtle channels opened, and knots untied, and karmic residue came to the surface to find acceptance and release. Of course, as the fates would have it, Sally ended up two cushions away, and although there wasn't any eye contact or communication, the proximity added an extra electric charge to jolt my system. Challenging, but healing.
The next day, I came back to YOM to do Baba's Nada Yoga Workshop. Really it was a 3.5 hour Bhutta Shuddhi practice, chanting and purifying the chakras with mantras and visualization. I experienced some wonderful insights, and energetic openings. I wished it went on all day, and has inspired me to practice Bhutta Shuddi more on my own.

Sunday night, I was invited to see a guy named Grayson Capps.


His wife is producing David's new CD, and I got a text asking me would I let him crash the night at my place. I hauled myself down to olde city, and climbed the stairs to the tin angel, was really, really happy to watch and listen to this guy. Gritty Country Blues always moved me deep in my soul, and mad me proud to be an American. Grayson, indeed, made me proud to be an American. His songs told the story of an America untouched by time, pure and true, stories that sound like they were left to age in an old mason jar that still has a little moonshine in the bottom. And so many songs of heartbreak and loss, songs that made me feel less alone in my own secret pain. "There are some scars that just never heal," he told me after the show, "not much you can do except have a sense of humor about it." And speaking of which, this one is hilarious. He makes a good case.


And just because good things come in threes, I was gifted this really nice Jazz CD in the local book store today. Philadelphia is home to Hip Cinema's Nadine Patterson. Nadine is working on a film featuring a local Jazz musican, Warren Oree. The soundtrack is really enjoyable, and here is a clip and the description of the film.

Ancestral echoes of the Middle Passage reverberate through the upright bass handed down through three generations of the Montgomery family. Each generation deals with conflicts between dreams deferred, and the unfinished business of the past. Grandmom Mozelle was a pioneer in an all women’s band in the 1940’s, but she gave up her musical passion to raise her family in a segregated America. Her son Casey became a revolutionary of the 60’s and 70’s and used music to voice the ideals of the Black Power Movement. Upon his passing his daughter Zera finds herself ill at ease, struggling with her own issues of family, career and music, but also being pulled by something else. Where does this music come from? What is this music really about? Whose cries do we hear across time and space? Do we dare to listen? Do we dare to be healed?

So, that's the week in music, Enjoy!

this truly bizarre music video by "The Avalances" features a girl doing scorpion pose. in the background, you can also see her in Urvha Dhanurasana. Enjoy!

I'm going to go ahead and recommend that you all download Nutone Music's Spring Music Sampler. Its on Amazon, and It's Free. Play it in Yoga Class and buy the full albums.

Here!

Balinese Monkey Chanting is something that someone told me about once. I think they even offered me a small demonstration (to the best of their ability). I loved the idea, and it stayed in the back of my mind for a couple of years. Last night, the monkey reared its head, and I found myself compelled to start googling for everything I could find; video (below), audio (courtesy ubuweb ethnopoetics), and workshops (apparently your best bet outside Bali is Seattle or burning man). Unfortunately, noone on the internet seems to know all that much about Ketjak, and everyone seems to be quoting the same sources, and it is hard to get to the original knowledge. Any way, here is what I could gather.
I was suprised to find that the monkey chant was a product of the 20th century, I expected it to be much older. Apparently it has roots in a much older Balinese Exorcism Ritual, but the monkey chant proper is from the 1930s. Which brings me to my next misconceptions. I believed that monkey chanting was a somewhat random affair, perhaps with a conductor to guide the experience of shrieking and howling, but still very open to inprovisation and play. What I learned is that Ketjak is a scripted piece. It is a reinactment/retelling of the Ramayana focusing on the battle between the monkeys and the demons, and perhaps, told from their perspective. As the chorus chants, they sway and wave their hands, sometimes chanting together, sometimes dividing in two groups and chanting at each other. Occasionally a figure such as Ravana will pop up, and he will be chanted at (exorcized?)
As a practice it seems that it must provide an extremely invigorating, and trance inducing experience. It is said that it takes participants white alot of time to 'come down' from monkey chanting. The ritual choreography also creates an interesting experience of group mind, perhaps the same kind of group mind that Hanuman's Monkey Army experienced when they went to war in Lanka. I am always amazed at the practices that evolve out of devotion and a longing to understand and feel close to their chosen dieties. Ketjak appears to be a powerful tool for creating a certain bhava, or divine mood; a mood that allows one to feel the epic of the Ramayana play out inside the body. We are so lucky that human creativity is able to meet the challanges put forth by the very human need for divine connection, be it with yoga asana, kirtan, vedic chant, or ketjak.




video is from the movie Baraka, which is excellent.

Most likely, you all know who Yo-Yo Ma is. Randy Sutin, however, is probably more of a mystery. Randy is a really sweet guy that I practice yoga with occasionally; we had a fun weekend together down in Yogaville last spring. He is also a jazz musician and elementary school music teacher. Well, He has entered a contest, in which the winner gets to record with Yo-Yo Ma. I like Yo-Yo Ma, and I think it would be cool if Randy got to work with him. You can vote for him here.

Also, here is a video of Randy's School Kids performing David's "Love, Peace, and Freedom".

The great thing about great truth, is that it tracends all genres, all areas of life. What is true in yoga, is true in art, music, cooking, love, and life. So it comes as no suprise to me that the words of Thelonius Monk speak volumes in its crazy, jazzy wisdom. (crazy, man, crazy)

The first time I heard "The Prophet/Hare Krishna" from David Newman's "Love, Peace, Chant", it moved me to tears. And it still happens from time to time. I just feel the love deep in my heart, and I'm powerless. Its a truly beautiful experience, and its a truly beautiful album. It is a gift spiritually, to be able to spend time meditating with such a gem, turning a potentially aggravating rush hour drive into a chance for dive into the heart of the spirit.
I also use these chants frequently when I teach yoga class. The flow of the album works perfectly within the format of a class, and sometimes I pick and choose a few songs to mix into a playlist and that is delightful too.
In closing, I feel that David's mixture of traditional Sanskrit Devotional Chants and inspiring English lyrics really helps bridge the gap between east and west, between ancient and modern, between the head and the heart.

The Prophet

I found a ukulele in the thrift shop in P'aia a couple of weeks ago. Well, actually, Carl found it, and told me where it was, but that is another story (like, who is Carl?)
I've really been enjoying it, been playing it more than my guitar. I really enjoy playing for my students in yoga class, and i adore the portability aspect.
I'm also kind of into this artist i discovered on 'boing boing', Amy Crehore. There is a print called 'The Creature" in the back of the yoga studio that she painted. It is a gentle fantasy set in an apparent island paradise, tucked away in a valley. Two beautiful, brown skinned women sit at the edge of a clear blue pool. Both nude except for hibiscis flowers in their hair, one holds a monkey in her lab while the other plays a ukulele! Oh, and the uke player has a tail. I imagine that she is the creaure, as the other two characters eye her curiously as she strums away on her little instrument. A remarkable depiction of magic and wonder, which also happen to be two of my favorite things.
Cool thing is, I liked her art even before I started playing uke, I don't think it even registered in my mind that it was an ukelele in the print until i started writting this post. Trippy.
Amy is having a show in Los Angeles in February/March, called "Dreamgirls and Ukes". Above are some of the sketches for her show. If you happen to be in LA, and make it to the show, send me a postcard, would you?

I met these folks, Sam and Amber, on our whale watch with The Church of the Cetacean Nation. They were really sweet and positive beings, and it was good to share a boat with them for the day. They have created a cd of recorded whale sounds with didgeridoo and percussion. I got to hear some of it, and I really like it, it has a deep and soulful sound, and a very high vibration. I will probably be using it in some of of my bodywork sessions. Here is a song, and a link to their site.

Whale Trance Site

Whale Trance Song

If I lived in San Francisco, and I wasn't scheduled to teach my own class on August 3rd, I would probably want to take this yoga class at Yoga Tree Castro, with live music by Michael Franti. Of course, it's also a benefit for a good cause.

"Please join Michael Franti and Les Levanthal for an afternoon of YOGA and
MUSIC to benefit and support the �911 Power to the Peaceful Festival and
Organization.

Join Les for an awakening of the heart and spirit! Begin to celebrate the
joy and passion in your practice through opening and listening to what's
inside. By breathing deeper into poses, start shifting compassion from your
mat into the rest of your life. Blend pranayama, asanas, music and sweat to
build strength and flexibility while letting go of struggle.

Together, Michael and Les will lead you through a journey of music,
mindfulness and inspiration!"

register here

Pankaj and Ajay Sharma of the Light of Love Spiritual Foundation (Downingtown) are featured in this video with world renown author and performer Russill Paul. The three of them will be leading a sound healing workshop during the Halloween weekend. All I know is, is that when the veils between the worlds are thin, I want to be chanting!

In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan, armed with a reel-to-reel tape deck, snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced John to do an interview about peace. 38 years later, Jerry has produced a film about it. Using the original interview recording as the soundtrack, director Josh Raskin has woven a visual narrative which tenderly romances Lennon's every word in a cascading flood of multipronged animation. Raskin marries the terrifyingly genius pen work of James Braithwaite with masterful digital illustration by Alex Kurina, resulting in a spell-binding vessel for Lennon's boundless wit, and timeless message.

It is a quiet night, a few days after Winter Solstice, and a few days before Christmas. Writing a few notes about my dearly departed Ayurvedic Yoga Teacher, Betheyla, seems to be as good a way as any to begin the foray into Blogging. She died before dawn on the Ninth of December, so, where most of the major hubub around her passing has died down, we are still well within the TBOTD's 49 days. Still a good time to be feeling her out, reminding her to move on, etc.
Since she knew that she was dying, she spent a good deal of time with the TBOTD, which I suppose is what any of us would do, and she picked out some passages that she liked. I tried chanting it in Tibetan, but my Tibetan is not so good, so I scanned it a couple of times, and called it good. What to do, what to do...

Well, I suppose that that the Gods decided to take pity on me, because out of nowhere, my ole pal Pema Tendar decided to call, and announced that he was coming down to visit me for a day or two, as soon as I came to pick him up in Newark. Pema's Tibetan is excellent, and he is a Ningma Monk from The Zangdokpalri Monastery, so chanting Bardo Prayers is part of his holy work. I rushed off to collect him, with the hopes of having him teach me the chant, or in the event that it really was to much for me, to get a recording of it for listening and meditating and sharing with all of the other friends whose Tibetan is just as bad as mine. Well, Pema Tendar came through, he was happy to record the prayer, and even pulled out some other texts so that he could add some invocations and dedications. He asked me what her name was, so I believe he personalized it. He really did it up nice. I imagine that Betheyla is really happy with the result, which is good, because you've got to figure that she engineered the whole thing from behind the curtain.

Pema's Bardo Prayer For Betheyla