I had the pleasure of performing recently in Joshua Tree as part of an amazing first-time gathering called Bhakti Fest.  It was a 3-day Woodstock-like event, only without the drugs or alcohol. Boring – you might think.  But it was quite the opposite.  In fact the energy, the food, the lectures, the ongoing yoga classes and the music were all extremely healthy and stimulating in the most positive ways.  The leading groups (Jai Uttal, David Stringer, Donna DeLory…) mixing contemporary Western music with traditional India and spiritual music played back to back, around the clock, for the full 3 days, while people danced and celebrated the divine energy that that music is meant to evoke – love.  It was one of the most relaxing yet amazingly inspiring love and joy-filled musical events I have been to in a long time.  Personally, it was a good fulfilling and grounding experience before hopping on a 6am flight to the much more frenetic Toronto Film Festival.

Kirtan, in it’s most traditional form, is Vedic Mantra sung in the ancient language of Sanskrit to worship or invoke the divine spirit. Kirtan is typically performed in a call and response format.  With many artists today giving it a popular music twist by infusing English lyrics, new melodies and contemporary music and song forms, it has become increasingly more prevalent in the West.

The amazing nature of the pure Sanskrit mantras is that each word and accompanying sound contains a very specific meaning and vibrational energy, that enters our system in a healing and energetically shifting way when we sing or listen to it. Prior to spoken language as we know it, in fact, mantra was used as a way to communicate feelings, ideas and energy between fellow human beings. The fascinating history of mantra and sound vibration as communication is another testament to the healing and transforming power inherent in music and song.

Following is a video of Western Kirtan Artist Jai Uttal (one of the headliners at Bhakti Fest) talking about his experience with Kirtan.  For more info about the festival, check out http://www.westcoastkirtanyogafestival.com.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFEFxrb_yJ8[/youtube]