The emergence and explosion of Yoga practices and centers has reaped and revealed a number of visible trends. Awareness, commercialization, and new levels of health and fitness have all swept across the cultural landscape simultaneously. Alongside all of this is the identification and flocking to of any and everything that falls within the broad parameters of “Yoga music”. As the rhythms penetrated farther in, the beats expanded and the grooves deepened. In conjunction with the steady rise of the kirtan movement, it is now everywhere evident that a fusion of these interactive expressions is manifesting in rampant dancing now becoming a regular element of many of these events, with hints of the old “Dead” shows in some respects. Kirtan -- singing for the divine in a call-and-response style -- generates lots of energy, and what better way to find and ride these waves than through dance and movement? At Rudramandir, in Berkeley, where most of the artists mentioned here have performed in the past 18 months, there is a DJ dance immediately following the monthly concerts, kirtan-style or otherwise.

Like Southern gospel and other transcendent forms of spiritual music, this ancient musical form moves people, and the inclusion of kirtan tents at many recent festivals and community uprisings is another notable progression. Mantras and sacred chants may be taken from Sanskrit, Sikh/Gurmukh, Hebrew, Qawwali, Sufi or other traditions.

Many artists are and have been involved in this phenomenon. Pioneers such as Jai Uttal, Suzanne Sterling, Donna DeLory, Girish, Sacred Earth and others are veritable high priests and priestesses of the dance/chant craze. Jai Uttal has been at the forefront of the kirtan movement, and landed there after a series of world fusion CDs with his Pagan Love Orchestra group, which intermingled chants with their world fusion brew. Recently, Jai collaborated with Rara Avis in a remix CD called “Dial M for Mantra” wherein electronic beats and well-aimed treatments took the chants to the next level, and beyond, and did so without merely pushing buttons to trigger incessant beats. Rara has been part of the Shaman's Dream collective and a key player in the Desert Dwellers group as well as releasing his own CD and contributing tracks to collections such as “Max.Chillroom”. This is tasteful music totally in the spirit of where the tradition was born.

Since then, labels like Kosmic and White Swan have issued new CDs that take these groundbreaking hybrids a step further. “Varanasi” (http://kosmicamusic.com) features Sweden’s Martin Landquist, who, under the name Naid takes a decidedly trancey approach to blending of rich female Indian vocals/chants. It is reminiscent of some of the luscious recordings of Deep Forest and William Orbit, but the sound and execution is more fluid, organic and moving. NAID (pronounced "Noyd”) treats the same chants you might hear at Ammachi's San Ramon ashram with a very different approach that can still somehow bring you to the same blissful place. Track after track opens up and expands the feeling of sacred rhythm and trancey chant dance forms that shift and leave imprints deep into the soul. It appears the voices behind NAID are a trio of young women that go by the name of Dakshinamurthy. They possess divine voices that harmonize beautifully and they’re backed by pulsating, driving, sophisticated and breathy beats. The great thing is that these women actually sing and aren’t just sampled morsels for some gluttonous producer. The entire CD, from-start-to-finish is an ecstatic statement in wholeness. Similarly, MC Yogi’s “Elephant Power,” (http://whiteswanmusic.com) appears this summer with mesmerizing, melting pot hip-hop electronica, takes on chants like “Ganesh is Fresh” and “Krishna Love” (both feat. Jai Uttal), as well as the hottest “Om Namah Shivaya” you could imagine. MC Yogi is co-founder of West Marin’s Yoga Toes studio. This CD is produced by Sean Dinsmore of the Dum Dum Project featuring Bhagavan Das, Jai Uttal, Krishna Das, Manose, Sukhawat Ali Khan, Rita Sahai, Sharon Gannon, Geoffrey Gordon, and more. The concept and singing is by M.C. Yogi, who channels the ancient devotional spirit of India in a completely original way with love, respect, humor and joy, connecting mythical gods and goddesses with modern beats and breaks.

Even more hip than “Dial M for Mantra” is the brand new “Cosmix” CD, just out on the Waveform label (http://waveformhq.com). This one brings the whole idea full circle, taking the expressive words of Ram Dass and mixing them in a perfect synergy into an inspired blending of mantra-like repeated phrases that merge into the many pulsing elements of electronica. Kindred to the “Dial M..” sound, it reaches farther back in the cosmic timeline. The full circle experience is derived from tracing the mind-expanding era of psychedelic culture and group consciousness, which birthed the roots of this music in the '60's and later absorbed exquisite Indian ragas, other ecstatic musical styles and finally discovered the simplicity of chanting the names of God over and over. There too, music and sound and the elevating aspects of both were an integral part of the journey. The chanting of “Om Mani Padme” throughout the track “Mantra” will turn you upside down and inside out while restoring balance at the same time. On “Cosmix,” this new blend of music and spirituality comes to fruition for a new generation. As the mixdown of mantra and electronics join in “One Love,” we find the more things change, the more they keep a changing.

“Kirtan is like a magnet, inviting and begging grace to enter our hearts and our lives. It is a most precious thing, something to be cherished and practiced with total gratitude, and those who learn how to enter into it will feel God’s grace and presence as the closest of the close, the dearest of the dear—our true beloved.” —Jai Uttal