Anybody hear of a recording of J at Amma’s birthday.

[ammaringnyc]

There were pics, was there any sound?

[rambleon]

you know, as it was her 50th b-day celebration it is possible a recording does exist …
i went to see amma last november (when she last came to london) + she had a whole stall set up for her CDs + videos etc … i think they were mostly her speeches, but maybe there were some music ones too – i didn’t really look … so maybe if you checked out her website you could find out some more info ? … or maybe there’s a contact email address on her website that you could email ? i think the main site is : ammachi.org

[rambleon]

not a recording, but some more info about the international bhajan group http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IER20030923132126&Title=Kerala&rLink=-268

KERALA

May 10, 2004

Music streams to create ocean of bhajan

Wednesday September 24 2003 00:00 IST

KOCHI: Ever heard a jazz crooner belt out paeans of devotion? Or for that matter, bhajans chanted to the tune of high-decibel rock? If you haven’t, then the international bhajan performance at the Amritavarsham celebrations on the evening of September 25 is sure to be a surprise.

Music medley of hymns is a specialty of Mata Amritanandmayi meets abroad, where devotees often sing Amma’s bhajans in their languages, against the background of their ethnic music. But at the forthcoming celebrations, they will take the medley to another scale altogether. The bhajan programme will be a mosaic of various languages, styles and instruments, with a host of Amma’s devotees from across the globe, who are professional musicians, presenting a concert in her honour, says Math spokesperson Swami Abhayamritachaitanya. A medley on such a scale has perhaps not been done before.

So there’ll be rhythm and blues, jazz, Western classical, gospel, soul and opera, all blending with each other to render Amma’s bhajans. In fact, two new compositions have been made specially for the Amritavarsham celebrations. The International Bhajan Group, as it is called, comprises artistes like David Balakrishnan (violin), Lara Gasser (choir), Arun Hamoui (singer), Tony Jarvis (singer, guitar, flute) Murali Levine (choir, guitars), Murali Marie (singer, e-piano), J Mascis (singer, guitar) Amritapriya Schmidt (choir, flute), Bruno Steffen (choir, keyboards), Nandana Struempel (choir, cello), Gitamba van Osthout (singer), Swarna Iyer (singer, keyboards), Anu Iyer (tabla), Herb Graham, Jr,(choir, percussion, bass guitar), Oum-Hani Tapasia.

How do such diverse music forms gel? “These are all professionals. Not just the forms are different, but the bhajans will slip easily from one language to another,” says the Swami, adding that the effect cannot be described. It has to be personally experienced.

[Author]

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