SACRED MUSIC BREAKING GROUND IN LOS ANGELES
(PUBLISHED IN “LA YOGA MAGAZINE” – 2008)
By Michael R. Mollura, MFA, MA
Many accomplished spiritual musicians are in agreement that no other city in the world has spiritual music that is more varied, abundant and available than here in Los Angeles. Over the many years of its still very young history, Los Angeles has manifested as a beacon for spiritual musicians from all over the world to settle down in, and for Seekers to come and figure out how to balance having a delusional life with an enlightened one. As many of us know, leading a spiritual life on any level, can be more frustrating than trying to walk along the branch of an olive tree holding a liter of oil around your neck. To sustain the benefits of any yogic class requires a lot of discipline, skill and faith; and music has often been the source for many yogis in Los Angeles to remind themselves how to avoid losing the ecstasy once the Shakti starts flowing through their spines.
“People come to Los Angeles to manifest something that they have been dreaming about their whole life,” notes the hugely popular kirtan recording artist and L.A. local Dave Stringer. “I think the presence of the entertainment industry influences people to turn inward in dealing with the rejections and we often find ourselves staring at our own personal void. That can be a very dark and difficult process, but when you start to come out the other side it can actually be a very meaningful, and spiritual process.”
Perhaps the presence of the entertainment industry does have something to with why there are more yoga studios in Los Angeles than there are pizzarias, but there is something going on in this metropolis that keeps attracting more and more spiritual musicians like Stringer to come here to settle down. In fact, as a transplanted New Yorker myself, I have been totally amazed and downright blown away by the level of musicianship, devotion and interest in spiritual music from all over the world that can be found beneath the seemingly absurd veneers of the Hollywood Sign.
“We’re incredibly lucky,” exclaims Kirtan recording artist Wah! “The first wave of spiritual teachers established themselves here on the West Coast (like Yogananda, Muktananda, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and Amma) and laid out some teachings that we could follow. Today many of these paths are networking in L.A. as a community and offering light while not being so concerned with setting up a church which makes spiritual activities much more accessible in comparison to most cities.”
So many of us here in Los Angeles should be grateful for being here at this time in history. We are so blessed by all the spiritual music here that we are approaching the point of not only being overwhelmed, but being down right spoiled.
“No other city has so many people of various faiths and so many people who are spiritual,” notes Oscar-winning sacred music composer Yuval Ron. “I believe that the relative proximity to Asia and the Eastern philosophies have an impact on California, plus the Ocean is a great source of mysticism and spirituality.”
As a portal into America from the Far East, spiritual music here in Los Angeles can indeed be found in abundance and there is a spiritually driven music event happening on almost every night of the week at so many diverse venues. Yuval Ron commented that he experiences a wealth of inspiration in L.A. from people who practice, Yoga, Sufism, Judaism/Kabbalah, Native American worship and more. “The World Festival of Sacred Music takes place here every three years for a reason,” adds Yuval. “This event always draws a special inspiration and special audience, also The Hammer Museum and the Getty Center and Gettty Villa provide deep atmosphere for Sacred Music. This is a truly amazing place.”
“In Los Angeles the spiritual music scene as a whole got wider,” notes Wah! “It started out with us all using harmonium and tabla and it has expanded into Western instrumentation and other traditions like Kaballah. There’s Hebrew chanting and Buddhist chanting. There’s the AGAPE Gospel choir and it just seems to keep expanding.”
The impact of having a wide range of professional musicians around lends itself to the rising growth of the spiritual community in L.A. The presence of highly skilled artists from all over the world creates an opportunity for musicianship to become part of the sacred music genre. The impact of the skillful artistry here raises the bar of performance levels throughout the genre itself.
“When I began to lead kirtans I started out with devotional musicians,” notes Stringer. “I would find people who lived in Ashrams and appreciated the form (Chanting) as an act of spiritual practice, but I found that as I started to look at Kirtan as a legitimate form of music, above and beyond an act of devotion, I started asking professional musicians to play in my kirtan ensembles and to approach it as a form of music. I’m not sure that could have happened anywhere else in the world.”
“There’s an incredible amount of talent in Los Angeles which opens up different possibilities for spiritual performances,” agrees Wah! “People are naturally involved in the entertainment and music industries so they have a certain standard for excellence. So, there’s musicianship and services creating refined offerings to this particular genre like in no other situation that I know of.”
The result of having so many musicians in one area is that it creates a community that is teeming with music almost all of the time. “Spiritual music especially kirtan (devotional chanting) is a powerful way to transcend the thickness of L.A. life,” notes local kirtan singer Travis Buckle. “Sacred music elevates people above the ordinary into the extraordinary.”
“This is the only place I know that you can walk into any Yoga class at any studio and enjoy incredibly favorable odds of having a breakthrough experience,” notes spiritual music producer Shiva Baum. “L.A. is an extraordinary place to be a Bhakta. Probably the best in North America. I have worked intimately with Krishna Das, Bhagavan Das and Jai Uttal (who have all recorded material in L.A.) for a long time and as a result, I’ve experienced and befriended many of L.A.’s best yoga practitioners and students.”
“I feel so blessed to live in L.A. and be surrounded by so many devotional musicians,” notes singer/songwriter and spiritual devi Donna DeLory. “It is such a different experience to work with musicians who have the intention to transform and heal with their gifts as I do. I live in Topanga Canyon where there is a great community of like-minded artists who thrive on having their creativity fed by the surrounding nature.”
“The L.A. spiritual community gets it!” declares Bhakti (devotional yoga) devotee and kirtan singer Tulasi Perry with enthusiasm. “I’m not sure there’s anyplace else in this country where they understand so easily that this isn’t just a performance, it’s an experience we are creating together, and the distance we can travel while creating this experience has no limits. Living here makes it possible for me to have a music practice. I can find teachers of Indian music who grew up learning it, who studied at their Guru’s feet for years. In L.A. I can find places to play this music, I can find other musicians to play it with, and I never feel a sense of competition.”
The high volumes of spiritual performances that take place here in Los Angeles have also created a condition that is very unique. Most people interested in checking out spiritual music can do so without feeling the pressure of having to join an organization or sell their soul to a guru or any particular path.
“It’s true,” agrees Wah! “The difference in L.A. is that you don’t have to ‘join’ anything. In the beginning, and certainly still in many places in the U.S., there’s a sentiment that you need to join and settle into some particular line or lineage in order to get something out of it. Today, in Los Angeles anyway, you don’t have to join anything and still be a part of it. On some given week you can go see Mother Mira, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Ammachi and it’s more an ‘all one’ experience. We don’t have to pick and choose.”
The welcome-friendly open-door policy of spiritual centers has transformed Los Angeles into a breakthrough city for the spiritual world. “California is typically and politically the groundbreaker,” says Wah! “We are Earthquake country, meaning that we will break the ground first. So, a lot of teachers have come here from India because we are a little more progressive in our thinking and we are open to creating a real change.” In this way, people who live busy, productive lives can enjoy the benefits of a chant from the East to the West side of Los Angeles with easy accessibility.
“I think it’s important for people to have many spiritual music options as we do here in Los Angeles,” notes devotional percussionist and practicing psychotherapist Michele Blair. “Research shows that participating in community events such as kirtan can promote stress-reduction and mood-elevation, thereby relieving anxiety, depression, and other uncomfortable emotional states.”
Andrew Behla is an Art of Living devotee who is also a musician while holding a position in the entertainment industry working with Andrew Summers of The Police. Behla and his wife Michele help organize a monthly satsang that gives people who reside along the perimeters of Hollywood a chance to experience the nectar of chanting as well.
“The monthly chanting in Topanga at the Yoga Desa studio is a refuge for many, and people drive from as far away as Santa Barbara, Big Bear, and Irvine to participate,” says Behla. “We always welcome first-time chanters and regulars alike and emphasize that this isn’t a performance, but a way to connect with each other while raising the vibration in the atmosphere. By the end of the evening there is always a sweet silence that permeates the room allowing us to recharge and rest for a little while.”
In addition to the Art of Living chant at Yoga Desa, you can also find Govindas & Radha chanting at Yoga Works on 2nd Street in Santa Monica every first Saturday of the month. There are also weekly chants at Yoga West, led by Yogi Bhajan every Thursday night. Even in private homes there are chants taking place. On Wednesday nights, there is a chant at Randall Reel’s home that is open to anyone interested in experiencing or participating in a chant. One of the most popular monthly chants are those led by Steve Ross at Maha Yoga in Brentwood. Though it would seem impossible to list all the chants that take place on a regular basis, one couldn’t ever leave out the always happy and welcoming jingles that are offered freely to everyone at the Krishna Consciousness Society in Venice. There is also a monthly produced by Amma devotees called “LA Satsang” and, of course, there is the wealth of energy available at the Self Realization Center in Pacific Palisades. In Long Beach, Larissa Stow offers many music events. Lastly, At the Siddha Yoga Meditation Center in Santa Monica, I play lead piano and harmonium for two weekly satsangs on Tuesday and Saturday nights which are free and also open to the public to come and just experience the nectar of a satsang
No one can really say why spiritual music is not as popular as many of us would like to think it is. As it stands now, the sacred music market remains as a sort of underground scene with its own niche. But ticket sales and attendance numbers are certainly increasing, as well as the number of sacred music events taking place in Los Angeles and in many other cities. I personally believe that the need for these events is on the rise and, as the world continues to spin, the market for authentic sacred music will spread to wider range of people. Only now are people starting to “get it” and realize that this genre of music does have substance and musicality and not just the regular “fluff” that New Age music is usually associated with. As someone who grew up listening to The Clash, Pink Floyd and Velvet Underground, I know that to appreciate and understand sacred music does take a lot of work and sometimes it just takes surrendering and letting go of our former identities as rebels and start from “nothing.” It’s happening and will continue to happen.
CONCLUSION:
Each chant or sacred world music event offers a unique energetic alchemy that makes each one special and worth checking out. Most of the differences are based on instrumentation and language choices. Almost all the artists quoted here are Los Angeles residents and they are all available and accessible and usually egoless unless they are talking to a fireman. There is just no way anyone could mention all of the fantastic sacred music events that take place in Los Angeles, so if you are interested in learning more about what’s going on feel free to contact me personally and I would be happy to discuss what events might be agreeable to you. It is with great respect and gratitude that I have been given this opportunity to share my passion about the Los Angeles spiritual music community and it is my hope that I have either inspired you to continue coming out to our sacred world music offerings, or to investigate an event as a newcomer where I assure you that you will be welcomed with love, a smile and, if you wish, a hug.
Contact for this article:
Dave Stringer (Davestringer.com)
Wah! (Wahmusic.com)
Yuval Ron (Yuvalronmusic.com)
Travis Buckle
Donna Delory (donnadelory.com)
Andrew Behla (behladesign.com)
Shiva Baum
Tulasi Perry
Michele Blair, MFT, Psycho Therapist and devotional percussionist