Customer Reviews

Celestial Chants - Live Kirtan With Gandharva

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4 star:		(2)
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This Kirtan CD has a wonderfully intimate quality, as though you were chanting with friends in a yoga teacher's living room. This is not a highly "produced" CD; there are no flutes, violins, overdubs, or remixes. But the sound is excellent, of audiophile quality: clear, crisp, balanced, and three-dimensional. As a result, the five background singers (affectionately called the Celestial Voices) can be heard more distinctly than in other Kirtan CD's I have listened to, and one can appreciate their spontaneity and individual gifts. Gandharva's voice has a deep, strong, shamanistic authority, serious but sweetened with joy, playfulness, and sometimes an almost Celtic lilt and fluidity of cadence (I can imagine him singing sea chanties in a former life!).

Several of the tracks are mantras with specific purposes, which I found new and interesting. For example, Track 2 (Ganesha Sharanam) is a mantra to remove obstacles and receive blessings. Track 3 (Radhe Shyam) is a chant to celebrate the union of male and female energies. The standout track for me was Track 4 (Gopala/Hare Krishna), a shamelessly joyful, almost giddy chant which goes through several interesting rhythm changes, starting slow and then skipping up into the heavens. Track 5, by contrast (Ram Sita Ram), is slow, stately, and gospel-like (cavil: it's harmonies are less than perfect, but maybe I'll get used to that).

Any downsides? If you only like Jai Uttal's ambrosial sweetness and innovative musicality, or Krishna Das's effortless charm and polished production, this CD may be too lean and spare for you. The instrumental accompaniment is minimal; mostly drum and percussion. But if you want to try Kirtan straight up, with nothing to distract from the full potency of its transformative, healing powers, this CD is one for your collection. It is quietly friendly, and will grow on you.

CAVEAT: I am only a novice Kirtan listener, so please bear that in mind. More experienced listeners may offer more authoritative and helpful comments. Peace and love to all.

Get exactly what the title suggest, the experience of live kirtan. I have been chanting for years and it is refreshing to finally have a CD that is not overproduced but is the best quality sound I've heard. This CD is the experience of having a live kirtan in your home. Gandharva has captured the essence of chanting mantra, one of the most powerful forms of healing in the world today. His selection of chants is inspired because they are easily accessible to the novice or experienced listener/participant. If you live outside the NY/NJ area and can't regularly get to a Gandharva kirtan, this CD is all you need. I play it for my yoga classes, for myself as I chant in full voice and dance around the empty studio, I even play it when I'm not in the room just to lift the energy of the space. All of my students love it and have ordered their own copies, even more than one so they have it available at home, in the car, at their vacation homes. Grounding and uplifting, serious and celebratory, immediately healing. Gandharva's voice captures all the nuances of a great performance.

Listening to Gandharva and his kirtan group brings a smile to my face, and a groovin' peaceful feeling in my heart. Jai! Jai!

I saw them in New York many years ago. I have this CD and is is one i play often when I need a mood altering moment. You can see the joy here... [...]
my dog on the other hand... Zen-ing out:)