Dr Swami Ramananda Maharaja on piano, Hammond organ, korg 98 split strings, bells, pipe organ, drums, violin, sitar, tamboura, and all vocals.
Paul Inder, bass, lead guitar, accousitcal guitar, and drums
Donna di Lore, backup vocals on Nanda du Lal
Jason Pell, violin on WORLD PEACE CONCERT
Sue , flute
Mandakani, recorder on Nanda du Lal
Vishnu Govinda, kartals, bells, percussion
Alice Coltrane, organ and harp on SONG OF THE HIMALAYAS
Indian devotional music, bhajans and kirtan, jazz, world beat, drum fusion, rap, hip hop, ethnic sampling. Alice Coltrane's early albums from the 1960s Journey in Satchidananda, Ptah the El Daod, Universal Consciousness, Lord of Lords, and Huntington Ashram Monastery
Sounds Like
Really nothing I have ever heard. Some have called Swamiji the male Nora Jones. He can sing in so many different ways.....but almost everyone says when they hear him it opens their heart. He is a Hindu Swami and it is his job to do that, we sing for devotional reasons as well as to entertain. A totally unique sound!
Swami Ramananda is the singing, rapping, amazing keyboardist, author of the best selling New Age book BLISS NOW!.....perhaps as the Hindu Times states, "the worlds most blissful Swami!" "Swamiji has the most incredible voice, it lilts like jazz, he sings traditional Indian kirtan, he also has to be the first Swami to RAP in Sanskrit on his song 'Peace Rap' which has been a favourite in yoga centers from NYC to LA. (Wings of the Dawn 2006, Shakti Records). You can check out this song and the title song of his album at www.myspace.com/jaimasatsang. Swamiji has performed all over the world from Japan and India to his most recent tour in England, Ireland, and France. He sang at CLUB KALI in NYC and New Delhi, live singing and rapping over hip hop tracks. In his album VEDIC RAVE, Swamiji was singing at a live rave at BURNING MAN in the Nevada Desert while some 2000 ravers danced to his wild music into the night. Swami Ramananda shows his keyboard skills in his solo piano album "BHAKTI". MUSIC BEAT magazine entoned "A lot of Swamiji's music is dedicated to the Coltrane Family and the influence particualarly Alice Coltrane, John Coltrane's wife and also a Hindu Swami, had on his work. He met Alice Coltrane in India and they collaborated on a lot of work before her passing last year. You will hear the influence of jazz in much of his bhajans because of his deep respect and friendship with Alice, Miles Davis, and Rashan Roland Kirk." Many people also have heard Swamiji in concert in Rio de Janerio, Brasil where he sat in with Kiko Fortune at the Ipanema Club and literally ran with set. He sang beautifully in Portugese and the crowd was amazed at his abilities in Bossa Nova. Swami Ramananda is a unique soul on this planet, who seems to be comfortable in almost any idiom of music. He is a classical trained Juliard pianist, who sings in Hindi or Sanskrit as if he was Indian. His concert album WORLD PEACE PRAYER recorded live in Honolulu, Hawaii is soulful with Jason Pell playing solo violin from the Honolulu symphony orchestra and background is provided by the monks of the Krishna Temple. "SWAMIJI is in a league of his own. He is singing what he hears devotionally in his heart and bringing down much light in his sound from the higher heavenly worlds." ----Alice Coltrane (Swamini Turiyasangitananda)
I have gotten your beautiful invitations and Swami, your phone messages - I am super busy working on the desert anthology book for Heyday Books in Berkeley, and also really want to come to Vegas to see you - thank you for the invitation and I'm sorry I haven't called you back yet. I only have 5 copies of the book - that is all I have left; am wondering how I can get those to you in time for the weekend...I do want to work with you to help you print more and make sure we have the right copy this time. I will try to call you tomorrow (Friday) - your big event in Vegas sounds so beautiful! I am heading to northern CAL for a writing workshop on Tuesday, and am trying to figure out how I can come to Vegas and then also make sure everything is ready for my trip. Thank you for your love and light, lots to talk to you about and catch up on - will talk very soon. Love and devotion, Prema
SPEND TWO DAYS WITH SWAMI RAMANANDA IN LAS VEGAS AT BLUE SKY YOGA JULY 26TH AND 27TH. ON JULY 26TH SWAMIJI WILL TAKE US HIKING AT RED ROCK CANYON VORTEX FOR SUNSET YOGA. ON THE 27TH A FULL DAY OF YOGA CLASSES, DISCOURSES, SWAMI READING FROM HIS BOOKS AND ANSWERING QUESTIONS, IN THE EVENING A ROUSING KIRTAN CONCERT IN ONLY THE WAY THAT HE CAN DO IT FROM HIS NEW ALBUM VEDIC RAVE! DONT MISS THIS WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY TO HANG WITH SWAMIJI!PLEASE CONTACT OUR WEB SITE HERE FOR MORE DETAILS AND PRE-REGISTRATION. JAI MA! OM SHANTI!
JAI MA SWAMIJI! I AM SUCH A FAN OF YOUR MUSIC! I HAVE "WINGS OF THE DAWN" CURRENTLY PLAYING ON MYSPACE PAGE. I AM WORKING ON YOUR NEW ALBUM COVER AND I KNOW YOU WILL LOVE THE PAINTING I AM DOING OF YOU. ALWAYS YOUR FRIEND,OM SHANTI, CHRISTINA DE MUSEE
