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Mala

by Dave Stringer

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Sheet Music + Digital Album

    Music book contains easy to use transcriptions for harmonium and guitar of all Kirtans and Bhajans recorded by Dave Stringer, both original and traditional compositions. It's sized for an iPad, or you can print it yourself in either A5 or US 8.5 x 5.5 (half-sheet) format. This is the 216 page book that Dave gives to students at Kirtan Flight Schools in Europe, Australia and North America. Includes guitar chord charts and many translations of the original Sanskrit into German, French, Spanish and English.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Mala via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Cute pocket size (5 in x 5 in) version of the Radiance Sutras, perfect for use in yoga classes. Contains 35 of Dave Stringer and Denise Kaufman's favorite selections. 110 pages includes forward by Shiva Rea and comments by Lorin Roche.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Mala via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Full Digital Discography

    15
    releases

    Get all 15 Dave Stringer releases available on Bandcamp and save 30%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Mantra Americana II, Mantra Americana, Glider, The Udaya Sessions, Live At Bhaktifest, IQ & EQ Remix Series, Brink, The Satellite Sky - EP, and 7 more. , and , .

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1.
Govinda Jaya Jaya 07:38
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Govinda Jaya Jaya Gopala Jaya Jaya Radha Ramana Hari Govinda Jaya Krishna (here referred to by his other names Govinda and Gopala) and Radha (the consort of Krishna, whose name means fortunate or successful) are symbolic of the unity of the world and the observer of the world, the lover and the beloved.
2.
Bhagavati 07:12
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The Mahishasuramardini Stotram (found in the Devi Mahatmyam) has twenty verses, of which I have selected the four I find most essential. The text is a prayer to the Goddess Durga, who slays the demon of the ego with the power of grace. 1. Ayi giri nandini, nandita medini, visva vinodini, nandinute Giri vara vindhya shirodhini vasini vishnuvilaasini jishnunute Bhagavati he shitikanthaku tumbini bhooriku tumbini bhoorikrute Jaya jaya he mahishaa suramardhini ramya kapardini shailasute 2. Suravara varshini durdhara dharshini durmukha marshini harsharate Tribhuvana poshini shankara toshini kilbisha moshini ghosharate Danujani roshini ditisuta roshini durmada shoshini sindhusute Jaya jaya he mahishaa suramardhini ramya kapardini shailasute 8. Dhanuranu sangara nakshana sanga parishphu radanga natatkatake Kanakapishanga prishatkanishanga rasadbhatasringa hataabayuke Krutachaturanga balakshitiranga ghatadbahuranga ratadbatuke Jaya jaya he mahishaa suramardhini ramya kapardini shailasute 16. Vijita sahasra karaika sahasra karaika sahasra karaikanute Krutasura taaraka sangara taaraka sangara taaraka soonusute Suratha samaadhi samaana samaadhi samaadhi samaadhi sujaatarate Jaya jaya he mahishaa suramardhini ramya kapardini shailasute
3.
Shivaya Namah Om 10:38
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Shivaya Namah Om Namah Shivaya A series of infinitely sustainable sounds that invoke the infinite being of Shiva, the Lord of dissolution. Shiva is the witness of the endless rise and fall of all transient forms. In chanting this mantra, one identifies with the still point around which the entire universe revolves.
4.
Gaja Nana 05:27
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Gaja Nana Hey Gaja Nana Gauri Manohara Priya Nandana Pashupati Taneya Gaja Nana Parama Niranjana Gaja Nana Hey A song to Ganesha, who removes the obstacles of the mind. In yoga, what obstructs also contains within it the wisdom by which one finds the way through. The pure exists within what has become corrupted, and within heaviness are the seeds of liberation and light.
5.
Saraswati Intro Mantras 00:57
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6.
Saraswati Ma 07:03
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Ya kundendu tushara hara dhavala ya shubhra vastravirta Ya vinavara danda mandita kara ya shveta padmasana Ya Brahmachyuta Shankara prabhirtibhir devaih sada vandita Sa mam patu Saraswati bhagavati nihshesha jadyapaha Saraswati Ma Mahadevi Namo Namah The name Saraswati means literally ‘she of the stream’. The Goddess of music and art and literature, she can also be thought of as the stream of ideas, the stream of the breath, of the movement of forms in time.
7.
Devakinandana Gopala 08:28
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Devakinandana Gopala Devakinandana Gopala Gopala Govinda Govinda Gopala Devakinandana, Gopala and Govinda are all names of Krishna, an expression of the longing to return to a state of union with love, at the source of all things.
8.
Universal Prayer 02:18
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Durjanah sajjano bhuyat sajjanah shantim-apnuyat Shanto muchyeta bandhebhyo muktash-chanyan vimochayet Sarve bhavantu sukhinah sarve santu niramayah Sarve bhadrani pashyantu mas kashchid-dukha-bhag bhavet Sarvas-taratu durgani sarvah kaman-avapnotu Kale varshatu parjanyah sarvah sarvatra nandatu May the wicked become good. May the good obtain peace. May the peaceful be freed from bonds. May the freed set others free. May all be happy. May all be healthy. May all see only auspicious sights. May no one have a share in sorrow. May everyone surmount his difficulties. May everyone have their desires fulfilled. May it rain at the right time. May everyone everywhere be glad.
9.
About Bhagavati 00:30
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10.
About Devakinandana Gopala 00:31
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11.
About Gaja Nana 00:26
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12.
About Govinda Jaya Jaya 00:24
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13.
About Saraswati Ma 00:38
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14.
About Universal Prayer 00:22
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15.
Billions of Spinning Particles 00:29
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16.
Kirtan Roots 00:38
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17.
Mantra Tools 00:32
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about

"Defiantly not your traditional kirtan album!"
--- www.yogabasics.com

"Not being a practitioner of yoga, I wasn't prepared for the impact this compelling CD would have on me. The eight rather indescribable songs on Mala take on a life of their own with melodies so beautiful you may want to cry. Mala is easily one of the most ear-opening records I've heard this year.”
--- www.seaoftranquility.org

"Stringer's most ambitious and best work to date. "Mala" is an important addition to anyone's collection of kirtan albums."
--- LA Yoga Pages

Mala is a call and response kirtan CD with jazz, gypsy and country influences all evident. Dave Stringer’s ingenious and unorthodox arrangements are sweeping and cinematic in scope, integrating the Indian instruments of the traditional Hindustani kirtan style with exquisite vocal harmonies and accents of lap steel, banjo, trumpet and violin.

With songs like the quietly driving 'Bhagavati' and the bouncy 'Govinda Jaya Jaya', Mala contains music that can be used both as an accompaniment to yoga and as music to listen to simply for the pleasure of it. Kirtan is a participatory form of music, so singing along with the CD can be a particularly rewarding experience (the Sanskrit lyrics are helpfully provided in the packaging).

Produced by Saul David Raye. Special guests include Sheila Nicholls, C.C. White, Joni Allen, Shanti Shivani, Suzanne Sterling, Allie Stringer, Steve Ross and Girish.

"India blasted me into billions of spinning particles and then slowly
reshaped me, a process that was somehow both excruciating and ecstatic. I can’t begin to claim complete knowledge of all of the layers of philosophy represented by the mantras I learned to chant while I was there, but I can attest to their power. I’m not a Sanskrit scholar and not always a particularly focused devotee, but I am deeply committed to the process of inquiry that the practice of yoga suggests.

I once read that Thomas Jefferson took a copy of the Bible and cut out the parts that most resonated with him, then reassembled his selections into a work that reflected his own way of saying his prayers. I suppose it is fair to say that as an artist, I am engaged in something of a similar process with yoga. I don’t know exactly where the journey I am making ends. I’m just trying to report honestly from where I am.

Kirtan is rooted in a very old and profoundly joyful Eastern tradition. But I don’t know that it is possible for me to be traditional. As a Westerner, I can’t help but bring my own cultural biases with me. My intention, however, is to be authentic, in the sense that what I am doing originates in my heart. For me, to align the individual-dissolving Eastern tradition of kirtan with the individual-affirming Western traditions of gospel and jazz and rock music is no contradiction. Both arise from the same impulse toward expressing what is ecstatic and liberating and transcendent.

Mantras are intended as a tool with which the spirit can release
itself from the prison of attachments that the mind creates. It’s not unfair to say that the chanting of mantras is intended to be a completely mindless activity. Yoga doesn’t ask us to believe, it asks us to practice, examining our experience until we can witness the truth in the book of our own heart. My only suggestion is that you chant along. Whether these mantras are ancient wisdom or psychological metaphor or complete nonsense is up to you."

Dave Stringer

credits

released September 21, 2004

Musicians:

Allie Stringer: Featured Vocals (5/6) / C.C. White: Featured Vocals (6), Vocals (1,3,7) / Caleb Brennan: Choir (3) / Cameron Stone: Cello / Candy Girard: Violin (3,4,8) / Carri Abrahms: Featured Vocals (4), Accordian (6) / Danny Peck: Vocals (3,4,7) / Dave Stringer: Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar (1,4,7), Harmonium, Accordian (1), Mandolin, Melodica, Tamboura (1, 5/6, 7, 8), Swaramandala / Domonic Dean Breaux: Flute, Soprano Saxophone / Donna De Lory: Vocals (3,4,7) / Girish Gambhira: Tablas, Dulcimer, Mridangam, Marimba, Manjira (3, 6), Shaker, Tamboura (3) / Greg Wendt: Choir (3) / Haribol Siddhadas: Manjira (1), Choir (3) / Ian Walker: Electric Bass, Acoustic Bass (7) / Jaik Grace: Featured Vocals (2), Vocals (1), Choir (3) / James Harrah: Electric Guitar, Lap Steel (6) / Jay Bellerose: Drum Set, Shaker, Djembe / Jay Gibson: Trumpet / Joni Allen: Featured Vocals (7), Vocals (1,3,6) / Laria Saunders: Choir (3) / Lili Haydn: Violin (4) / Liz Burnette: Featured Vocals (3), Vocals (4,6) / Mark Smith: Featured Vocals (4), Vocals (1,3,7) / Marty Alan: Sitar (2) / Nirlepa Howard: Choir (3) / Patricia Sill: Choir (3) / Sean O’Byrne: Choir (3) / Scott Mills: Banjo, Tenor Saxophone, Vocals (7) / Scott Schenke: Lap Steel (1,8) / Shakti Gray: Choir (3) / Shanti Shivani: Featured Vocals (3) / Sheila Nicholls: Featured Vocals (1), Vocals (3, 4,7), Piano / Steve Ross: Acoustic Guitar (6), Vocals (6) / Sudama Mark Kennedy: Sitar (3), Choir (3) / Suzanne Sterling: Featured Vocals (2), Vocals (7)

Special Thanks:

Hargobind Khalsa, Karan Khalsa, Amrita Kaur, Fabienne & Jeremy Toback, Jesse Lombardi, Lynn Grossman, Paul Gordon, Travis Baird

Recorded by Saul David Raye
Mixed by John Potoker at Saturn Sound
Mastered by Michael Lazer
Universal Prayer Produced and Recorded
by Travis Huff
Pro Tools Engineer: Travis Huff
Additional Production: Ian Walker
Graphic Design: Lance Glover / Treehouse

Mala, and its sister, Japa, were recorded over the same
period of time with the same extended family of musicians,
in my labyrinthine old Spanish house in the Hollywood Hills.
Our intention was to preserve as much of the energy of a live
performance as we could, editing the arrangements into something clear and accessible to people previously unacquainted with kirtan.

Many different musicians contributed to this ongoing workshop through live performances in cities spanning America, Canada and Europe. The contributions of Adam Sherman, Allen Astin, Anant Jesse, Debi Buzil, Doug Brush, Jacqueline Westhead, Jeffrey Lidke, Kenny Dread, Kevin Kraus, Mark Gorman and Steve Emmerman all merit specific acknowledgement. It was impractical to include everyone in the production of these tracks, but their love, energy and imagination have influenced and shaped the music in incalculable ways, for which I am extremely thankful.

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to Saul Raye for the steady wisdom and patient friendship that saw this project through, and to Ma Jaya Satabhagavati for encouraging me to make singing mantras my vocation. With great respect and love this music is offered at the feet of Swamis Muktananda and Chidvilasananda. Their grace brought me to India, and their bliss taught me to sing.

All songs written by Dave Stringer ©2000- 2003 Magnetic Melodies BMI except: Saraswati Ma: written by Dave Stringer and Steve Ross ©2003 Magnetic Melodies BMI / Maha Music ASCAP; Gaja Nana: Traditional - Arrangement Dave Stringer ©2003 Magnetic Melodies BMI; Universal Prayer: Traditional - Arrangement Dave Stringer ©2003 Magnetic Melodies BMI

Additional information, tour schedules and contact
information are posted online at www.davestringer.com

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Dave Stringer Los Angeles

Grammy-nominated producer, singer, composer and innovative international Kirtan artist. Stringer’s sound connects the transcendent mysticism of East Indian ragas to the exuberant grooves of Gospel and the ringing harmonies of Appalachia.

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