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Elixir

by Dave Stringer

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Eco-digipak album jacket is personally signed by artist Dave Stringer and author Lorin Roche

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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.

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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. 222 pages in A5 format fits comfortably on top of a harmonium. This is the 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.

    A limited number of physical books are available for shipping. If physical copies are out of stock, a PDF version will be sent via email, and a book will be sent as soon as new supplies become available.

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  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 16 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, Thrum, The Udaya Sessions, Live At Bhaktifest, IQ & EQ Remix Series, Brink, and 8 more. , and , .

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1.
Flooded With Joy (Sutra 100) Flooded with joy, flooded with joy. All this talk of purity and impurity — These are just opinions. Beyond them Are the astonishing energies of creation. Rays of light from a trillion suns Illumine the altar of your sky. Rolling blue-green oceans The air you breathe, sanctify, sanctify. In this moment, you are inhaling their blessing. Who are you to call any of this pure or impure? Astonishing are the energies of creation In this moment, you inhale their blessing. Flooded with joy, flooded with joy. kinchit jnaih yaa smritaa shuddhih saa shuddhih shambhu–darshane na suchir hi a-shuchih tasmaat nir-vi-kalpah sukhee bhavet
2.
Dancing Ground (Sutra 80) Sukhe Duhkhe Madhye That space is bad This space is good That space is bad This space is good The ride is rough Or the going is smooth The ride is rough Or the going is smooth We are thrown into suffering We are thrown into joy Beloved soul mate, find the space in the center The shimmering spaciousness encompassing all opposites The center is the dancing ground The center is the dancing ground Dancing ground Sukhe Duhkhe Madhye That space is sad This space is sweet That space is sad This space is sweet The ride is fast Or the going is slow The ride is fast Or the going is slow We are thrown into suffering We are thrown into joy Here the essences of creation are at play: Earth, water, fire, air and space And the senses that perceive them Earth, water, fire, air and space Na chittam nikshipet duhkhe Na sukhe va parikshipet Bhairavi jnayatam madhye Kim tattvam avashishyate
3.
Go There (Sutra 18) Immerse yourself In the rapture of music You know what you love Go there Erase yourself In the rapture of music You know what you love Go there You know what you love You know what you love Go there Embrace yourself In the rapture of movement You know what you love Go there Release yourself In the rapture of movement You know what you love Go there You know what you love You know what you love Go there Every note rising up from silence Every voice dissolving again Every step evolving from stillness Every chord resolving again Vibrating strings draw us into The spacious resonance of the heart The body becomes as light as the sky Singing our existence Tantri adi vadya shabdesu Dirghesu krama samsthiteh Ananya chetah pratyante Para vyoma vapuh bhavet
4.
So Good (Sutra 49) Tasting dark chocolate, A ripe apricot, A luscious Shiraz Your favorite elixir – Savor the expanding joy in your body. Nature is offering herself to you. How astonishing How astonishing How astonishing This world can taste so good. So good. Raise your glass, Close your eyes, Toast the universe. The Sun and Moon and Earth danced together To bring you this delight. Receive the nectar on your tongue As a kiss of the divine. jagdhi–paana krita–ullaasa rasa–aananda vi-jrimbhanaat bhaavayet bharitaa–avasthaam mahaa–aanandah tatah bhavet
5.
Wildly Devoted (Sutra 98 ) Be wildly devoted to someone, or something. Cherish every perception. At the same time, forget about control. Allow the Beloved to be itself and to change. Passion and compassion, holding and letting go, This ache in your heart is holy. Devotion is the Divine streaming through you From that place in you before time. Love flows through your body, toward a body, and into eternity again. bhakti–udrekaat viraktasya yaadrishee jaayate matih saa shakti shaankaree nityam bhaavayet taam tatah shivah
6.
Who Am I? (Sutras 63 & 64) Dreaming, sleeping, waking Rhythms of dark and light Day and night time wondering Who am I? Who am I? Secrets are hidden in darkness And difficult nights Awaken into aloneness Howling for the light This is the call of the dark one The soul seeking its source The union that you long for Is within reach Dreaming, sleeping, waking Rhythms of dark and light Day and night time wondering Who am I? Who am I? Throw off hesitation Becoming one with fear Plunge into the blackness Eyes wide open, clear This is the call of the dark one The soul seeking its source The union that you long for Is within reach Evam eva durni-shyam Krishna paksha-game chiram Dreaming, sleeping, waking Rhythms of dark and light Day and night time wondering Who am I? Who am I?
7.
Are You Here? (Sutra 26) There’s a space in the heart where everything meets Come here, if you want to find me! The scent of a blossom is so sweet Come here, if you want to find me! Are you here? Are you here? Are you here? Are you here? Dancing fingers on vibrating strings Come here, if you want to find me! Answering the call, let every bell ring Come here, if you want to find me! Are you here? Are you here? Are you here? Are you here? Give yourself to it, Give yourself to it Give yourself Mind, senses, soul, eternity Mind, senses, soul, eternity Are you here? Are you here? Are you here? Are you here? hridayam akasha ni-li-na-akshah padma samputa madhyagah There’s a space in the heart where everything meets Come here, if you want to find me!
8.
Skin (Sutra 25) Attend to the skin, an illusory boundary Nothing inside is solid, nothing outside is solid A person is a cloud, electrons gathered We are particles, when we are happy There is no inside, there is no outside There is no other, no object to meditate upon Enter that shimmering, pulsing, vastness Discover that you are not separate From anything here From anything there Attend to the mind, an illusory boundary Nothing inside is solid, nothing outside is solid Intelligence is a cloud, electrons gathered We are particles, when we are happy There is no inside, there is no outside There is no other, no object to meditate upon There is no future, there is no past There is no present, and no time to meditate upon deha-antare tvak-vibhaagam bhittiobhootam vi-chintayet na kinchit antare tasya dhyaaayan na dhyeya-bhaaj bhavet There is nothing that is not you. There is nothing that is not you. Attend to the heart, where is the boundary? Nothing inside is solid, nothing outside is solid Love is a cloud, electrons gathered We are particles, when we are happy
9.
Roar (Sutra 16) The roar of joy that sets the worlds in motion Reverberating In your body Beloved, listen… Beloved, listen... Pranava aadi sam-ud-chaaraat Pluta-ante shoonya-bhaavanaat Shoonyayaa parayaa shaktyaa Shoonyataam eti bhairavi Calling you home Calling you home
10.
That Kiss (Sutra 47) Adorable one When by myself, flooded with delight Simply in the memory... Of that kiss, that kiss That lick That particular pressure That taste of nectar, and caress And that kiss, that kiss Melting, mingling, merging, swelling Inundated by divine sensations, And perhaps, a sense of impending ruin But I'm willing to go down with that ship Take me down with that ship lehanaa manthanaa aakotaih stree-sukhasya bharaat smrite-eh shaktyabhaave api deveshi bhavet a-ananda-samplavah Adorable one: When by oneself, flooded with delight Simply in the memory of that kiss... That lick, that taste of nectar, That caress, embrace, that particular pressure This is the inner ritual, this is the inner ritual, Here is the inner ritual Adorable one Embrace this storm, know it as your own This ocean of bliss is you And I'm willing to go down with your ship Take me down with that ship Take me down with that bliss Take me down with that kiss

about

"Upbeat, at times bluesy and always ecstatic. The rapture of music and movement, the insistence in going toward "what you love" is fervent and inviting. This is a truly unique and inspiring project, perfectly realized with an eye to the sky, an ear to the earth, and all hearts to the One. These are songs to be danced with and meditated upon. 'Raise your glass, close your eyes, and toast the universe' with Elixir." --- Lloyd Barde for Common Grounds Magazine

“I’m so in love with ‘Elixir’ I can hardly stand it — I bought the book.” — Kitzie Stern (New World Kirtan Podcast)

Denise Kaufman introduced me to the verses known as The Radiance Sutras in 2007, at a surfing, yoga and music retreat we were collaborating on in Mexico. High on a cliff above the Pacific, twilight ascending and waves crashing below, we were singing in a circle, improvising melodies, trading phrases, dancing, drumming. The words spoke so eloquently of our ecstasies and agonies, and from a point of view so unbounded by them, that I was literally leaping with joy. I sang the Sutras until they sang in me.

Coiled intricately in meters of Sanskrit, the verses of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra sit in a state of potentiality. They spring into life as the translator teases out their meaning, or the singer beckons them, cajoling them into an act of intimate congress. They are reckless and modest, self-assured and self-effacing, bashful and bawdy. They want to be danced with, and meditated upon. They love to get up early and chant at the temple, and they also love to go out for a night on the town.

Capturing Lorin Roche’s electric, poetic riff on this sacred text in a recording meant taking an approach that was faithful to the meaning of the Sutras but also left us free to experiment and play. For five years, Denise, Joni, Donna, Lorin, his wife Camille, and I workshopped an enormous number of the Sutras. We recorded the jams with many different participants, noting the patterns that recurred, and the most memorable moments.

From 2012 to 2014, we composed the songs in intensive bursts, recording them while they were still fresh, letting them simmer in between sessions. Lorin encouraged us to play with the poetry, creating rhymes where needed, or adding words to clarify the concepts. In this way, the Sutras continued to uncoil, metamorphosing from a densely packed caterpillar of Sanskrit DNA into living wings of culture, taking the form of bhangra grooves, country anthems, and sultry ballads.

It is astonishing how much art, joy, and originality of expression arises in the people who get up and rock a Sutra at our workshops, many of them reciting poetry with musicians and a crowd for the first time. I learn so much from them. The songs we bring you here are versions that emerged from our process, but they are only some of many possible settings and interpretations, and only 10 Sutras out of a cycle of 112! Every encounter with The Radiance Sutras has the potential to generate new versions, new revelations. The Sutras sing of the infinity of potential in all of us, each verse an invitation to awareness, to wake up to the extraordinary in the midst of the ordinary. The Sutras sing in everybody, and they sing for you.

Dave Stringer

credits

released February 24, 2015

Billy Mickelson: Cello
Dave Allen: Drum kit, Cajon, Dumbek, Djembe, Ankle Bells, Shakers, Tambourine
Dave Stringer: Vocals, Harmonium, Accordion, Melodica, Acoustic Guitar, Electric & Acoustic Appalachian Dulcimer, Kartals
Donna De Lory: Vocals, Piano (Tracks 2, 3, 7, 8 and 10)
James Harrah: Electric Guitar, Banjo, Mandolin
Jeff Andrews: Hammer Dulcimer
Joni Allen: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar (Tracks 1, 4, 5, 6, and 9)
Julie Southwell: Violin
Krishan Khalsa: Tabla
Mark Gorman: Bass
Mac Quayle: Keyboards
Sheela Bringi: Bansuri Flute
Tyler Pike: Trumpet

Recorded, Edited and Mixed by John Potoker and Krishan
Assistant Engineer: Peter Mack
Mastered by Reuben Cohen at Lurssen Mastering
Recorded at Phantom Studio, Stagg Street Studio and Henson Studio (formerly A&M) in Los Angeles, CA
Produced by Dave Stringer
Musical arrangements by Joni Allen, Donna De Lory and Dave Stringer
Executive Producers: Lorin Roche and Camille Maurine
Associate Producer: Denise Kaufman
Artist Management: Dakini Jaeger for Blue World Sound
Cover design: Rachael Murray
Photos: Dave Stringer by Mitchell Manz, Donna De Lory by Nick Spanos, Joni Allen by Lenny Schway

“Dancing Ground, “ “Flooded with Joy, “ “Go There, “ “So Good” & “Wildly Devoted”:
Lyrics by Lorin Roche, Camille Maurine, Denise Kaufman
Music by Dave Stringer & Donna De Lory
Published by: Magnetic Melodies BMI / All About Eve ASCAP / Green Ray Music BMI / Lorin Roche BMI / Camille Maurine BMI

“Are You Here?,” “Roar,” “Skin,” “That Kiss,” and “Who Am I?”:
Lyrics by Lorin Roche, Camille Maurine, Denise Kaufman
Music by Dave Stringer & Joni Allen
Published by: Magnetic Melodies BMI / Iron Dogg ASCAP / Green Ray Music BMI / Lorin Roche BMI / Camille Maurine BMI
All songs are based on The Vijñana Bhairava Tantra, translated and interpreted as The Radiance Sutras by Lorin Roche, PhD, and published by Sounds True SoundsTrue.com

Special thanks to Paloma Cain Rollings, Trudy Goodman, Melissa Howden, Jo Lesoine, Jef Payne, Jeff Andrews, Christina Nagao, Jill Benioff Petrov, the staff of YogaCO, Felicia Tomasko and Dakini Jaeger. Grateful acknowledgement to Zoe Elton for igniting the ideas that coalesced into “Go There.” Deep gratitude to Dearbhla Kelly for giving this album its title, and for the Sutra Jam performance with L.B. Iddings that inspired “Dancing Ground.”

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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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