Sada Sat Kaur Angel's Waltz reviewed in Yoga Journal

December 3, 2003

I love it when a friend gets her music reviewed in a "mainstream" publication.

The below is from the current issue of Yoga Journal

A 30-year veteran of classical kirtan (chanting) and a Kundalini

yoga instructor in Los Angeles, Sada Sat Kaur incorporates live

music and chanting meditation into her weekly teaching. On this, her

debut recording, she sings traditional and original melodies in

richly textured musical contexts, with the aim of evoking healing

and peaceful, powerful spiritual states. In addition to printed

"lyrics" and translations or interpretations - such as "Adi Shakti

Namo Namo" ("I bow to the Primal Power"), "Guru Guru Wahe Guru Guru

Ram Das Guru" ("Great beyond words is the ecstasy of expecting God's

wisdom. Great is the one who serves God"), and "Bhaja Man Mere Hari

Ka Nam" ("O, my mind, meditate on God's name") - the CD's packaging

includes photo illustrations of the sacred mudras (hand gestures)

that Kaur suggests listeners use during the seven-and 11-minute

meditations for which the chants are intended.

What sets Angels' Waltz apart from most music-for-meditaion

recordings are musical arrangements that include not only Kaur's

attractive voice and pleasantly droning harmonium but also tabla,

piano, and bass (played by producer Jeremy Toback); Indian Banjo;

Chamberlain (an arcane keyboard favored by Tom Waits); diaphanous

backing vocals; and, most surprisingly, the country-and

bluegrass-tinged banjo, pedal steel, Dobro, and lap steel guitar of

Greg Leisz (the widely traveled sideman known for his work with Joni

Mitchell, k.d. lang, and Bill Frisell).

So if your mind wanders from the mantras, rest assured that it

can find an abode in the surrounding instrumental melodies and

harmonies until the chant comes back into focus. In any case,

whether or not you attune to "the Infinite that vibrates within us

all," the effect is both soothing and musically satisfying.

Derek Richardson - YOGA JOURNAL / December 2003

Angels' Waltz is available at http://www.yogatech.com

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