Sean Johnson And The Wild Lotus Band

Have David Beckham and Jessica Simpson been doing yoga together or something? If there's not some big celebrity tie-in, I suppose it could be mere coincidence that I've recently received no fewer than three yoga related CDs for review.

So what is yoga? Though it's common to think of it as a stretching regime that's loosely associated with Hinduism, there's more to it than that. Like "kung fu," the term "yoga" can refer to philosophical and religious practices as well as the more common bodily activities. The Bhagavad Gita, for example, teaches of the yoga of devotion and the yoga of knowledge as well as the yoga of action. Yes, your yoga can be powerful even if you can't achieve the One-Legged King Pigeon pose.

So what then is yoga music? Does it improve your mind? Your spirit? Your flexibility? Does it inspire lofty thoughts and the contemplation of the divine? I suppose that's up to the listener.

First, EarthRise SoundSystem's Derek Beres and David “Duke Mushroom” Schommer of give us 12 tracks of gently grooving music on The Yoga Sessions. While these tunes are certainly more about mood than about message, they do have that relaxing yet energized spirit that opens the door for physical and mental rejuvenation.

A sonic sister to The Yoga Sessions is the compilation InnerVersions from Six Degrees Records, as the songs were assembled by EarthRise SoundSystem co-founder Derek Beres. The 12 tracks on this album include some very well known world music artists, such as Azam Ali, Ceu, Karsh Kale, and Cheb i Sabbah. There's even a cut from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan remixed by Gaudi. With such contributions -- from artists hailing from Pakistan, the USA, Iran, Brazil and beyond -- this is clearly a global-minded album. Call it dub-yoga. But don't look for devotional bhajans here.

26 October 2010
It's Raining Yoga
Have David Beckham and Jessica Simpson been doing yoga together or something? If there's not some big celebrity tie-in, I suppose it could be mere coincidence that I've recently received no fewer than three yoga related CDs for review.

So what is yoga? Though it's common to think of it as a stretching regime that's loosely associated with Hinduism, there's more to it than that. Like "kung fu," the term "yoga" can refer to philosophical and religious practices as well as the more common bodily activities. The Bhagavad Gita, for example, teaches of the yoga of devotion and the yoga of knowledge as well as the yoga of action. Yes, your yoga can be powerful even if you can't achieve the One-Legged King Pigeon pose.

So what then is yoga music? Does it improve your mind? Your spirit? Your flexibility? Does it inspire lofty thoughts and the contemplation of the divine? I suppose that's up to the listener.

First, EarthRise SoundSystem's Derek Beres and David “Duke Mushroom” Schommer of give us 12 tracks of gently grooving music on The Yoga Sessions. While these tunes are certainly more about mood than about message, they do have that relaxing yet energized spirit that opens the door for physical and mental rejuvenation.



A sonic sister to The Yoga Sessions is the compilation InnerVersions from Six Degrees Records, as the songs were assembled by EarthRise SoundSystem co-founder Derek Beres. The 12 tracks on this album include some very well known world music artists, such as Azam Ali, Ceu, Karsh Kale, and Cheb i Sabbah. There's even a cut from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan remixed by Gaudi. With such contributions -- from artists hailing from Pakistan, the USA, Iran, Brazil and beyond -- this is clearly a global-minded album. Call it dub-yoga. But don't look for devotional bhajans here.



Finally, we have the 14-track collection from Putumayo World Music simply called Yoga. Like the Six Degrees album, this one includes artists you wouldn't necessarily associate with yoga -- such as Ablaya Cissoko with Volker Goetze and Susheela Raman with Ayub Ogada. The rest of the album's artists are drawn largely from the yoga/kirtan circuit, including Wah!, Krishna Das, Yogini, and Sean Johnson & the Wild Lotus Band. - Sound Roots: World Music And Global Culture

The union of music and Yoga is only growing stronger, if the current proliferation of Yoga compilations is any indication. Now the world music wizards at Putumayo have collaborated with talented kirtan wallah Sean Johnson who helped curate this collection. This selection offers over seventy minutes of sacred sound that tends toward the chill with an undercurrent of the groovy and a throughline of the gorgeously lyrical. True to the Putumayo catalog, the Yoga music here hails from around the globe along with a representation of artists many LA YOGA readers will find familiar.

World fusion group The Lucknow Project opens with a beautiful rendition of “Ghungate Ke,” before Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band’s evocative “Om Hari Om/Sharanam Ganesha,” featuring Gwendolyn’s haunting percussive rhythms. Devotional tracks from Shantala, Wah!, Ben Leinbach and Geoffrey Gordon, Karnamrita Dasi, Krishna Das and Gaura Vani and As Kindred Spirits are all found here. Excellent selections were made from these artists’ catalogs; “Devaki” shows off Karnamrita Dasi’s vocals and “Moods of Kirtan (Siksastakam)” is my favorite series of moments from Gaura Vani’s album Ten Million Moons.

I loved being introduced to new voices, including: the Costa Rican group Amounsulu who combines the strings of a sitar with the sounds of glass bottles, Senegalese singer Ablaye Cissko whose collaboration with German trumpeter Volker Goetze produced a surprisingly sweet synthesis in “Sira,” the resonant voice of Bhutanese monk Lama Gyurme accompanied by French pianist Jean-Philippe Rykiel on “Offering Chant” as well as Swedish teacher and singer Yogini, whose “Bliss” closed the album.

This devotional and well-curated collection kept me uplifting company during a traffic jam, morning meditation and afternoon practice and I recommend it for all music lovers wanting to infuse some new sounds into their practice or their day. Putumayo.com

–– Reviewed by Felicia M. Tomasko, RN - LA Yoga Magazine

We recently sat down with New Orleans yoga instructor and musician Sean Johnson, co-curator of Putumayo’s new Yoga CD and writer of the album’s liner notes, to talk about the cross-cultural development of yoga and the role of music in its practice. His group, Sean Johnson & The Wild Lotus Band, has a song featured on the collection and regularly performs in the US and around the world.

Enjoy the interview and the band’s song “Om Hari Om/Sharanam Ganesha (Refuge)” below, and be sure to check out Sean’s Yoga & Music Resource Guide, which provides recommended reading, festivals, retreat centers and more for yogis and aficionados alike, available on Putumayo.com.

Listen to “Om Hari Om/Sharanam Ganesha (Refuge)” below:

More and more nowadays people are using music geared toward specific purposes such as jogging, aerobics, meditation and so on. Do you think this trend is influencing the use of music to accompany yoga practice and meditation?

Well, I think that what distinguishes yoga from the other activities you mentioned like aerobics or jogging is that, for a growing number of people, yoga is not just an isolated thing they do once or twice a week. Yoga has depth and layers to it that are unveiled over time and with practice; initially our bodies get stronger and flexible, then our minds and hearts start to open up too.

There’s a rising interest in yoga/kirtan/mantra music as a soundtrack to a blossoming yoga culture. People want a soundtrack to inspire and support this lifestyle. Many touring kirtan artists have helped transform yoga studios overnight into thriving concert and dance halls. More and more festivals featuring yoga and kirtan music are popping up. And more yoga teachers are chanting in their classes, being more creative with their yoga music selections, and recognizing and utilizing music as a powerful tool to share inspiration with their students.

What are some of the benefits of practicing yoga with music?

In my yoga practice, music adds heart and soul. Music helps cultivate bhava, a term often used in bhakti yoga that describes a sacred, heart-centered mood. The right music also helps me to focus for a deep and healing yoga practice. As a teacher of yoga, I like to think of each class as a journey into the Self, and I choose and sequence songs to help initiate that inner voyage.

What is the role of sound and music in the origins of yoga?

The emphasis on the power of sound is deeply rooted in the spiritual roots of India, where yoga was fostered. There’s an expression in Sanskrit, Nada Brahma, which translates: “The world is sound,” or “God is sound.” In the Vedas, India’s oldest scriptures, the mantra “OM” is described as the vibrational force that forms the essence of all creation. The recitation of mantras, energy-based sounds used to purify the mind and heart, are the primary tools for meditation and prayer in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh practices.

But it’s also interesting to observe that, beyond India, in the creation stories of many of the world’s cultural and spiritual traditions, there are references to the power of music. For example, the aboriginal people of Australia say the world and its creatures were sung into existence.

From the repetition of mantras to the celebratory call-and-response of kirtan, chanting highlights the importance of sound in the practice of yoga. How do these chants, often accompanied with music, enhance the practice of yoga?

“Good vibes” is an expression we like to use a lot in the West. Chanting mantras is a direct practice for creating good vibrations. In yoga practice, mantras are regarded as embodiments of primal energy that connect and tune us to the divine within. The act of chanting and even listening to mantras is believed to cleanse the heart and protect the practitioner from the turbulence of the mind.

How has yoga music been influenced as yoga has touched different cultures?

Today’s yoga music blends traditional mantras with western folk, rock, pop, jazz, electronica, bluegrass and other musical genres. In my opinion, yoga and yoga music would not have lasted this long and endured the journey from generation to generation and culture to culture if yoga weren’t so universally relevant and malleable. It’s exciting to be among a growing group of international musicians who are deeply influenced by yoga and Eastern spirituality, creating music that integrates traditional mantras with instrumentation from a variety of cultures and genres. Yoga teachings and mantras are like water, taking the shape of whatever musical or cultural form they are held within.

Thanks for your time, Sean!

Thank you, and I encourage all the readers out there to spread the word about the album. I hope it will be the first of a series of yoga releases from Putumayo that will feature more talented artists from around the world making inspiring music for yoga and relaxation.

More on Sean Johnson & The Wild Lotus Band

The band’s new album Devaloka is their debut release on Nettwerk/Nutone Records, Canada’s largest independent record label, and home of artists as Sarah McLachlan, Krishna Das and Jai Uttal. The band tours the U.S. and abroad playing music festivals, yoga studios, retreat centers, concert halls, and celebrations year-round. Sean is also a yoga teacher and the founder of Wild Lotus Yoga in New Orleans. Visit www.SeanJohnsonAndTheWildLotusBand.com and www.WildLotusYoga.com - Putumayo World Music

Last night I went to my very first kirtan. From what I'd heard about them—hours of hot, sweaty ecstatic chanting and dancing, I never felt compelled to attend one. I'm far too cynical to let go and get swept away in those kinds of moments. But, Laughing Lotus was hosting a big summer solstice celebration and I replied yes to my facebook invite mostly to be polite, not really planning on attending. After several people mentioned they were excited I'd said yes, surprisingly, shockingly, there I was stressing about what to wear. Note: I ended up in a lilac tank top, long swirly brown skirt, and smoky quartz beads which was perfectly appropriate although I learned less is more when it comes to kirtan wear.
As we approached the relatively nondescript office building the studio's in, we found the stunning sand art creation by Joe Mangrum pictured above , radiant colors lighting up the concrete and gritty metal doors, pink, yellow and rich red rose petals strewn in front of the doorway, more petals creating a path down the hall, into the elevator and towards the studio front door. Inside the reception area was packed with people in sundresses, or yoga gear, the larger studio itself had dozens of yoga blankets neatly placed in a semi-circle, ropes of multi-colored lights wrapped around the instruments and chairs where the musicians would be.
The lotus chandeliers above were dim. The walls glowed with the warm orange pink of sunset.
People packed in tight and I was overcome by claustrophobia for a moment as the temperature rose and there was no discernible path to the door from where I was sitting. But, I took a deep breath, willing myself to stay in the moment.
The three members of Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band quietly took their seats—Sean spoke for a few moments and then taught us the first song. Turns out a kirtan is basically a call and response. He sings, we sing back. He chants, we repeat. Some songs were in English, most were in sanskrit. I was prepared to sit through 2 to 3 songs tops and then sneak out quietly.
I had no idea that chanting "Maha Deva" and "Kali Ma" over and over (and over) could be so beautiful. That simple words and melodies could become so layered, so complex, so intense with voices and instruments weaving beat and rhythm and energy together. The band started slow and sweet, masterfully constructing ebbs and flows that had people quietly swaying and then leaping to their feet. As the pace picked up more and more got up and started moving, clapping, at times jumping up and down like happy 5 year olds in a bouncy castle.
I didn't jump. But, I did dance. And I even sang, getting past the fact that I actually can't sing.
It didn't matter.
I smiled at people I didn't know. I wrapped my arms around those I did, and hugged hard, drenched in sweat, at the thrill of sharing these moments.
I saw rapture. Celebration. A community building of people who never met and those who knew each other well all joining together through sound and creativity and presence.
And at times the silence between the songs was more powerful than the music itself.
As the last note slipped away, and Sean chanted "om" I found my hands automatically folded at my heart, then my forehead, my head dipping, as we shared a final moment of thanks, love and togetherness.
Much to my surprise, the jaded part of me was silenced for awhile.
I've already been invited to my next kirtan. I'm pretty sure I'll mean it when I respond yes.

- Bust Magazine

Kirtan: Spiritual Materialism, or Accessible Devotion? By Waylon Lewis, Editor, Elephantjournal.com

Tonight, I sat in a room of 100 plus enthusiastic—nay, downright blissful—Americans, swaying side to side, arms raised and also swaying, or dancing about in the corners.

It’s called kirtan, and in seven and a half years of publishing a magazine, and now web site, intimately involved in the coverage of yoga, I’ve managed to more or less avoid it.

If you’re cool, or think you’re cool, or if you’re cynical, or even normal (not that that’s a good thing)—well kirtan is downright scary. I felt like laughing at everyone, half the time. The rest of the time, I felt like a wallflower at the proverbial high school dance: not wanting to participate makes you feel uptight, and not with it (it being the present moment).

As the chanting and singing and swaying and dancing went on, I relaxed: I began to sing more (I love crooning along with Elvis and Dino, and kirtan can feel surprisingly similar, at least as led by Sean Johnson). And as I relaxed I stopped fretting about how this was all just cultural appropriation, like

“driving a Mantra sports car when you don’t even have your driver’s license yet,” as I later put it,

or whether this was just love n’light spiritual materialism that, at the end of the day, was just about feeling good, and blissed out. Which is, after all, how the ego wants to feel all the time: pleasure is good, suffering is pushed away.

We were, after all, singing about devotion to God, in sanskrit, and 90% of us didn’t understand 90% of what we were saying. But it sure felt good, so who cares, right?

After two hours of singing and swaying and dancing, with contemplative silences (which I appreciated, instead of habitual rock star-like applause at the end of song) and some heartfelt introductions via Sean, which helped provide some context for our chantings), I was having a damn good time. I started thinking of my friends who like to go to concerts all the time, drinking and drugging and dancing for all hours, and how they love and worship their favorite bands and musicians. And I started realizing that my party friends were merely expressing a timeless, more secularized version of kirtan: where chanting sacred mantras becomes a meditation practice, a fun, loveful way of joining with the present moment and opening up one’s closed, cold, tight-held heart.

And, at least for one night, I opened up, and breathed, and smiled and sang like a happy fool.

Though I couldn’t help but get into a few philosophical discussions with Kasey of yogamates.com and Felicia of LA Yoga magazine…and their experience of other kinds of kirtan scenes, some more masculine; some, like this one, overwhelmingly loving, joyful, feminine…I was grateful to be in such a strong, warm, ecstatic community, one that didn’t mind if I had my doubts and quibbles.

It was a fun, eye-and-heart-opening few hours, a moment where community—as Saul David Raye would put it—was activated. - Elephant Journal

Under a sparkling blue May sky at the 2010 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, in the same week that BB King, Pearl Jam, Simon and Garfunkel, Elvis Costello, Dr. John, The Black Crowes and hundreds of other international, national, and regional musical acts entertained tens of thousands of fans, Sean Johnson—kirtan singer, yoga teacher, and owner of Wild Lotus Yoga Studio in New Orleans, climbed upon the stage with his two band mates and a harmonium and sang the devotional music of India. If fest goers were initially perplexed at the Sanskrit chanting and call and response style of kirtan, they were soon won over. Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band, whose album Devaloka was recently released on Nutone Records, have reinvented the ancient tradition of kirtan into an undoubtedly American sound.

Just a few steps from where Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band played, gospel choirs in the nearby tent lifted the audience similarly to its feet, singing and clapping; while past the food vendors Mardi Gras Indians led second lines and chanted iko, iko, jackamo fee na nay, words not so different to American ears than shri ram jai ram jai jai ram om; and at the other end of the fairgrounds, Widespread Panic fans eagerly awaited the band’s long, trance-dancing jams. Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band delivered the same crowd-pleasing, soul-drenched music Jazz Fest fans expect. That it was in Sanskrit did not dampen the effect.

Yoga’s devotional music held its own opposite Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, an exciting development for lovers of kirtan, if not surprising. For some years, American practitioners of Bhakti Yoga—the branch of yoga that celebrates music, singing, and poetry as primary ways of participating in a devotional, heart—centered relationship with the world, have been shaping their music for western ears. From the evolution of Krishna Das and Jai Uttal to the experimentation of MC Yogi, Wah! and Girish, kirtan is edging its way out of the yoga studio and thankfully, beyond New Age channels. The vast combination of the mantras chanted upon the broad canvas of the harmonium offer ample space for innovative rhythm, melody, and instrumentation. If ever there were a style of music ready for improvisation, kirtan is it. And New Orleans Jazz Fest proved the perfect place for its debut to a wider audience.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Johnson plays kirtan in the cradle of American musical confluence—the birthplace of jazz, the home of the second line brass bands, a city where funk and blues, Latin and rock, klezmer and punk and zydeco cohabit and fuse happily. Likewise, The Wild Lotus Band’s kirtan is complex in character without sacrificing its yogic origins. Johnson’s vocals drive the songs with the earthy soul of an R&B singer, the longing of a rock star and a lilting beauty that belies his experience in Celtic music. Leading the response, Gwendolyn Colman’s honey—rich voice is so lovely you hesitate to muddy it with your own voice (though not for long, as the infectious joy of the band eventually seduces your voice from your mouth). When the two vocalists harmonize and ricochet their voices off one another, the effect is heart—buzzing. Scatting in Sanskrit? Johnson does that, too, in the first twenty-minute number, “Shiva Shankara,” bopping over the molten bass line Alvin Young laid down.
Throughout the show, Young, on a fretless electric bass (and displaying similar mastery on guitar for “Jai Hanuman” and “Ram Sita Ram”) established a fat, jazzy bedrock for the sumptuous layers of harmonium and vocals and got downright funky! Make that phunky.
Young is a veteran of the New Orleans music scene who has played with legendary Crescent City greats Wynton and Branford Marsalis, James Booker, and James Black.
Gwendolyn Colman’s virtuosic percussion—a dizzying array of drums she flashes her fingers over, thumps into tribal rhythms or coaxes into a smooth swing—people who had never heard of Shiva Nataraj, the Indian deity of the dancing Universe—were grooving, clapping and singing along.

Kirtan is central to festivals like Bhakti Fest and other yoga gatherings, its inclusion for the first time at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival signifies a deeper mainstreaming of yoga and the emergence of kirtan into a wider musical sphere. Success relies on the ability of the music to connect with its listeners and Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band showed that they could do just that, grooving and moving the crowd, so that when they closed with their only English song of the day, “I’ll Fly Away,” (Louisiana’s roots music magazine Offbeat called it “the most powerful rendition of the standard performed at the Festival“) the audience sang, not a few tears streaming.

Indian gospel met southern gospel, coming full circle, and under a sparkling blue Louisiana sky, several hundred fest goers danced into the current of Bhakti Yoga, realizing, perhaps not until afterwards, that they had known the steps all along. - Elephant Journal

"The least likely and perhaps most powerful version of “I’ll Fly Away” came from Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band. As he droned it as a private dirge in the Lagniappe Stage, his intensity silenced the talkers and sat those who wanted to dance or rhythmically clap, which would have forced a beat on a version that worked just fine without one." By Alex Rawls, Editor - Offbeat Magazine

Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band's eclectic approach to kirtan reflects the band's New Orleans roots. Guided on Devaloka by Johnson's plaintive tenor and soothing harmonium, ancient Sanskrit mantras like "Jai Hanuman" (faith), "Ram Sita Ram" (union), and "Devakinandana Gopala" (love) find a home amid funk, soul, and bluesy modulations. Gwendolyn Colman's skillful handling of percussion instruments and her heartfelt vocals create a grounding energy. Alvin Young deepens the groove on bass. The group's dynamic arrangements move through rhythmic changes, making this disc an ideal accompaniment to all forms of active yoga. And the final few tracks settle ?into a slow, meditative pace, leaving you centered and relaxed. By Alen Di Perna - Yoga Journal

With the first strains of Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band's Devaloka , I am thrilled. Their music has always moved and astonished me. The melding of the depth of mantra with rockin' grooves soothes my American yogini soul. Sean is the director of New Orleans' Wild Lotus Yoga Studio and Soul School. He is a bhakti, or devotional yogi, both a committed student and seeker.

“Jai Hanuman (Faith)” is electric and uplifting. Who can sit still while chanting this wild spirited chant? Sean's soaring vocals are more ecstatic than ever in “ Shiva Shankara (Transformation ).” He has mastered the “ Tarana” style of singing syllables, and it is delightful! Gwendolyn Colman keeps the heart of the band together with her masterful drumming, moving into hiphop, jazzy beats on frame drum, dumbek, and cajon. The results are dazzling, as are her exquisite vocals. Alvin Young's guitar and bass keep the music fresh and exciting. Devaloka simmers and smokes. And n'uff respect to Sean and The Wild Lotus Band with their first release on Nutone/Nettwork records, Canada's largest independent label! By Debi Buzil - Yoga Chicago

Sean Johnson is becoming increasingly familiar to kirtan fans in the Bay area. His regular appearances from The City to the East Bay have built a loyal and growing following. But even with a couple prior releases and critical acclaim, nothing could have prepared any of us for the utter excellence in musicianship and the heartfelt outpouring of soul meets spirit that is contained in his new "Devaloka" CD on Nutone Records. It's a veritable kirtan cauldron of simmering, bubbling, delectable chants that fluidly traverse the myriad of musical styles he brings to the stage. Sean's passionate, sweet songs are the ideal balance of magically melodic flow for the rhythm-driven tracks that are sprinkled throughout. Hailing from New Orleans, his Wild Lotus Band trio has claimed a second home in the Bay area. And the gumbo feeling they bring from the gulf jives well with the musical blendings that bring to mind Grateful Dead jams, a little Santana spice in the percussion section, and an all around endearing space that draws you in with each listen. Sean holds steady space with his moving harmonium playing and enlivened vocals, while multi-talented percussionist Gwendolyn Colman, who adds her voice in a distinctive kirtan framework, works out on everything from frame drum to kalimba, udu to cajon, doumbek, karkab and assorted funky grooves with an urban flare. Guitarist and fretless bass player Alvin Young, like Sean a New Orleans native, really turns it up on a couple tracks, notably the rave up "Ram Sita Ram", and tastefully adds precise fills to most of the others. Another highlight is “Om Hari Om/Sharanam Ganesha” where the sacred beauty of the mantras is matched with Sean’s voice and gentle acoustic instrumentation. All in all, it's understandable why other chanting luminaries like Jai Uttal are so eager to endorse this group, as Sean manages to spread his bayou magic from ocean to ocean, inside and out. In Jai's words, "Sean's voice is a warm soothing river of serenity". Diving right in is the recommended plan.--Lloyd Barde, Music Editor, Common Ground Magazine - Common Ground Magazine, San Francisco

I attended a kirtan with Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band at Kripalu last year and if that was any indication, you do not want to miss Johnson’s extremely varied and beautiful music at the Laughing Lotus next Saturday. Over two hours, we chanted only about 6 or 7 mantras in call and response. Kirtan meditation is a perfect combination of relaxation and mind-controlling focus.. Some people sit during kirtan. Others get up to dance, chant, clap and holler — it all depends on how the spirit moves you.

The mantras at Kripalu included a gorgeous, sweet rendition of “Devakinandana Gopala” that calls upon the feeling of being in love; a quiet and sinister “Durga, Jai Jai Ma;” and then a lively “Hare Krishna” that had the room jumping around. Think New Orleans Mardi Gras in a yoga studio (except the audience is drunk on music)!

This kirtankar’s music is as eclectic as his hometown of New Orleans, where he grew up around early rap and breakdancing which was a major influence on his style. As a child, he also sang in musical theater and The New Orleans Symphony Children’s Chorus; and in his early twenties studied sean-nos (old-style) Irish singing, an ancient form of song known for its elaborate ornamentation.

Johnson’s studies might have stayed in the western traditions, but the curious music seeker went to graduate school at The Naropa Institute where he met and studied mantra and kirtan with the hugely influential south Indian musician and author Russill Paul. A few years later, in addition to chanting kirtan, he began teaching yoga and opened his own very successful studio in New Orleans, Wild Lotus Yoga, which has been richly involved with the New Orleans community, sending teacher-trained graduates into the community to teach for free to those who can’t afford it.

The devastating effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans was another call to consciousness for Johnson. During September through November of 2005, after Hurricane Katrina, Johnson launched a countrywide tour across the U.S. called The New Orleans REBIRTH tour to raise money for hurricane relief. He traveled with his band whose members include Gwendolyn Colman on drums, Alvin Young on bass, and occasionally Johnson’s brother Matt on guitar and tenor sax. At the beginning of the REBIRTH Kirtans he says, “We’re going to flood our hearts, we’re going to breech the levees of our spirits.”

“Live at Laughing Lotus,” part of the REBIRTH tour, is an ecstatic, wild call and response CD that encouraged me to start attending kirtan because the audience sounded so joyful and enthusiastic and I was intrigued by the depth of feeling that Johnson expresses in his chanting from the rapturous beginnings of “Sharanam Ganesha” to the sinister tones of “Kali Ma”.

The band’s most recent release is “Calling the Spirits.” Some of the highlights are the earthy, drum heavy “Om Gang Ganapatye Namah,” the improvisational “Om Namah Shivaya,” and soft lullaby “Jai Ma”, a mantra that is perfect for Savasana. Their music is capable of being energetic, grounding, mellow, tender, sweet - eerie, rapturous and blissful all at once. Johnson once joked that because New Orleans is located in the south of the United States it represents the first and second chakras, energy centers that have everything to do with sense of home, survival, sensuality, and creativity - qualities that you’ll always hear in Johnson’s music.

If past kirtans are any indication, expect a wonderful experience on March 21. The group plans to be previewing material for their newest album on Nettwerk/Nutone, home label of Krishna Das, Jai Uttal, Bhagavan Das, Wah! And other world music greats. Book in advanc;e Johnson attracts a laughing loyal crowd and sells out! - Yoga City NYC

YM: What is Kirtan all about?

SJ: Kirtan is connecting to the Spirit of Life through singing. It's stretching and expanding the heart, and our capacity to love, like when we stretch our bodies in asana. Kirtan is a love song to Life, offering whatever is in our heart as food, nourishment to the Universe. Kirtan is a form of love-making with the world, and a celebration of the sacred presence within us. Kirtan is prayer, worship of the life force through song. Kirtan is meditation-- the repetition of the mantras washes the mind and helps us remember who we really are. Kirtan is a practice for cultivating spiritual and emotional freedom. Kirtan is medicine-- the sound tones our bodies, and feeds the brain electrical potential.� Kirtan is an opportunity to share YOUR voice with the Universe.

YM: Who/What is the Wild Lotus Band?

SJ:Many kirtan wallahs travel with a single percussionist-- but I love to tour with the band who bring so much life and spirit and depth to our kirtans. They are a joy to travel and hang out with. We have developed a really sweet musical chemistry over the years and it keeps getting juicier and juicier. And we all bring different influences to the mix that keeps the music fresh.

The Wild Lotus Band is vocalist and percussionist Gwendolyn Colman who plays cajon, frame drums, high hat, bass drum, cymbals and assorted other percussion instruments. Gwendolyn is the mother-engine of the band, a magical drummer who can play so sweet and subtle and also rock the house with her fancy fingerwork. She's also has a gorgeous singing voice. Gwendolyn has a strong background in middle eastern rhythm and flamenco so she brings those flavors to the band.

Alvin Young is our fretless bass player and he also plays guitar. Alvin is a really humble wicked bass player. Back in the day, he used to have jazz titons Wynton and Branford Marsalis in his band, and has played with some of New Orleans greatest musicians. He's one of the most melodic bass players around and when it's time to get funky, watch out!

YM: How did Kirtan discover you?

SJ: I went to a really amazing alternative college called The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA where I first discovered yoga, mysticism, and connected with sacred chant. I was enrolled in a program called "PATH: Practices Acknowledging The Heart" where we were engaged in spiritual practices from different traditions: yoga, Buddhist meditation, sacred dance and art. A group of Sufis came to work with us and shared their chanting practice called Zhikr-- the incantation and repetition of the divine names. It blew my mind and heart wide open. I was immediately hooked and went on a quest to learn more about sacred chant. That quest led my to a graduate program at Naropa West where I did an apprenticeship in the yoga of sound with Russill Paul for two years. Russill is a really great musician and vocalist from south India who wrote the book "The Yoga Of Sound" and has released several cds. After leaving Naropa, I moved back home to New Orleans and started teaching yoga and sharing kirtan full time. Jai Uttal has also been a great inspiration and friend along the way.

YM: Please tell me about this "funky twist" you put on Kirtan.

SJ: Rather than trying to sound like an Indian-born kirtan band, we respect and honor the tradition, but seek to channel kirtan through the authenticity of where we come from, and our influences. Alvin and I grew up in New Orleans so you can hear jazz, funk, gospel, rock, and street rhythms. Gwendolyn has a strong background in middle eastern rhythms and flamenco percussion so she adds even more spice to the mix. Instead of straight ahead call and response chanting with little variation, we like to create spacious arrangements and dynamics that serve to deepen the experience of the mantra. We also try to celebrate the relationship between soul and spirit in our music. The soul quality is about moving deeper, into the mystery, into the roots, which is so present in day-to-day life in New Orleans. While the spirit quality is about elevation and transcendence, which is usually more present in this genre of music. We want to bring the two together, seeking to explore the dark and the light in our music. Get down and get up!

YM: How do you create a song, from start to finish?

SJ: I feel like a vessel, a channel for the music. A melody "comes through" and I can feel this little tingle of excitement inside as it arrives. In gratitude, I'll sit at the harmonium and flesh it out a little bit, do a rough recording. Then I'll bring it to the band and we play with it, give it more shape and nuance. It really comes to life and gets "cooked" when we start to share it live with people and interact with the energy of the chanters.

YM: What is your favorite part of working in the yoga scene?

SJ: That's an easy answer. The vast majority of yoga people are super cool, kind, open-minded, positive, open-hearted, generous, creative, loving people. It's such an honor to meet and share yoga and kirtan with so many beautiful people who are hungry to transform their lives. One of our favorite parts of touring is the community that is created, particularly when you return to a place again and again.

Just as an example, after Hurricane Katrina I got e-mails from yoga studios nationwide who wanted to help. Many of them ended up hosting fundraising kirtans and putting us up in their homes. I was so touched by their generosity. We have also helped to host several karma yoga groups who have come to New Orleans to do service work.

YM: You also own a yoga studio in New Orleans, Wild Lotus Yoga Studio. Please tell us about the importance of mantra and your studio after Katrina hit.

SJ: For me personally the kirtan got deeper after Katrina. I was able to channel a lot of the feelings at the time into the music as we did an extensive cross-country tour raising money for hurricane relief. My family home where I grew up and where my parents lived took 10 feet of water and they lost almost everything. The neighborhood I grew up in is still a ghost land now, nearly three years after the storm. We did a lot of Shiva and Kali mantras, tapping into the creative universal power behind destruction. I felt like the chanting was very therapeutic for everyone who felt that sense of loss, grief, and anger.

Wild Lotus was the first yoga studio to reopen after the storm. Katrina hit August 29, 2005 and the city didn't really open up to the public until October. We reopened on November 1st. Much of the city still did not have electricity. None of the traffic lights worked. There was a lot of storm debris everywhere, trees, abandoned cars. The city was a refrigerator graveyard, as everyone put their rotted refrigerators out on the sidewalk. There were very very few children in New Orleans at that time and very few elderly people. Most of the street traffic consisted of out-of-state contractors. Signs were posted everywhere for contractors and house gutting services. Few restaurants and grocery stores were open. There was a curfew in place at night. It was a bizarre time. As you can imagine, people were incredibly grateful to come to the studio and practice yoga. Lots of tears and lots of joy. We all know that yoga is therapeutic and we know the importance of satsang-- but this added a whole new meaning to those words. The studio was a place to grieve, to process what had happened kinesthetically, to reunite with old friends, to reconnect with a some semblance of normalcy, to pray, to breathe, to find refuge at a chaotic time. We also had a population of relief workers who came to class as well.

So many New Orleanians lost the things they relied on for stability in their daily lives-- family, loved ones, homes, jobs, a sense of normalcy-- and turned to yoga for sustenance. The devastating experience of the storm amplified the spiritual and therapeutic benefits of yoga for all of us. I believe the storm also awakened us to the preciousness of life and invited us to pay more attention to what we really value, to how we devote our energy, and to the gifts and blessings of life we shouldn't ever take for granted. While the population of New Orleans has been cut in half, the enrollment at Wild Lotus has mushroomed. We have more students now that we did before the storm, including many beginners. Many people have told us they don't know how they would have survived mentally and emotionally over the past two years without yoga and the presence of the studio.

YM: You often travel and teach yoga classes with the live band. Tell us about this experience.

SJ:I've been feeling really inspired to bring more bhakti yoga, devotion, heart, and more imagination to asana practice. Sometimes when we are over-emphasizing the physical experience, we forget what it's really all about- tapping into the creative love power within. Our practice can become mechanical or even dry up. My goal is to bring more juice to the practice through bhakti yoga. I've been teaching workshops at yoga conferences with the band playing a live soundtrack, so there's a live groove, a living relationship between the musicians and the yogis. I love to integrate ecstatic kirtan, storytelling, mythology, mystical poetry, creative movement, imagination, and play into the workshops. The practice became an offering, a blessing to the Universe, a body-prayer. I believe the most important alignment is alignment with the Heart. My study of Creation Spirituality, which celebrates the spiritual power of art and our innate creativity has been a strong influence. Yoga teachers who have been an big inspiration to me in this way include my friends Dana Flynn and Jasmine Tarkeshi of Laughing Lotus Yoga and Saul David Raye.

YM: Who can sing kirtan?

SJ: Anybody and everybody!!! If you're self-conscious about singing, even better! It's an opportunity to set that inhibition free and be yourself, offer your authentic voice to the Universe. It's incredibly liberating!

YM: Can mantra save the world

SJ:What's beautiful about kirtan and mantra is that it unites us! We all sing together. And diverse beings coming together to celebrate life, nourishes, sustains, and saves our world.

Even in the microcosm of the yoga world, it doesn't matter if we're an Anusara yogi, an Astanga yogi, an Iyengar yogi, etc-- when we come to a kirtan we leave behind the brand names, the philosophical differences, allegiance to the alignment principles of our school, the tribalism, and we join voices with our fellow yogis and celebrate life!

YM: What's next?

SJ: We are fleshing out material for a new album and are really excited about it. We've grown a lot as a band since recording Calling The Spirits and I'm so stoked to record and share the new music with everybody.

I will be guiding a teacher training program called Wild Lotus Soul School in New Orleans in the fall 2008. It's an interdisciplinary yoga and spirituality teacher training program that will guide aspiring teachers into the wilderness of their own spirit so they can teach others to travel there. There will be a great emphasis on the art of teaching yoga and bringing hatha and bhakti together. We'll explore the relationship between yoga, art, music, mythology, philosophy, dance, play, and more. We've got some great teachers who are going to be a part of it including Dana and Jasmine from Laughing Lotus, James Bailey, Lorin Roche, Mitchel Bleier, and others.

We'll also be opening up a second Wild Lotus Yoga in downtown New Orleans in late 2009 as part of a special project called The New Orleans Healing Center. The New Orleans Healing Center is being developed in a 55,000 sq. foot building in one of the recovering neighborhoods in New Orleans near the 9th Ward. Plans for the three story building include a natural foods grocery, healing arts rooms, gallery, performance space, street university, women's center, labyrinth, offices for local green businesses, organic cafe, and arts bazaar. One of the main purposes of the center is to bring healing arts practices to people in downtown New Orleans who don't have access to them. So many of the services will be offered on a sliding scale and we'll have a number of community yoga classes we'll be offering specifically focusing on post-traumatic stress relief. Shortly, we'll be creating a fundraising program to raise scholarship money for neighborhood residents to attend yoga classes and we'll be inviting yogis nationwide to contribute.

YM: Where can people buy your cds and find out more about you and the band?

SJ: Visit www. seanjohnsonkirtan.com for cds and kirtan info. Visit www.wildlotusyoga.com to check out info about the studio.

YM: Thank you for joining us and sharing all your gifts and music with our community.

SJ: Thank you, Kasey! And for all the vision and energy you put into Yoga Mates. The site is like an online village for the yoga community. Really great work! - YogaMates.com

Wallahs to Watch
Seán Johnson
When Seán Johnson evacuated New Orleans in August 2005, he took a few changes of clothes, his harmonium, and a box of music and mystical poetry. Hurricane Katrina hit the next day. Unable to go home, Johnson embarked on a kirtan tour to raise money for hurricane relief—and to collect himself. “The kirtan was very therapeutic,” he says. His music is as much a product of his New Orleans roots as it is of formal study. “There’s music in the water, in the air, in the heat and the humidity here, and in the way people walk and talk,” says Johnson, who grew up listening to jazz, hip hop, and rock, and sang in the city’s children’s choir. In college he studied the singing style of his Irish ancestors and got hooked on Middle Eastern music. Later he apprenticed with South Indian musician and author Russill Paul. “When I lead kirtan now, it’s a really rich brew of all these traditions.”

Home Base: New Orleans, Louisiana
Website: www.seanjohnsonkirtan.com
Can’t Miss: When he’s not touring, Johnson teaches yoga and leads Monday evening kirtans at Wild Lotus Yoga, the New Orleans studio he founded in 2002. His 200-hour teacher-training program, Soul School, blends bhakti and hatha yoga. www.wildlotusyoga.com
Coming Soon: Johnson is helping raise funds to convert a 55,000-square-foot warehouse in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans into a healing center, which will include a second Wild Lotus location as well as a food co-op, an organic café, and performance and gallery spaces. By Anna Dubrovsky - Yoga Plus Magazine

"When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, studio owner and kirtan singer Sean Johnson left his hometown to go on tour with his band. In between performances, the group set to work on writing new material that blended Big Easy jazz with Sanskrit chants. The resulting studio album represents the band's emotional grieving for its city and hopefulness for its renaissance.

In this acoustically based album, Johnson, his brother and guitarist Matt Johnson, percussionist Gwendolyn Colman, and jazz bassist Alvin Young aims to capture the spirit of the devastated city. Tenor sax and guitar fuse beautifully with the Indian harmonium and tamboura, Middle Eastern dumbek and udu, and Laten castanets. Many of the tracks are improvised recordings, giving each song a life of its own.

This organic energy is evident throughout the album, especially with "Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu," in which the opening guitar riff precedes a soulful saxophone accompanying the mantra for happiness and freedom to all. The funky rhythms and vocals in "Om Shakti" exuding the power of the divine feminine, are paired with a rapped chant of the "Durga Chalisa,' a Hindu prayer honoring Durga, the lion-riding warrior goddess.

Calling The Spirits delivers the spicy sounds of the bayou with devotion. For that reason, the album is a joy to listen to whether you're a yogi, a jazz connoisseur, or anyone who appreciates wildly creative music." - Yoga Journal

I never miss an opportunity to sing or practice when Sean Johnson and The Wild Lotus Band come to Southern California. Framing their appearance at the Global Mala Project, the band played evening gigs at Exhale in Venice and the Santa Barbara Yoga Center while also cramming onto the stage at Exhale to accompany Saul David Raye's soulful asana practice. The lotuses bring a new groove to kirtan, reminiscent of smoky jazz but with a transcendent ring...or maybe that's just Matt's saxophone licks. In warrior pose, there's nothing more satisfying than feeling the reverberations, the vibrations, in my very bones as I practice; it is beyond compare. Gwendolyn's frame drum and other creative percussive actions create a beat while Sean and bassist Alvin provide melody and rhythm. Their Friday evening kirtan maade a bhakti out of my visiting jnana yogi houseguest, and the Sunday morning practice brought tears of joy to both of our eyes. Om Shanti...until next time. - L.A. Yoga Magazine

Sean Johnson’s kirtan will ignite the world! Starting on slow simmer, Calling The Spirits is a jazzy hybrid of East and West that will bring joy to your heart and get your body boogieing! New Orleans is home for this band, and there’s something in the arrangements and in the horns that brings to mind the old-time Cajun mix of high culture and deep roots.

I hear the influence of Sean’s teacher, Russill Paul, who taught Sean raga and harmonics, particularly in the title track. With deep reverence for mantra and melody, the Wild Lotus Band does its magic, creating a stew of shimmering world music. Sean’s voice is sublime beyond belief. I adore Gwendolyn Coleman’s vocals, and her Middle Eastern percussion skills are fabulous. The horns add a bit of Eastern European flavor.

The cover art is a dreamy feast for the eyes–Hanuman on harmonium, Krishna on sax and Ganesh on bass, while the Devi keeps it all together in time. It’s highly recommended for all chant fans, yogis and music lovers alike. Calling The Spirits will ground you, while at the same time allow your wings to emerge and fly--a true spiritual phenomena. - Yoga Chicago

Calling the Spirits is destined to become one of the most well regarded recordings in the world of chant music. Each arrangement is unique and inspiring from the smooth saxophone on Jai Ma to the danceable beat of Om Shakti. Sean Johnson's vocals are impeccable. Gwendolyn Colman backs him up strongly, adding a balancing feminine component. Colman also contributes percussion and her skill on a variety of exotic instruments. She is joined by other talented guest musicians, resulting in a colorful and well integrated sound.

Though chant music is a fairly recent genre in our musical culture, it has a longstanding history. In fact, highlighting sacred words with beautiful melodies is a tradition that spans at least a thousand years. This tradition is now being transformed by time and place. Western artists performing kirtan today bring their varied cultural experiences to the melodies they choose.

Johnson's music is infused with a subtle flavor of his native city, New Orleans. This recording is also a reflection of his attempt to bring light and hope back to his beloved city after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. By Bette Timm - Aura Magazine

"Sean Johnson & the Wild Lotus Band are a New Orleans-based collective that offer a unique twist on classic kirtan chant. Acoustic guitar, bluesy rhythms, lots of clap-style percussion... the band takes the essence of the bayou and merges it with Indian spiritual music for a sound that bubbles with soul and unbridled passion. Johnson provides lead vocals on the album, and his voice has a low, smooth quality that melds well with the earthy, acoustic-based backdrops. Their take on the perennial "Om Namah Shivaya" is fresh and original, with a light jazz sound and joyous singing that captivates. The same could be said for another favorite "Govinda Gopala," which makes great use of Kristen Jensen's violin to provide an upbeat yet tender melody. Johnson and his band perform regularly at yoga studios around the country and have frequently put on benefit concerts to help rebuilding efforts in their New Orleans home." By Dan Cowan - Music Design

"Dedicated to the creativity deity Saraswati, New Orleans-based Sean Johnson & the Wild Lotus Band has some serious energy flowing in every chant in Calling the Spirits. The musical attack is modest and skillful, primarily featuring Matt Johnson on an acoustic guitar with Sean chanting the lead while harmonizing a harmonium drone. The Wild Lotus Band features light violin accompaniment performed by Kristen Jensen, tasty fretless bass lines by Alvin Young, as well as cello tracks by Ludmila Konstantinova, tamboura drones by Dean Klopsis and excellent and skillful percussion contributed by Gwendolyn Colman. The chants here are extremely gentle and easy to listen to. Sean knows his way around a variety of chord structures to keep each piece engaging and musically unique. On the traditional “Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu,” Matt throws in some soft sax licks to keep the mood sensual. I enjoyed the choice of using mostly frame drum rhythms to give the group’s sound a distinctive Middle Eastern influence not often heard on Sanskrit chant albums. There are a lot of other Middle Eastern instruments used here such as the dumbek and the udu –– which are nicely complemented by Sean’s harmonium and Matt’s guitar. All the compositions on Calling the Spirits are well worth listening to and using for any yoga class situation--there is plenty of sweetness and devotion here." By Michael Mollura. Reprinted with the permission of LA Yoga Ayurveda and Health www.LAYogaMagazine.com © Goodman Media Group 2007 - L.A. Yoga Magazine

Part of the reason music fans pay good money to see a concert is for the opportunity to sing along to their favorite hits. Opening up the ol' vocal cords with a group of like-minded people can be an uplifting experience.
Seán Johnson, who will perform a kirtan concert at Coil Yoga in downtown Fresno on Tuesday night, enjoys tapping into that impulse -- even if the audience is unfamiliar with his music and what's being sung isn't words, per se.

The music will remind some of a Grateful Dead concert, others of a Sunday morning in a Southern Baptist church. People who enjoy house music will be familiar with the way the long, flowing jams wind through the room.

"Kirtan has been called the gospel music of India," the New Orleans harmonium player says. "It's got that flavor to it. It's devotional music."

But he's quick to add that he draws from multiple cultures and religions: Irish, Indian, Catholic, Buddhist and Muslim. He does his best to present it in an ecumenical, inclusive way.

"It's really important to me to explain it in a very accessible way, so that it doesn't seem like this exotic, esoteric thing that comes from another planet," Johnson says. "In our culture, we're a very visual culture. We don't pay too much attention to sound.

"We know that music moves us. We know that songs mark different places in our life. We find an emotional connection to music and songs. But we don't pay that much attention to how sound can change our consciousness."

Johnson says kirtan is not so much about performance: "It's about all of us bringing our voices together and waking each other up."

Since the goals of yoga also are about connection, kirtan is closely associated with that practice. The songs during Johnson's appearances often last 15 minutes or more, with the audience chanting in call-and-response patterns. The voices don't tell a narrative but are used as instrumentation.

Few in the audience actually practice yoga during kirtan shows, even though they typically happen at studios. More often, Johnson says, people chant along with their eyes shut, get up and dance or just sit and listen.

"Sometimes we play softer, more lullaby-type of stuff, and people will actually lie down," he says. "It's quite sweet. You can't go to your local music club and lie down on the floor. You wouldn't want to."

Johnson is excited about the way his music is evolving. His next album won't have any songs longer than seven minutes (which is short by kirtan standards), and it includes a small dose of hip-hop.

"We're blending the sounds that we heard growing up, particularly here in New Orleans, so that it's authentic for us," he says. "What we're trying to do is balance being respectful of the tradition that this comes from, but also being innovative and creative and keeping it alive." By Dan Mayhew - Fresno Bee