Listen to Midival Punditz & Karsh Kale live on WNYC's "Soundcheck"

This is an interview with Gaurav Raina, Tapan Raj and Karsh Kale. The Punditz talk about the new CD and modern Indian music. When I first heard Hello Hello, I was disappointed not to hear more Indian influence in the music. With Karsh Kale playing the tabla, I always expect great things. I am warming up to the CD and would love to see them live but they aren't coming anywhere near where I live.

WNYC - Soundcheck: MIDIval PunditZ (April 15, 2009)

Also, here is video from the Punditz tour in 2006:

"Take AIM at Climate Change" - Music Video

Take AIM at Climate Change - Music Video

AIM = Adapt Innovate Mitigate. What happens at Earth's poles will rock your world. From POLAR-PALOOZA, a multimedia initiative with NSF & NASA support.

Resources:

PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE

U.S. International Polar Year 2007-2008

NASA - NASA and the International Polar Year

Free Download: Midival Punditz: Drifting

Global Noize: Midival Punditz: Drifting

The new cd is Hello Hello and will be out on March 31st. I am really looking forward to see how this wonderful duo has grown and matured as a group. If you are not familiar with them, both of their first 2 cd's are excellent and worth listening to! The Punditz represent some of the best electronic music production coming out of India.

Last.fm: MIDIval PunditZ

Official website: MIDIval PunditZ India

Twitter: Midival Punditz Twitter

Niyaz live on KCRW

I just finished watching Niyaz and Azam Ali on Morning Becomes Eclectic. I had seen this program on the web but didn't have time to listen until today and I am glad I listened! Azam is nothing short of amazing and I always like to hear an artist talk about their music. Do yourself a favor and take a listen or you can watch the performance!
















Nine Heavens:Niyaz

Yoga Enthusiasts Hear the Call of Kirtan

Great article in the NY Times about kirtan and how rapidly it is growing. If you haven't heard the new Krishna Das CD Heart Full of Soul CD, I encourage you to listen to it. Overall this CD is slower and more deliberate than previous albums, an approach that allows the listener to get slowly lost in the hypnotic effect of the repetitive lyrics and also enables the audience to easily sing along. This makes this CD somewhat less uplifting and thus a bit less satisfying than K.D.'s earlier albums but also allows the listener to become more meditative while listening to the CD. So give it a listen and so how you like it.

And an increasing number of Americans seem to be connecting with kirtan. At the Omega Center in Rhinebeck, N.Y., attendance to its Ecstatic Chant festival has doubled over the last five years. The numbers are also up at Integral. Jo Sgammato, 57, the center’s general manager, said the Friday-night kirtan would have about 25 participants 10 years ago; now the center will sometimes host 400 in a single weekend when kirtan stars like Krishna Das, Jai Uttal and Wah! perform. At the Jivamukti Yoga School in Manhattan, 700 people came last September to see Krishna Das, setting a record for kirtan at the center.

If you’ve ever taken a yoga class where a rich, sonorous voice chanted on CD, chances are it was Krishna Das, who has become so popular over the last five years that he now performs at mainstream venues like the Wadsworth Theater in Los Angeles, the Berklee Performance Center in Boston and last month at Town Hall in Manhattan.

“It has left the churches and the yoga studios because it’s such a simple practice,” said Krishna Das, 61, who grew up on Long Island as Jeff Kagel and traveled to India in the early 1970s. “It’s not about belief in any religions, so people are coming from all walks of life. You give it a try and if it works, you’re in fat city. If not, you do something else.”

Lal Meri

Lal Meri is a new electronic/pop group made up of three musicians of different backgrounds, cultures and musical sensibilities, all combined into a unified whole. Nancy Kaye's singing and writing have powered her forays in pop (a 2002 debut album for Island/Def Jam Records) and jazz (her recent, saucy tour de force Luckiest Girl under her band name of Rosey). Ireesh Lal's multiple instrumental, composing and arranging talents have been spotlighted alongside Kid Rock, Smashmouth and others as well as in his own bands Hot Sauce Johnson and Animastik. Carmen Rizzo's global-conscious sense has brought him to the forefront as a writer, mixer and producer with Seal, Coldplay, Paul Oakenfold, Pete Townshend and countless others, while his expansive vision is at the core of his own wide-ranging albums and his work as a member of the groundbreaking world-fusion act Niyaz.

Being a big Carmen Rizzo & Niyaz fan, I am excited to see how this CD holds up over time. You may have already heard their song "Sweet Love", on the ABC show "Samantha Who" staring Christina Applegate & the CBS show "Shark".




Lal Meri's website here
Lal Meri's Last.fm here
Lal Meri's MySpace here

Why I Ride

Click on the link above to read about my wife's love of bike riding. She wrote her story and the local Trek store posted it on their website. She is also riding in the American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure on March 8.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama congratulates Barack Obama

His Holiness the Dalai Lama sent a congratulatory message to President-elect Barack Obama on November 5, 2008:

Dear President-elect Obama,

Congratulations on your election as the President of the United States of America.

I am encouraged that the American people have chosen a President who reflects America's diversity and her fundamental ideal that any person can rise up to the highest office in the land. This is a proud moment for America and one that will be celebrated by many peoples around the world.

The American Presidential elections are always a great source of encouragement to people throughout the world who believe in democracy, freedom and equality of opportunities.

May I also commend the determination and moral courage that you have demonstrated throughout the long campaign, as well as the kind heart and steady hand that you often showed when challenged. I recall our own telephone conversation this spring and these same essential qualities came through in your concern for the situation in Tibet.

As the President of the United States, you will certainly have great and difficult tasks before you, but also many opportunities to create change in the lives of those millions who continue to struggle for basic human
needs. You must also remember and work for these people, wherever they may be.

With my prayers and good wishes,

Yours sincerely,

THE DALAI LAMA