Jai
Uttal
Indian Kirtan/World Music Fusion
$20/advance,
$22/door, Teens
12-17/$10
Children under 12 free with paying adult
|
|
|
|
Unitarian Center, 4th and C Streets, Ashland
Wednesday, April 7, 2010 • 8PM
 Jai
Uttal has played Motown songs in cover bands and busked for change
on the streets. Both of those experiences have stood him in good
stead for his musical career, which finds his music straddling
the divide between world and new age.
Born in New York City in 1952, Uttal grew up in the music business
-- his father worked for a record label -- and at the age of
seven he began piano lessons. Those were followed by banjo, guitar,
and harmonica as Uttal began to discover American roots music,
most especially the old-time banjo picking of Appalachian musician
Roscoe Holcomb. But his true spiritual epiphany came when he
was 17 and first heard Indian music, which "touched my heart
like sounds of my home," he said. "Then I got all the
Indian albums I could, and jammed along on guitar with Ravi Shankar
records."
His obsession became so great that at the age of 19 he headed
for the West Coast, to study sarod and voice with the legendary
Ali Akhbar Khan. Eighteen months after that he traveled even
further -- to India itself, to experience the music and the culture
first-hand. Renting a house in the Bengal city of Bhopur for
$15 a month, he came to know singing street musicians the Bauls
of Bengal, and started playing and traveling with them.
On his return to the U.S., he became more diligent in his study
of Indian music, while supporting himself by playing guitar in
bands whose material ranged from Motown covers to punk to blues.
His break came in 1991 when Triloka released his debut, Footprints,
which included an appearance by jazz and world music innovator
Don Cherry. With his band, the Pagan Love Orchestra, Uttal continued
to mine spiritual, Indian-inflected music two years later on
Monkey, which hit the Top Ten on the world music charts.
Uttal also found himself producing his mentor, Khan, for two
records, Journey and Garden of Dreams, which found the maestro
working with a Western orchestra for the first time.
Uttal's next release, 1994's Beggars and Saints was his tribute
to the Bauls of Bengal, in thanks for his formative time in Bhopur.
Three years later came Shiva Station, which was mixed by innovative
producer Bill Laswell. After that he concentrated on touring
with his band rather than recording. A compilation of his four
Triloka albums appeared as Spirit Room in July 2000, shortly
before the self-released Live Kirtan and Pagan Remixes, which,
along with remixes of three Pagan Love Orchestra tracks, was
comprised of chanting by Uttal recorded live in a yoga studio.
In all, Uttal has released 23 recordings, of which Thunder Love
is the latest. The CD explores the many sides of Love. "The
songs tend to have verses that describe the human condition and
Sanskrit mantras as choruses. These prayers are so entwined with
my inner condition, my daily life, that they have to go together
with the English lyrics," he explains. "The mantras
are not necessarily representative of linear thoughts, but they
connect us to a greater thought—at times, I’ve felt
they were the only thing keeping me alive."
For more information, visit jaiuttal.com. |
