To order our new CD, SRI Kirtan "Live Your Love" Go to http://www.mantralogy.com/music/releases/live-your-love/ The chances of a CD of kirtan chanting becoming one of my picks of the year are astronomically small but here's Sruti Ram & Ishwari (http://ishwarimusic.com) and Fire of Devotion, an album I played night after night and often took into my bedroom CD player. That's an inner sanctum of thunderstorm and rain sound CDs occasionally breached by Loreena McKennitt or Bonnie Rideout or Enya. Fans of punk history will remember Lynn Keller from the Reversible Cords in the Austin, TX punk scene adn late rin St. Cecilia but under the name Ishwari, she and her partner Sruti Ram have created a rich and compelling musical offering in the repetition of sacred Sankrit names against a tightly woven tapestry of Indian and Western instruments. It's not exactly the sort of music where you pick the hit single yet the opening "Krishna Govinda" and "Jaya Jagadambe" are as richly rendered and spiritually uplifting to me as the best Christian hymns. This transformation of ancient words into modern music reminds me how wonderfully Fairport Convention did this with Child ballads in the 70s. Fire of Devotion spectacularly gorgeous aural gift, recommended for anyone whose ears are open to the music of the world here and beyond. Sruti Ram & Ishwari Sruti Ram & Ishwari sing high energy, heart opening kirtan. It is both ancient and modern, with a spirit of joy that is pulsating and contagious. Sruti Ram plays the harmonium and kartals of traditional Indian kirtan, Ishwari plays acoustic guitar. They interweave harmonies through Indian ragas to create a haunting, hypnotic effect. Together with their backup musicians, which include tabla and djembe, cello and bansuri flute, they carry the audience on a musical journey into their hearts in the ancient tradition of bhakti (devotional) yoga. Sruti Ram & Ishwari exploded out of Woodstock last fall with their CD, Fire of Devotion, and an appearance at Omega Institute’s Ecstatic Chant weekend. Stephan Rechtschaffen, Omega’s co-founder, said, “Sruti Ram and Ishwari have created a CD of kirtan and sound that delivers a profound experience for the listener. Their performance at Omega’s Ecstatic Chant created a feeling of spirit that moved all who participated. This CD offers the authentic experience of bhajan.” Sruti Ram & Ishwari’s CD release in November 2007 drew the enthusiasm and support of a thriving Woodstock kirtan community nurtured by Sruti Ram for 35 years. He traversed the U.S. with Ram Dass over a 30-year period as meditation master and pujari. Sruti Ram has sung kirtan as his personal practice and in temples across India. Sruti Ram met Ishwari in 2004 at a kirtan event. Ishwari had been writing, singing and performing her own music for 30 years. Singing together, they recognized a powerful compatibility in their styles. Sruti Ram says, “It’s like fusion, our energies together are more than the two of us apart.” Ishwari has a primal female energy that is intense and forthright. She says, “One of my favorite deities to invoke is Durga. I think of her as protecting all that is wild. The wild is what is most endangered in the world, so when we chant to her I feel we are lifting our voices to the earth, the animals and all that is wild within us. When we chant, we merge with these beautiful deities, bring them into our hearts and learn how to express them in the world.” Sruti Ram, trained in Gregorian chant, engages Ishwari’s darker colors with lighter tones, but their male and female roles are intertwined and often reversed. “It’s the dance we do together; that merging is very representative of Indian spirituality,” says Ishwari. Sruti Ram continues, “Our harmonies evoke a feeling of bliss. We sing as one voice.” Sruti Ram and Ishwari have an active tour schedule that includes Omega, Kripalu, Jivamukti & Integral Yoga in New York City. They also offer kirtan in therapeutic facilities for the developmentally delayed that uplifts and lightens those present. They gather often with kirtan devotees to transcend any separations and remind ourselves that we are all divine expressions of the same human family.” Sruti Ram & Ishwari have released their new CD “Fire of Devotion”. It is highly charged kirtan with a new sound that will transport you to the Divine within.The CD has some exceptional musicians: Sruti Ram-Vocals & Harmonium Ishwari-Vocals & Guitar Ray Spiegel tabla and various percussion Steve Gorn- Bansuri Flute Noah Hoffeld-Cello Tommy Be-Percussion Avinash-Djembe Backing Vocals-Kim Lesley, Premalata Kaye, Hillary Carr, Carrie Wykoff, Joe Veillette & Bihari contact: ishwari@earthlink.net