Life inspiring art, inspiring music, inspiring art, inspiring music, inspiring people, inspiring life, inspiring art…
There were days it just felt like “BHAKTI-STOCK” at the Sedona Yoga Festival 2019!
There’s workshops, there’s yoga, there’s friends, there’s art, there’s meditation and THEN THERE’S THE MUSIC! I had the pleasure of doing 2 of my own concerts, plus playing with 3 different Kirtan bands, and accompanying Tao Porchon-Lynch in 2 of her classes. Many musicians came into town and supported each other by sitting in on their respective shows. I played with Johanna Beekman, Prem Vidu, Kelly Love Ross, Valerie Sanjali Irons, Jim Beckwith…and many of them played with me in my concert as well. There was a LOT of music going on, and a lot of sacred vibrations coming from the art on the stage; 5 paintings by artist Shey Khandro were printed on 8 foot fabric panels and draped across the back of the stage! These paintings, called “Ocean of Wisdom” were intended to bring forth Divine energies to deepen our personal experience.
Using some of the more exotic instruments on my album Healing Music Volume 2, I opened the evening’s festivities for Tao Porchon-Lynch (my dear friend, collaborator and 100-year-old Yogi) and Robert Sturman (a dear friend and world-renowned Yoga photographer) as they did their keynote talk. I was joined by Jesse Kalu on bamboo flute, Renick Turley on sitar, and Prem Vidu on percussion.
The first time I stepped onto the Kirtan Stage at the recent Sedona Yoga Festival, I was mesmerized by the art on the stage. Artist Sherab “Shey” Khandro’s 5 exquisite paintings of sacred Hindu deities with flowing swirls, sacred shapes, and tiny dots of color, were printed on 8 foot fabric panels as the backdrop for all of the performances. Shey’s signature sacred images were painted in a beguiling array of colors, which were then illuminated and splashed across the length of the stage, creating a vibrant vortex of energy felt by all the performers as well as the audience. Yoga classes, guided meditations, concerts and Kirtans were performed in the vibrant, living energy of Shey’s paintings, and could be felt by everyone in the room.
Thanks to Tres Visio for the skillfull lighting, Samyo Shannon for the decor, Dexx Negron and Blake Vadasy for sound, and to Heather and Marc Titus, as always, for their tireless devotion.