Shopping cart
Shopping cart

Your Shopping Cart is empty.

Dave Stringer - Meditative Music

Dave Stringer live

The Los Angeles Times has declared the experience of chanting with Dave Stringer to be "a departure from ancient kirtan. Stringer's performance shaped the experience into a far more compelling musical encounter." Kirtan (pronounced keer-tahn) originated in India, and is currently experiencing a worldwide renaissance as a participatory live music experience. Stringer has been widely profiled as one of the most innovative artists of the new American kirtan movement in publications as diverse as Time, Billboard, Yoga Journal and In Style.

Stringer's sound marries the transcendent mysticism of traditional Indian instruments with the exuberant, groove-oriented sensibility of American gospel, and he is regarded as one of the most gifted singers in the genre. Stringer, who is also an accomplished composer and multi-instrumentalist, has a special ability to bring people together and inspire them to sing. His work intends to create a modern and participatory theatrical experience out of the ancient traditions of kirtan and yoga, open to a multiplicity of interpretations, and accessible to all.

Initially trained as a visual artist, filmmaker and jazz musician, Stringer had his formative experiences with chanting when film editing work brought him to the Siddha Yoga ashram in Ganeshpuri, India in 1990. A subsequent period of residence at the ashram laid the foundation for his continuing study of the ideas, practices and music of yoga.

Since 2000, Stringer and a diverse ensemble of accompanying musicians have toured North America and Europe tirelessly, developing new venues for music, and expanding the audience for kirtan. He has introduced chanting for the first time to many seemingly unlikely cities, and through his consistent touring, has been instrumental in the development of a number of thriving local kirtan communities. He has also served as a volunteer teaching meditation and chanting to inmates at a number of correctional facilities in the United States.

An articulate and engaging public speaker, he probes the dilemmas of the spirit with a wry and unorthodox sense of humor. Stringer frequently works in tandem with internationally celebrated yoga teachers, creating music for workshops led by John Friend, Shiva Rea, and Gurmukh, among others. Of particular note has been his friendship and collaboration with yoga teacher Saul David Raye, with whom he has created a number of recordings.



Based in Los Angeles, Stringer has produced varied recordings with other celebrated World musicians including Azam Ali, Vas, Axiom of Choice, Rasa, Suzanne Teng, Shaman's Dream and the Open Door Orchestra. Chant artists Donna Delory, Suzanne Sterling, and Girish went on to launch their own careers in the genre after spending time in Stringer's performing and recording ensembles. His voice also appears on numerous soundtracks, including the blockbuster film Matrix Revolutions and the video game Myst. The CDs he has produced under his own name, "Brink", "Japa", "Mala" and "Divas & Devas", are heard in yoga studios throughout the world.

Kirtan

Kirtan is a folk musical form that arose from the devotional Bhakti yoga movement of 15th century India. The primary musical feature of kirtan is the use of call and response, a figure that also deeply informs Western bluegrass, gospel music and jazz. The form is simple: a lead group calls out the melodies and the mantras. The crowd responds, clapping and dancing as the rhythms build and accelerate.

The intention of Kirtan is consciousness-transformative, directing the singers to vanish into the song as drops merge into the ocean. Sanskrit is the mother tongue of many modern languages, and a kind of periodic table of elemental sound meaning. The mantras are primarily recitations of names given to the divine. But perhaps the true understanding of the mantras can be found in the sense of unity, well-being and timelessness that they elicit. The mantras quiet the mind, and the music frees the heart. Ecstasy is both the process and the product.

The Bhaktis wrote ecstatic love poems, and went around singing all the time. They saw the expression and form of the divine in every direction they looked. Their message was simple: Cultivate joy. See the divine in one another. They taught Sanskrit mantras to common people using simple melodies, accompanied by handclaps and finger cymbals and drums. The Bhaktis had no use for orthodoxy. They saw the expression and form of the divine in every direction they looked. From this perspective, even music that cannot be characterized as traditional can still be expressive of the Bhaktis' original intention.

Mantras are intended as a tool with which the spirit can release itself from the prison of attachments that the mind creates. It's not unfair to say that the chanting of mantras is intended to be a completely mindless activity, since the intention of chanting is to create an ecstatic state of awareness that is beyond mind. Yoga doesn't ask us to believe, it asks us to practice, examining our experience until we can witness the truth in the book of our own heart. No one else can read it for us, or tell us what it means. Ultimately, whether mantras are ancient wisdom or psychological metaphor or complete nonsense depends on the intention and experience of the participant.

Some CDs from Dave Stringer

Japa - Dave Stringer CD

Japa - Dave Stringer CDSanskrit mantra chanting and kirtan that marries the mysticism of traditional Indian music with the live energy of American gospel.

Similar & Interesting

Circle Of Light - Gurudass CD

Circle Of Light - Gurudass CDThe top-selling album Circle of Light by Guru Dass Singh and Gurudass Kaur is really a great mantra- and meditation CD.

Adi Shakti - Gurudass CD

Adi Shakti - Gurudass CDThis CD features two classical Kundalini Yoga Mantras: Adi Shakti and Gobinde Mukande, each sung in a length of 31 minutes which is considered an ideal meditation time for transformation and for experience deeper layers of the self.

Longing to Belong - Gurudass CD

Longing to Belong - Gurudass CDOn their top-selling Album Longing to Belong, Guru Dass Singh and Gurudass Kaur demonstrate once more their unique qualities as "Hit"-writers and composers of wonderful melodies.

The Aquarian Teacher - Yogi Bhajan, German

The Aquarian Teacher - Yogi Bhajan, GermanAquarian Teacher Textbook & Yoga Manual by KRI for the International Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training based on the teachings of Yogi Bhajan, German edition.

Cookies & Data Protection

We use cookies to enhance your experience on this website and to offer you the best service. Some of them are essential and ensure, for example, the proper functioning of our website. By continuing to use our website, or by clicking on "Okay", you agree to the use of these cookies. Detailed information and how you can withdraw your consent at any time can be found in our Privacy policy.

Cookies required for the function of the website

Required cookies are necessary for the proper functioning of our website. There will be no transfer to third parties!

Statistics & Marketing

Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us to understand how visitors use our website. We use Google Analytics (provider: Google LLC) for website analysis. Statistical data is generated about how visitors use our website.

Details Imprint

Accept all cookies