New CD-- Dharma Cakra

Dear friends, I am inspired to share this music of dharmackra ‘circle of dharma’ with you, an album designed as music for collective meditation. Dharma means ‘holding entity’, ‘containing entity’, which for each and every living being is Supreme consciousness. Cakra means ‘wheel’, ‘circle’ so in essence, dharmacakra is the performance of collective meditation in the company of other spiritualists i.e.satsaung. Dharmacakra was first introduced by Buddha (approx 500 BC) in the Iśipattana deer grove in the presence of his five disciples, and has continued ever since, in various forms and permutations, encouraged by great spiritual teachers and communities throughout the centuries and around the world. While many spiritual paths have their weekly dharma circles, the music of this Dharmacakra is given by the preceptor Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji. This album is dedicated to the all those who seek spiritual growth and fulfilment. May this music empower you and if you find yourself alone, provide the sustenance you need on your spiritual journey.

So it is with great joy that I am able to share my new album called Dharma Cakra, Samskrta songs for Meditation,  with you It is now available for download at 

http://www.innersong.com/products/devotional/Dharmacakra.htm, 

or if you would like an actual CD then just message me with your address. 

Cost is $16 US (paypal is best or cheque if in NZ). Postage is free for the next month. 

So if you want to give yourself or a friend a Christmas present, you might like to have this!. The format, is 2 devotional songs, then 2 kiirtans, Samgaccadvam 'unity' chant from the Vedas, then Guru Puja, followed by a new composition called Creation Song Cycle, based on Tantric scriptures Ananda Sutram, Chapter 1, by Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji. 

If you want to deepen your meditation, this is the music for you. Thank you. 

Thanks to Kim Hill and Mark Cubey Producer of Kim Hills Saturday morning Show.

Saturday morning came, I sat like a tin soldier in the car, stiff with anxiety, although Kavita was great in drilling me that morning with possible questions Kim Hill might ask. We sat in the studio, I couldn't talk, I just sat straight up, waiting for my call. But as soon as I heard Kim speak to me through the head phones, the  nervousness just melted away and the excitement and the joy of just talking about Rarh music culture just  flowed out of me.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/20140809

Playing Favourites with Jyoshna La Trobe ( 49′ 9″ )

10:11 Auckland-based ethnomusicologist and composer who has been collecting audio/visual documentation of indigenous music and ecstatic performance in west India for the British Library World Music Archives, where she has her own collection.

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Music Review by Graham Reid, March 31st 2014.

Graham Reid, Writer/Traveller/Supporter of NZ Music and much more, reviews my music here below:

http://www.elsewhere.co.nz/absoluteelsewhere/6222/jyosna-jyoshna-profiled-2014-when-the-spirit-moves/

I first met Jyosna LaTrobe in January '91 after the release of her cassette Reign of Love which I had reviewed for the Herald. I was aware of who she was – she'd been a founding member of the all-women acoustic trio Turiiya – but her album came as “a modest delight” as I called it in my four-star lead review. The musical arrangements embraced sitar and tabla, jazzy sax, pure pop, French Horn and much more. But it was her affecting voice which also won me. So I invited her in for an interview. Truth be told, I can't really remember what we talked about, but do recall afterwards we went to the roof of the Herald building for a photo, and I'd never been up there before. Jyosna was born Joanne and the spelling of her adopted Sanskrit name (meaning moonlight) can vary. "Joshna" and "Jyotsna" have also appeared on album covers. She has kept in touch with me over the years by sending copies of her albums and I always delighted in playing tracks like the thrilling Rhum Jhum (off her Dancing Divinity album of '99) on radio whenever I could. It was uplifting spiritual dance music. Jyosna is unique in the New Zealand musical landscape and her spiritually-inclined music was what also attracted me initially, and has kept me coming back. And, spurred on by receiving two recent CD by her, I went and found that yellowed clipping of our interview in a dusty scrapbook.

That album Reign of Love – recorded in Auckland with Sam Ford as engineer – caught her at a particular moment after the deaths of her mother and her meditation teacher. The title on the article was, appropriately, "The pain of love". "I didn't feel shy about expressing pain," she said, and "I wanted to express myself and it's true what people say, that a lot comes out during such times. You realise time and people are precious." But as I noted in the article, for all those sad circumstances, the album was no introspective or maudlin piece of work. In fact the arangements, songs and Ford's production made for "a sweetened yet subtle collection which -- if nothing else -- displayed[ed] LaTrobe's gift for a mesmerising melody".

 And after that I didn't see here again, although she always sent me copies of her releases with lovely greetings written on the cover. She remembered me, just as I couldn't forget her.

In recent years Jyosna – living in Auckland, now Dr LaTrobe after a receiving a PhD for her research into the Rarh music of India – has been working and teaching music and singing, been a guest lecturer with Richard Nunns on Maori music, she has toured, performed and done workshops in the USA and Britain, and also released two albums, Unity Hours I and Unity Hours II in 2006 and '10 respectively (under the name Jyoshna). Both are inspired by devotional love songs of praise originating in the Rarh region in eastern India, so the beloved or lover being addressed is as much a spiritual entity (this is common in Sufism also) and a temporal one. avatars

As on previous albums she surrounds her high, sometimes yearning and often sublimely melodic vocals (which have a natural but gentle vibrato, sometimes appealingly with childlike innocence) with a large ensemble of backing singers, guitars, Indian instruments (sarangi, shanai, tabla) keyboards and Indian violin. This combination makes for an exoticism which is rare in a New Zealand artist, but many of these songs notably on the first volume – as with that earlier radio favourite of mine Rhum Jhum – are driven by dance beats. You could almost imagine a club in heaven would be playing this music as the fulfilled and elevated took to the floor in ecstatic rejoicing. Jysona's website is here and her extensive discography is here. By Graham Reid, posted Mar 31, 2014

A new sound track for the film.

https://soundcloud.com/jyoshna/teri-meri-punjab

Photo: The Cast and crew Showing of "Stars in Her Eyes" Film, Directed by Athina Tsoulis, with Rachit Bhatia, Jacqui La Trobe, Jos Wallabh, Aleisha Walabh Smith and Mohnid Ananda.
It was a lovely night, although Athina was sorely missed. She was in AUS welcoming her new grandchild. The film will be launched in July at the NZ film festival.  

Something I am very excited about is the upcoming VoSe Festival at Kawai Purapura, Albany this weekend.
 Apart from the many amazing workshops that will be there, we will also launch a MultiFaith Continuous Kirtan performance from many diverse spiritual communities from Auckland and around the country.

These groups have come together to perform for one hour each 'non-stop' as part of the 9 hour continuous kirtan performance. This is the first time something like this has happened in Auckland where so many spiritual communities have come together to provide a continuous performance of devotional singing or kirtan. It has been a year in preparation, from when we began the Multi Faith Kirtan once a month events last year, encouraging networking between the different groups in Auckland, till the present day.

My group called the Earth Song Choir has been drawn together from various choirs, music schools and spiritual groups in Auckland to perform songs for the evening, some of which I have written especially for the VoSE festival and some are traditional. These include the music for Ananda Sutram, Sonal Bhor and Touched by the Sea from Prabhat samgiit Collection, as well as an original called  Tamaki Makaurau. We have a string quartet, and a 15 strong choir. The songs reflect various themes such as diversity in unity, sacred Sanksrit sutras, Bengali long songs and NZ folks songs as well. Here's the link to find out more about it.
http://www.kawaipurapura.co.nz/

As Music Curator it is my goal to provide the mist uplifting, positive, exciting as well as challenging musical experiences imaginable for both participants and audience alike.
See you there!  

December

I have been doing last few last music pieces for the Feature Film, 'Stars in Her Eyes', a romantic comedy produced and Directed by Athina Tsoulis. Sound Design is by Chris Burt at The Inside Track in Ponsonby. It was great to be shown around Inside Track studio by Chris the other day. I am really looking forward to the launch and hope you are too. The latest track I have written for the opening of the film, features the amazing opera singer Elizabeth Mandeno, and Ravi Maisuria on tabla. Its called Starlight. listen to it here: https://soundcloud.com/jyoshna/starlight

Singing with Freedom Warokshop at Corbans January 15-17th

- Seed a Choir - Singing with Freedom https://www.facebook.com/events/466915373424166/