Guru Ganesha Singh

Revel in the deep bhakti bliss of an intimate kirtan evening with a pioneer of world devotional music. The magically mellifluous acoustic guitar stylings and resonant vocals of GuruGanesha are the focal point of his newly formed ensemble, which also features his longtime collaborators, master musicians Sat Kartar Singh (acoustic guitar, tabla, cajon, backing vocals), Gurusangat Singh (bass, nylon string guitar, backing vocals), and world music multi-percussionist Tripp Dudley on tabla, and cajon.
The group creates loving, meditative music that immerses listeners in waves of healing sound currents, inviting them to join in the joyous exchange of call-and-response chanting. With supple instrumental interplay and glorious three-part vocal harmony, the trio brings a vibrant new approach to the age-old art of kirtan, singing mantras and divine poetry drawn from the Kundalini Yoga tradition, to transport audiences to a profoundly beautiful and transcendent place.
“I’ve always loved chanting and singing,” says GuruGanesha. “But I felt that the way I could best express my soul was through the guitar. It’s like an extension of my spirit.”
The GuruGanesha Band was born of its leader’s wish to get back to his roots in kirtan and the acoustic guitar, following several triumphant tours with the electrified and electrifying GuruGanesha Band featuring Paloma Devi. That group’s invigorating new brand of bhakti rock and roll found them delighting audiences of thousands at yoga festivals and concert venues, often sharing the stage with beloved mantra duo Deva Premal and Miten. The GuruGanesha Band he says, now returns to the more intimate dynamics of a quartet ensemble and smaller venues that enable a greater heart connection and more personal interaction with the audience.
“This is what I started doing in the early ‘70s when I first embarked on the spiritual path,” says GuruGanesha, “sitting in living rooms and yoga centers, chanting with guitars in front of the fireplace.”
This latest phase of GuruGanesha’s rich and multifaceted career has reunited him with the lyrical and expressive acoustic guitar style that first claimed the world’s attention via his groundbreaking work with the divine devotional singer Snatam Kaur. His guitar and ever-open heart have also led him through well-received collaborations with Guru Singh, Thomas Barquee, Nirinjan Kaur, Jai-Jagdeesh, Tina Malia, Hans Christian and Paloma Devi. But in selecting material for the current iteration of the GuruGanesha Band to perform, he also found himself returning to the music of his solo albums, particularly his best selling disc to date, Pure Ganesh. Along with acoustic versions of recent GuruGanesha Band favorites such as “A Thousand Suns,” and “Thy Will Be Done,” GuruGanesha Band concerts are expected to highlight Pure Ganesh classics such as “Ek Ong Kar,” “Ma,” and “In the Light of My Soul.”
“The guitar work on Pure Ganesh is some of the best I’ve ever recorded,” he says. “And this new group with Sat Kartar, Gurusangat, and Tripp really brings those songs to life.”
Along with songs from throughout his long life of musical devotion, GuruGanesha will also be sharing stories, cosmic jokes and nuggets of wisdom from his more than four decades on the spiritual path and his many years as a student of the renowned spiritual master Yogi Bhajan. All in all, the GuruGanesha Band promises to be one of the most deeply inspiring and fulfilling musical experiences of the 2016 mantra season.
“The evening,” he says, “will be a beautiful journey into multiple genres—kirtan, gospel, folk, blues, raga and rock—with the common thread being mantra, divine poetry, audience participation and an uplifting positive message.”