Mark Maxwell, Saxophonist

Wahe Guru: the ecstacy of God is beyond description; similar to Hallelujah (from the Sanskrit/Gurmukhi, the ancient mantric language of India).

This week’s song is a new and exciting departure for me. Musically, it’s a collaborative effort between our friends, Jai Dev Singh and Simrit Kaur, and Roberta and I.

Roberta and I have been practicing Kundalini yoga with Jai Dev and Simrit for some time. About 6 months ago Roberta suggested to me that I get together with Jai Dev and arrange and record one of the chants that we do in yoga class. Take it and jazzify it, jazz musician meets yogi. My reaction was, “What would I do?” because I really had no idea. (But as is often the case, Roberta had the great vision.) So we invited Jai Dev over, had him record the chant over a simple beat, then I went to work.

Over the next few weeks, along with lots of feedback from Roberta, Jai Dev, and Simrit, I fleshed out the music. We immediately realized that we were onto something, because in the world of spiritual chant music you don’t hear anything like this. This new piece was exciting, dynamic and different. And when we recorded Simrit’s beautiful floating vocal over the top, well, the whole thing became sublime.

So here’s Wahe Guru, this week’s Song-A-Week. This one’s both hip and transcendental; I hope you enjoy hearing it as much as we enjoyed recording it!