Jahnavi Jivana dasi | |
|---|---|
 Jahnavi Harrison in 2019 | |
| Other names | Jahnavi Harrison |
| Education | Linguistics and Creative Writing |
| Alma mater | Middlesex University |
| Known for | meditation music performer co-founded "Kirtan London" |
Jahnavi Harrison, also known by her spiritual name, Jahnavi Jivana dasi, [1] is a British musician known for her Hindu mantra meditation music (kirtan). She regularly appears as a presenter on BBC Radio 4's Something Understood programme and BBC Radio 2's Pause for Thought. [2]
Jahnavi Harrison was raised in a family of Bhakti-yoga practitioners at Bhaktivedanta Manor. She states that she aims to channel her creative expression as a musician as a path to self-realisation and service. She is trained in both Indian (Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam) and Western music, as well as dance, writing and visual arts. She gained a bachelor's degree in Linguistics and Creative Writing from Middlesex University in 2009. [3] [4] Since then she has presented and taught mantra music and meditation globally. [3] [5] [6]
Harrison released her debut album, Like a River to the Sea in July 2015, [7] [8] [9] [10] and featured on the Grammy nominated Bhakti Without Borders charity album (2016).
She presents regularly on broadcast media including for BBC Radio 2's "Pause for Thought" [2] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] and "Something Understood" on BBC Radio 4.
She co-founded "Kirtan London", a project that aims to make mantra music accessible and relevant to a wider audience through a variety of events and retreats. [5]
Harrison released her debut album, Like a River to the Sea in July 2015. [16]
Harrison features on "Bhaja Govindam" [17] for the charity album Bhakti Without Borders , which was nominated for a Grammy award in 2015. [18]
Harrison has recorded tracks for Mantra Lounge Volumes 1 2 & 3. [19] [20] [21]
Willow Smith and Harrison present a unique, first-time collaboration. Surrender (Krishna Keshava) [22] [23] is an ancient sacred song from India. The Sanskrit lyrics invoke divine peace, protection and grace. Harrison shared the release exclusively with Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2. [24]
In 2020, she released the EP R I S E, with Willow Smith. Wonderland magazine described it as "a[n] idyllic garden surrounded by angelic ethereal vocals and shimmering productions", with "birds chirping sweetly over melodic guitar strings". [25]
McKenna Rowe, reviewing Like a River to the Sea for LA Yoga, wrote that she was "moved and stunned by the beauty of the instruments and arrangements" of the songs. She found the album "a deeply satisfying masterpiece", not only for people who like devotional music. [26] Reviewing the album for Pulse magazine, Sanjeevini Dutta noted that kirtan was "the sound track" to Harrison's childhood. She called it "a first album of astonishing ripeness and sweetness," one that drew the listener "to a profound inner space," yet staying in contact with "life lived full of joys, sorrow and heartbreak." [27] Amardeep Dhillon, in Songlines magazine, called the music pleasant but unsurprising, the tracks being "soothing and uncluttered, with Harrison's violin weaving in between Celtic and Karnatic strains". In his view the album succeeds through the undoubted "depth of feeling, sincerity and love that come through". [28]
Bhajan refers to any devotional song with a religious theme or spiritual ideas, specifically among Dharmic religions, in any language. The term bhajanam means reverence and originates from the root word bhaj, which means to revere, as in 'Bhaja Govindam' . The term bhajana also means sharing.
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization. It was founded on 13 July 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Its main headquarters is located in Mayapur, West Bengal, India.
Apple Records is a British record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, Badfinger and Billy Preston. In practice, the roster had become dominated by the mid-1970s with releases of the former Beatles as solo artists. Allen Klein managed the label from 1969 to 1973, then it was managed by Neil Aspinall on behalf of the Beatles and their heirs. Aspinall retired in 2007 and was replaced by Jeff Jones.
The Hare Krishna mantra, also referred to reverentially as the Mahā-mantra, is a 16-word Vaishnava mantra mentioned in the Kali-Saṇṭāraṇa Upaniṣad. In the 15th century, it rose to importance in the Bhakti movement following the teachings of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. This mantra is composed of three Sanskrit names – "Krishna", "Rama", and "Hare".
A chant is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes to highly complex musical structures, often including a great deal of repetition of musical subphrases, such as Great Responsories and Offertories of Gregorian chant. Chant may be considered speech, music, or a heightened or stylized form of speech. In the later Middle Ages some religious chant evolved into song.
Kirtana, also rendered as Kirtan or Keertan, is a Sanskrit word that means "narrating, reciting, telling, describing" of an idea or story, specifically in Indian religions. It also refers to a genre of religious performance arts, connoting a musical form of narration or shared recitation, particularly of spiritual or religious ideas, native to the Indian subcontinent. A person performing kirtan is known as a kirtankara.
"My Sweet Lord" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released in November 1970 on his triple album All Things Must Pass. It was also released as a single, Harrison's first as a solo artist, and topped charts worldwide; it was the biggest-selling single of 1971 in the UK. In America and Britain, the song was the first number-one single by an ex-Beatle. Harrison originally gave the song to his fellow Apple Records artist Billy Preston to record; this version, which Harrison co-produced, appeared on Preston's Encouraging Words album in September 1970.
The Radha-Krishna Temple is the headquarters of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in the United Kingdom since the late 1960s. It was founded in Bury Place, Bloomsbury, by six devotees from San Francisco's Radha-Krishna Temple, who were sent by ISKCON leader A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada to establish a UK branch of the movement in 1968. The Temple came to prominence through George Harrison of the Beatles publicly aligning himself with Krishna consciousness. Among the six initial representatives in London, devotees Mukunda, Shyamsundar and Malati all went on to hold senior positions in the rapidly growing ISKCON organisation.
Jai Uttal is an American musician. He is a Grammy-nominated singer and “a pioneer in the world music community with his eclectic East-meets-West sound.”
Everything Everything are an English art rock band from Manchester that formed in late 2007. Noted for their eclectic sound and complex, avant-garde-inspired lyrics, the band has released seven albums to date — Man Alive (2010),Arc (2013),Get to Heaven (2015),A Fever Dream (2017),Re-Animator (2020), Raw Data Feel (2022) and Mountainhead (2024) — and has been widely critically acclaimed. Their work has twice been shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize and has received five nominations for Ivor Novello Awards.
David Newman was a sacred chant master, recording artist, singer/songwriter, best-selling author, and inspirational teacher. David, also known as Durga Das, traveled extensively sharing his music and teachings on the path of love as a vehicle for spiritual awakening.
Worship in Hinduism is an act of religious devotion usually directed to one or more Hindu deities, invoking a sense of Bhakti or devotional love. This term is probably a central one in Hinduism, but a direct translation from the Sanskrit to English is difficult. Worship in Hinduism takes many forms, and its expression vary depending on geographical, linguistic, and cultural factors. Hindu worship is not limited to a particular place and Hindus perform worship in temples and within the home. It often incorporates personal reflection, music, dance, poetry, rituals, and ceremonies. Worship in Hinduism serves various purposes, including seeking blessings, guidance, or specific outcomes, as well as fostering a sense of inner peace and spiritual growth. It can also be an expression of devotion (bhakti) to the deity. The aim is to lead a pure life in order to progress spiritually and eventually attain liberation (moksha) from the cycle of rebirth.
Jasmine Lucilla Elizabeth Jennifer van den Bogaerde, better known by her stage name Birdy, is a British singer-songwriter. She won the music competition Open Mic UK in 2008, at the age of 12.
Chants of India is an album by Indian musician Ravi Shankar released in 1997 on Angel Records. Produced by his friend and sometime collaborator George Harrison, the album consists of Vedic and other Hindu sacred prayers set to music, marking a departure from Shankar's more familiar work in the field of Hindustani classical music. The lyrical themes of the recorded chants are peace and harmony among nature and all creatures. Sessions for the album took place in the Indian city of Madras and at Harrison's home in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, following his work on The Beatles' Anthology (1995). Anoushka Shankar, John Barham, Bikram Ghosh, Tarun Bhatacharaya and Ronu Majumdar are among the many musicians who contributed to the recording.
The Radha Krsna Temple is a 1971 album of Hindu devotional songs recorded by the UK branch of the Hare Krishna movement – more formally, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) – who received the artist credit of "Radha Krishna Temple (London)". The album was produced by George Harrison and released on the Beatles' Apple record label. It compiles two hit singles, "Hare Krishna Mantra" and "Govinda", with other Sanskrit-worded mantras and prayers that the Temple devotees recorded with Harrison from July 1969 onwards.
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Bhakti Without Borders is a Mantra Music charity album by Madi Das. It was released May 12, 2015 and nominated for a Grammy award that year in the "Best New Age Album" category. At the time, this was only the third kirtan album received this honor. Bhakti Without Borders was listed as one of the "10 Best Yoga Tunes of the Year" by Yoga Journal. It also ranked third in the "Top 20 Conscious Music Albums for 2015" competition by Soul Traveller.
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'Bhakti without Borders' is a rather apt name for an album of bhajans that has been nominated for the 58th Grammy Award
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