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Music

The Enchantress: Snatam Kaur

by ALAN DI PERNA

 

 

Concert, kirtan, chantfest, musical group meditation, a yoga class in melody . . . how best to describe a live performance by Snatam Kaur and her band?

It's all of these things and more.

Seated center stage, Snatam is an angelic presence, dressed in traditional Sikh attire, bejeweled dress, white turban and chunni/ duppatta. She's a diminutive woman, barely five feet tall, but possessed of a voice that could wrest tears from a stone gargoyle - crystalline and radiant, redolent of the simple yet powerful truth of the heart.

That voice has made her one of the top selling artists in the field of world sacred music. Amid the swelling ranks of devotional divas and mantra mamas, Snatam stands tall.

Based on traditional Sikh shabads/ hymns, Snatam's divinely melodic songs are mostly of her own composing. She offers an English interpretation of these hymns - simple, heartfelt verses that express the personal meanings these sacred syllables hold for Sikhs and help the audience forge their own emotional connection. Onstage, Snatam is ably supported by two musicians/ backing vocalists.

Devotional music stalwart GuruGanesha Singh Khalsa handles the guitar with effortless grace, slipping easily between chordal rhythms and mellifluous leads. Ramesh Kannan anchors the beat on tablas, his long, slender fingers laying down solid yet supple rhythmic patterns with a well-placed, occasional flash of virtuostic mastery.

Snatam mainly accompanies herself on harmonium (pump organ), but also plays violin and guitar. The harmonium and tablas ground the sound in the Punjabi Sikh musical tradition, but the music also has a decidedly Western flavour. Snatam grew up in an American Sikh family, and her music reflects the totality of her background. One can even detect a slight country lilt as her voice soars into the upper reaches of her impressive range.

GuruGanesha, for his part, is a self-confessed Deadhead, which may account for his near clairvoyant ability to goad and guide the group's inspired jamming on the music's open-ended structures. What's most remarkable about the ensemble is its fluid sense of interplay. These are players deeply attuned to one another and the energy of their audience.

Most of the band's songs are done in call-and-response kirtan mode. Snatam sings a line. The audience sings it back. This back-and-forth exchange builds an energetic momentum that can palpably fill any room.

For some, group singing ordinarily counts as cruel and unusual punishment. But when we sing with Snatam, we all sound good. The band's easygoing, informal manner breaks down inhibitions or boundaries. There are plenty of jokes and laughs.

Snatam might lead the group in a round of pranayama (yogic breathing) or get everyone on their feet for a stretching exercise that soon becomes a sacred dance. By the end of the night, we're all grinning like fools. Divine fools, that is. For we've been let in on a great cosmic secret: devotional music is fun.

 

[Courtesy: Common Ground]

Conversation about this article

1: Kanwal Prakash Singh (Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A.), February 28, 2010, 8:44 AM.

At a concert in Indianapolis in April 2006, I had the great joy and blessing of witnessing the power and magnificence of the music and spirit of Sardarni Snatam Kaur Khalsa, a great spiritual music ambassador of our times. My spirit was moved by what my soul experienced: "I imagined music angels directing Snatam's spirit, voice, and fingers; her cathedral voice emanating from the realms beyond my sight and understanding and caressing the sacred. I felt the sound current of the Sikh spirituals that she was singing descending into the innermost core of our being and gently stirring up some unopened chambers about the Immaculate Glory of God and His Divine Messengers. I felt that I had been given a privilege to witness the beauty, power, grace, and inspiration enshrined in the scriptures and music of all faiths and sacred traditions. When music critics talk about the transforming power of music, I understood that in that fleeting moment of bliss. I had seen the sacred facade of music, the universal language of humanity that has the power to connect us with the Divine and with one another." May God bless Sardarni Snatam Kaur and GuruGanesha Singh for taking sacred Sikh music to audiences around the world, and for inspiring millions to see music and the arts as a divine blessing that transcends ethnicity, cultures, faiths, and across frontiers and divides to help us see God's Light in every living being and at every crossroad. Our humble salutations to such a rare jewel and gifted ambassador of sacred music.

2: Gurmeet Kaur (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.), February 28, 2010, 12:05 PM.

I am a big fan. Have been to their concert and loved it. Here is a link to the 2010 schedule. Not to be missed! http://www.spiritvoyage.com/artists/Snatam-Kaur.aspx

3: Harbans Lal (Arlington, Texas, U.S.A.), February 28, 2010, 4:39 PM.

Snatam is a spiritual singer of the Sikh panth and an asset to the Western world, particularly our new generation. Her skill to spread the spiritual message of our Gurus through popular hymns from the Guru Granth and music that acts like a magnet, puts her in the class of American evangelists although she is not one of them. However, she does awaken and evangelizes the North America English world. We wish her tons of energy to lead hundreds of souls to the Guru's Wisdom and gurmat.

4: Jaspreet Singh (U.S.A.), March 04, 2010, 5:20 PM.

Ok, I feel the urge to say something here. I attended college in a small liberal city with a major university and a "new-age" aware population and I was one of about 5-10 turbaned Sikhs in the entire university (as far as I knew). One of my hippie-ish friends invited me to attend kirtan at one of the university halls and showed me a pamphlet promoting Snatam Kaur's version of kirtan. The pamphlet was full of Sikh and Hindu religious symbols and I was pretty disgusted at the warped image of Sikhi that it presented. There is no place for Hindu god/ goddess worship in Sikh prayer services but you wouldn't see that if you looked at the marketing which promotes kirtan while showing Hindu idols next to the "Ik Oankar" and Khanda. Then I thought about it some more. Sikhi asks me to be tolerant and accept other religions as equal. I abide because it feels right. Sikhi asks me to not judge others based on their background. I abide because it feels right. But don't tell me that Snatam Kaur and others who sell this hodge-podge of eastern religious beliefs are doing a great service to Sikhs. Now, I agree that there are professional artists in India (Gurdas Singh Mann, Hans Raj Hans) that market gurbani tapes and Hindu bhajan tapes side by side and I hold them to the same standards.

5: R. Singh (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), March 05, 2010, 7:02 AM.

I agree with Jaspreet Singh. Perverting the core message is like fake propaganda. Sikhi is about seeking the Truth. I would not begrudge anyone their methodology or beliefs, but not at the cost of dismantling the entire facade of Sikhi for whatever reasons. Great packaging is still just packaging. People like Gurdas Mann may be 'living legends' and admired for their showmanship, but they can be appreciated for just that without declaring them to be great sevadars or messengers of Sikhi.

6: Harpreet (U.S.A.), March 07, 2010, 8:34 PM.

I concur with Jaspreet Singh.

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