CHINMAYA DUNSTER

Chinmaya was born in Kent, England in 1954. His father was an accomplished artist who made his living renovating old houses and Chinmaya grew up in a rambling sixteenth-century farmhouse set amid the apple orchards, wheatfields, woods and streams.

After attending Art College and oddjobbing as a farmhand, Chinmaya took himself off, watercolors and Spanish guitar in hand, on the hippy trail that led through Afghanistan to India. After exploring and painting in the Himalayas, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Japan, an all -night concert in New Delhi in 1979 proved to be a turning point in his life.

There he heard a performance by the world-famous sarodist Amjad Ali Khan and instantly fell in love with the sarod (a nineeteen-stringed, banjo-like Indian classical instrument). Three years later, while teaching art at a school in London, he became a student of Amjad Ali Khan's leading disciple.

Chinmaya dedicated the next thirteen years to the study of Indian classical music on the sarod, both in London and at the Osho Commune in Pune, India. In 1990, with two other commune members, he founded the east-west fusion band Terra Incognita, which released two CDs on New Earth Records.

The 1990s saw four further releases from Chinmaya on Nightingale Records: Spiral Dance, a collaboration with the Persian musician Sirus; a solo project Lands of the Dawn; and, after intensive study of Chinese geomancy, the two CDs Music for Feng Shui Parts 1 and 2.

His release Celtic Ragas, a blend of Indian and Celtic elements, appeared on New Earth Records in 1998. Natures Way, a collection of Chinmaya's songs sung by Ellika Hansen, was released in Europe in August 2000 on Kreuz Verlag (Germany).

Chinmaya then released on New Earth Records "Feng Shui" and "Yoga on Sacred Ground". In 2003 Chinmaya and his Celtic Ragas band were exclusively honored to perform live at Paul McCartney's wedding in Ireland.

A Collection of his favorite melodies was released on New Earth Records in 2002 called "Sacred Temples of India" he continued his mix of Celtic and Indian music on the "Karma Circles" CD in 2003.

During his stay in India in the winter of 2003/2004 Chinmaya recorded a live concert in Pune, released in 2005 on New Earth Records as "Fragrance of the East". This CD also features video clips from the concert. For FREE download of the full one-hour video "CONCERT FOR INDIA'S ENVIRONMENT', including interviews with environmentalists, poems on nature composed and read by Indian schoolkids and stunning footage of the Indian wilderness, go to www.fragranceoftheeast.org.

In 2005 Paul McCartney chose the song "Chance Meeting" from Chinmaya's CD "Celtic Ragas", as the third track on his favorite songs compilation "Glastonbury Grooves", given away free with UNCUT magazine in the UK.

2006 saw the release on NER of "Yoga Lounge", a collaboration with Indian sitar maestro Niladri Kumar.

Chinmaya's 2007 release 'Buddha Moon' is a collaboration with Indian classical guitarist Amano Manish and Manipuri flautist Bikram Singh.

Chinmaya Dunster has recently relocated to Goa, India, where he lives in Assagao.

KARSH KALE

Karsh Kale (pronounced Kursh Kah-lay) is an Indian producer, composer and musician, known for melding the music of his heritage with the modern electronic club music of his American upbringing. Growing up in Stony Brook, New York, Kale showed significant promise as a traditional drummer as well as an Indian percussionist from an early age. While still attending high school, he played in a number of local bands, specializing in classic rock especially with a bent towards progressive groups such as Rush and Kansas. Kale often creates a unique blend of Indian percussion with techno music and drum & bass. Kale's compositions are often strident, loud, and energetic; they are heavy on the percussion and more focused on instrumental arrangements than vocals. In the style of Indian Fusion he is closer to Talvin Singh or State of Bengal than Bally Sagoo or Bill Laswell.

Kale is also a member of Tabla Beat Science, an "Asian Underground" type of group. He has collaborated with renowned artists such as the Madras Cinematic Orchestra and tabla masters, such as Zakir Hussain. One of his most famous compositions was entitled "Milan", named after his daughter, whose Sanskrit name means "meeting of two rivers".

Kale is a prolific artist, willing to lend a hand, and drum, to a range of musicians from Herbie Hancock to DJ Spooky. He has become a mainstay in Six Degrees Records' expanding series of compilation CDs of which six have been released so far.

Kale's third studio release, titled Broken English was released in the US on March 21, 2006 also under the Six Degrees Records label.

PREM JOSHUA

Prem Joshua is a German musician, active since 1991.
Born in Germany, Joshua learnt the flute at the age of five and played the flute and the saxophone for various local bands. At the age of eighteen, he travelled overland to India studying the indigenous folk music of countries along the way.
On reaching India, Joshua learnt to play the sitar from India’s finest teachers including Ustad Usman Khan and the enlightened mystic, Osho.Osho inspired him and his music. His website states that "In the presence of this man with a long white beard, eyes as deep as the ocean and a strong sense of humor, he came in touch with the art of the “inner music” - Silence. This was really coming home!"
Throughout his career, he has experimented with various forms of music, creating a blend of the east and the west, with his former experience as a saxophone player. He has also worked extensively with other producers, making remixes of his own songs and infusing traditional Hindustani acoustic instruments with lounge and trance beats. His music has immensely contributed to the Asian Underground and fusion scene.
In 1991, Joshua launched his first project, “Terra Incognita”, with Kora player, Ravi, and British Sarod player, Chinmaya Dunster, with which he released two albums. He subsequently released four solo albums and formed the band, “Hamsafar”, with which he released one album.
Following this, Joshua began to experiment with genres like drum and bass, lounge, and trance, while still focusing on traditional Hindustani music.

KARUNESH

Karunesh is a new age / ambient musician born in Cologne, Germany in 1956. His music has strong Asian and Indian influences prevalent throughout, with liberal use of Indian instruments (like the sitar for example).

Although he had been drawn to music as a child and played in bands as a teenager, he chose to study graphic design as a career. However, after attaining his degree, Karunesh was involved in a serious motorcycle accident. His brush with death prompted him to rethink his life and embark on a spiritual journey of sorts, and in 1979 he travelled to India. His accident also prompted him to choose music as a career instead of graphic design.

In 1987, Karunesh released his first album entitled Sounds of the Heart, which was met with success, followed by Colors Of Light the following year and Sky's Beyond the year after that. As of 2006 Karunesh has released 17 albums (see Discography below).

Karunesh has lived in Maui, Hawaii, since 1992.

Discography

• 1987 Sounds Of The Heart
• 1988 Colours Of Light
• 1989 Sky's Beyond
• 1991 Heart Symphony
• 1992 Heart Chakra Meditation
• 1993 Beyond Body & Mind
• 1996 Secrets of Life
• 1997 Osho Chakra Sounds (Note: Co-artist 'Osho' is sometimes dropped from the title)
• 2001 Wanderer (May 8, 2001)
• 2001 Zen Breakfast (July 10, 2001)
• 2002 Nirvana Cafe
• 2003 Silent Heart (July 1, 2003)
• 2003 Global Spirit (September 2, 2003)
• 2004 Call Of the Mystic (May 11, 2004)
• 2004 Beyond Heaven (June 8, 2004)
• 2006 Global Village (April 11, 2006)
• 2006 Joy Of Life (October 24, 2006)

New Age Music

There is no formal definition of the New Age movement. One academic study suggests that those who sample many diverse teachings and practices from both 'mainstream' and 'fringe' traditions and formulate their own beliefs and practices based on their experiences can be considered as New Age.Rather than following the lead of an organised religion, "New Agers" typically construct their own spiritual journey based on material taken from the mystical traditions of the world's religions, also including shamanism, neopaganism, and occultism.

New Age practices and beliefs may be characterized as a form of alternative spirituality or alternative religion. Even apparent exceptions, such as alternative medicine or traditional medicine practices, often have some spiritual dimension—such as a conceptual integration of mind, body, and spirit.

The term New Age is used in a Western or modern context where the Judeo-Christian tradition and/or Positivism are dominant, so the use of "alternative" in New Age thought generally implies a contrast with these dominant religious and/or scientific beliefs. Hence, many New Age ideas and practices in the West contain either explicit or implied critiques of organised mainstream Christianity—emphasis on meditation suggests that simple prayer and faith are insufficient, and beliefs such as reincarnation (which not all New Age followers accept)—challenge familiar Christian doctrines, like those regarding the Afterlife.

New Age is a wide range of ideas and activities, from which participants in the subculture select their own preferred streams to identify with. The question of which contemporary cultural elements can be included under the name of "New Age" , or what it means, is much contested. New Age channelers, for instance, have many points of similarity with Spiritualist mediums. Many spiritual movements, such as neo-paganism and transpersonal psychology partially overlap with it. Many groups prefer to distance themselves from the possible negative connotations of the "New Age" name, such as the media hoopla and commercialism, while others prefer not to use it at all. For example, key individuals in the New Thought Movement, such as Ernest Holmes, have focused on a more scientific approach and do not share beliefs in reincarnation, magic, or channeling. Major efforts to present the New Age as a values-based sociopolitical movement included Mark Satin's New Age Politics (orig. 1976),Theodore Roszak's Person/Planet (1978), Marilyn Ferguson's Aquarian Conspiracy (1980), and Gordon Davidson and Corinne McLaughlin's Spiritual Politics (1994).