Featuring:  Vocals by Daniel Paul and Heather Parsons;  Manose on bansuri bamboo flute; 
Ned Leavitt on harmonium;   Glenno Falkenberg on harp, hammered dulcimer, mandolin & guitar;  
and Daniel Paul also on tablas, tamboura, synth & percussion.  

(Elephant Prayers available at: http://cdbaby.com/cd/danielpaul2)

of folk music known as kirtan. Found in India for thousands of years, kirtan is a simple prayer sung

with love and devotion, a gospel style of singing from the heart, a praising of the names of ancient vedic

gods and goddesses. Kirtan mantras are generally sung  in the ancient sanskrit language, but the music can

sound as varied as the many different regions of India in which it is found. Today a growing interest in yoga

has created a world-wide renaissance for kirtan.

Singers and composers are using modern instruments and mixing mantras up with countless musical styles.

Elephant Prayers is a part of this new world folk music. Almost acappella, a chorale of vocals are

featured in tight harmony,while the soft accompaniment of guitar, harp and hammered dulcimer, mix with the

Indian harmonium, tabla drums and unearthly Nepalese flute!  There are ten songs in sixty-five minutes.

Lyrics are provided in CD package.

For almost two decades, Daniel Paul has been in the vanguard of Kirtan movement in the America.  Having

previously finished 9 years of classical study at the Ali Akbar College of Music  and a year in India on

Fulbright Award, in 1989 Daniel began the first of six years touring ashrams in the USA with ‘Babaji’ Bob

Kindler.  Later it was with Lorrelei, formerly known as Singh Kaur. and then with Jaya Lakshmi both in

acoustic kirtan and with her techno world music band,  Lost At Last”( now” One at Last”).   Since 2002

Daniel has been principle tabla drum and vocal accompanist to one of the world’s most respected

kirtan singer/composer/recording artists Jai Uttal. As  far back as 1989 they began recording and performing

together with Jai’s ground-breaking Pagan Love Orchestra. Today primarily as a duo, they have a full

and popular schedule of kirtan workshops and events throughout the Americas, Europe and India. For more

info and a calendar see Jai’s web-site at: www.jaiuttal.com

The Elephant Prayers Kirtan Ensemble

Manose, originally from Katmandu, Nepal, is based in San Francisco, records and tours most of the year with

Deva Premal and Miten,  He can be heard on his CD’s at his web-site: www.manosemusic.com.

Heather “Neeraja” Parsons lives and leads almost weekly kirtan gatherings on Maui, often including the

bi-annual Sufi Camps. She can be reached at: neeraja@earthlink.net .

Glenno Falkenberg resides on Om Farm near Eugene, Oregon where he harps continuously around town and at

the annual Country Faire.  He can be reached at: gfalkenberg@yahoo.com.

Ned Leavitt resides in New York City and upstate near Kingston. He helps lead many kirtans in those two

locals and often tours on harmonium with  bass-guitarist kirtan singer, Wah. Ned can be reached at:nedleavitt@aol.com.

For those who desire more information about Hinduism one can search the web starting with: http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism

The name “Elephant Prayers” was inspired by the foto of a kneeling elephant facing a kneeling monk-boy, and

a series of wonderful elephant fotos by Gregory Colbert  in a collection entitled,  “Ashes and Snow”,

which can be seen at:   (http://www.ashesandsnow.org/en/portfolio/)