It’s happened many times before and I pray it does again – a personal spiritual phenomenon I have dubbed “The Angel Effect,” where, almost as if it’s divine intervention, someone or something magical, transcendent and even potentially life-changing enters my sphere at a point where such excitement and encouragement is absolutely necessary.
Like a calming yet exhilarating blast of light shining down from heaven, this is emphatically what my senses experienced the first time I heard Indian devotional singer/composer and visionary artist Radhika Vekaria’s Warriors of Light, which true to its title, is the new age and world music artist’s enchanting, soul-illuminating and empowering statement about, as she says, “finding victory within and inner peace through the transformation power of sacred chants and mantras.” Because of the way The Recording Academy categorizes such works, Radhika’s nine track masterwork is available for first round Grammy Consideration in the Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album category. Needless to say, I will be voting for Warriors of Light.
Listening to a great recording on streaming is one thing, but it was an even deeper privilege seeing and hearing an artist as deeply connected to her own soul and the divine as Radhika in a live setting, so passionately pouring forth her faith and truth via her gorgeous, alternately gentle and soaring singing in Sanskrit and English and graceful piano playing. As I surveyed the SRO crowd in the exotically decorated, mystically lit Moroccan Room at Village Studios in West L.A. as they paid rapt attention during her multi-faceted show, it was clear that many like me were truly feeling that hypnotic “angel effect” as well, as if her performance offered a calm in the midst of life’s storms, not simply a momentary 90 minute escape but a spiritually enriching moment providing uplifting heart and soul fuel for all the journeys ahead. As a fellow musician friend of hers messaged me later, “Wasn’t it amazing? I was floating out of the building. Hope you were too!”
Throughout her show, Radhika invited her audience into the ancient history behind her inner spiritual world that inspires the music. At different points, she explained that the mantras and chants she draws from the ancient Vedic culture have a deep and profound vibration, and that Sanskrit, the primary language she uses in many of her pieces, endures to this day because of its vibratory nature. She added that when we say or sing these sounds, we literally resonate with their frequency. As compelling as such context was, and as poetic and informative a guide as she was, one could also simply enjoy Radhika’s set – like her album – as a majestic, free-flowing sonic invitation to an otherworldly realm, full of dreamy, spirit-awakening chants, tender and lyrical (and sometimes explosive!) incantations and seductive summons into a state of pure soul awakening.
Seated at the piano, Radhika began her set with a simple ambient invocation prayer, an elegant chant which introduced everyone to the soothing splendor of her voice. From there, she took us through the sacred places in her heart as expressed in her contemporary, rhythmically eclectic interpretations of the ancient mantras on Warriors of Light. Setting the tone at the end of “Asato Ma Sadgamaya (Purification Prayer), she recited in English over the ever-present droning string sound, “Lead me from untruth to truth/Lead me from darkness to light/Lead me from death to immortality/Let there be peace.”
For the expansively arranged, sweetly hypnotic “Kali” and the emphatically encouraging and uplifting “Release Your Fears” (an English/Sanskrit fusion based on Jaya Jaya Durge Ma) she was joined world class percussionists MB Gordy and Robin Sukadia, who took the pieces to a higher visceral level. Between these was “Liberate,” a English/Sanskrit call to reach beyond our earthly needs and embrace our higher selves, connected to the divine.
The most intimate moment in the show came when Radhika sat down with her tanpuri, a long necked, plucked four stringed instrument that resembles a simplified sitar and is a common element of Indian music. Introducing the story of “Hanuman Chalisa,” she informed us that the Hindu deity Hanuman, a devoted companion of Rama, is sometimes considered the “monkey warrior” because of his intense devotion. She told us to understand Ram metaphorically as the heart, Sita as the mind and the Demon King in the story as the ego. Even without the fascinating history, this duet between her voice and these tenderly plucked strings, felt like a wondrous hot bath for the soul.
Radhika followed this quieter moment with a sweetly swaying, singalong version of “Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram” featuring the singer and pianist duetting sublimely with the sensitive harmonies of the great violinist Nathalie Bonin. In effect, this emotionally overwhelming piece, like the later closing audience participation number, “Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu (Peace Prayer) for a few blessed minutes turned the Moroccan Room into something of a celestial temple. Between those, Radhika and Nathalie also debuted “Divine Desires,” a piece from their upcoming album Sacred Echoes, recorded this summer in London.
