A powerful and exquisite experience of live kirtan in a 2-CD set, recorded in concert in Portland, Oregon. LIVE in Love offers the live energy of chant, flowing from the sublime to the ecstatic. Shantala is joined by special guests Manose, Jami Sieber,Gina Sala, Joe Jencks,and Talia Toni Marcus.
For three days we sang with a loving and vibrant live audience in the sacred space of Portland Insight Meditation Center in Portland, Oregon, in August 2006. The birth of this project was a beautiful convergence of grace-filled events, emerging from our desire to share the energy of live chanting with our international kirtan family. Along with our beloved spirit sister Gina Sala, we united to co-create a powerful experience of deep spirit and incredible heart. Manose and other wonderful musicians & singers traveled far to join us for the creation of our recording. We hope it will nourish your heart and spirit!
About Shantala
Benjy and Heather Wertheimer lead ecstatic chanting (kirtan) world-wide as the duo Shantala, with passionate percussion, crystalline vocals, exquisite instrumentals, and opening into spirit. Kirtan is a celebration of spirit through the chanting of sacred names, carrying the audience into a state of heightened awareness, bliss, and devotion. The audience is invited to participate fully through call-and-response chanting, dance, and meditation. The weaving of Benjy’s Indian classical singing and instrumentation with Heather’s soaring vocals is freshly original and profoundly moving. Together they create music with beauty, passion, and reverence. Shantala has performed and recorded internationally with such sacred music luminaries as Krishna Das, Deva Premal & Miten, and Jai Uttal. In summer 2008, they were named as one of the top “Wallahs to Watch” by Yoga + Joyful Living.
Benjy Wertheimer is an award-winning songwriter, vocalist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist (playing tabla, congas, percussion, esraj, guitar, and keyboards). Benjy has toured and recorded with such artists as Krishna Das, Deva Premal & Miten, Jai Uttal, Walter Becker (Steely Dan), and virtuoso guitarist Michael Mandrell. He has opened for such artists as Carlos Santana, Paul Winter, and Narada Michael Walden. A founding member of the internationally acclaimed Ancient Future world fusion music ensemble, Benjy toured the U.S., Canada, and Japan with renowned bamboo flute master GS Sachdev. He studied Indian classical music for over 25 years with some of the greatest masters of that tradition (including Alla Rakha, Zakir Hussain, Ali Akbar Khan and Z. M. Dagar). Benjy’s CDs receive extensive airplay around the world, and his CD "Circle of Fire" went to #1 on the New Age radio charts in November 2002.
Heather Wertheimer is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist who combines her special love of both music and yoga to lead devotional chanting for yoga workshops and spiritual gatherings internationally. Heather has toured in the U.S. and abroad with her husband Benjy, Steve Gorn, Manose, and Deva Premal & Miten. Heather’s debut CD with Shantala, “Church of Sky,” was named by New Age Retailer as one of the top ten albums of 2004. It has been aired on radio stations nationwide. In April 2003, she and Benjy released “The Love Window,” a beautiful and well-loved collection of sacred chants. In 2007, they released “Sri,” their second popular kirtan CD.
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