This October saw Grammy nominee Jai Uttal, who has done a lot towards popularizing kirtan with the masses in recent times, release Kirtan Kids. The album mixes English and Sanskrit lyrics, an eclectic variety of instruments including a glockenspiel, a toy piano, and the sounds of banging pots and pans, and five choirs featuring kids of various ages, to create a rich offering that children will have great fun with. It’s also a celebration of the inherent innocence, joyful devotion and purity of children that adults can learn a lot from.

Jai Uttal was first struck by how naturally children take to kirtan when he began to make guest appearances at his son Ezra Gopal’s preschool in 2008. When he saw how much his son’s friends loved the devotional singing, he began to host children’s kirtan events at yoga studios near his home in Northern California. Read more…