Jai Uttal

Jai Uttal’s early stints performing Motown material in cover ensembles and performing for spare change on sidewalks later proved advantageous once his recordings began to fuse world and new age sensibilities. Born in New York City in 1952, he was immersed in the industry from childhood because his father held a position at a record label. Piano instruction began at seven, soon followed by banjo, guitar, and harmonica as he explored American roots traditions, especially the old-time banjo style of Appalachian musician Roscoe Holcomb. A decisive awakening occurred at seventeen upon his initial encounter with Indian music, which, he recalled, “touched my heart like sounds of my home.” He promptly acquired every Indian recording he could locate and practiced guitar alongside Ravi Shankar albums. The fixation prompted him at nineteen to relocate to the West Coast for sarod and vocal study under the guidance of Ali Akhbar Khan. Eighteen months afterward he journeyed to India, securing a house in the Bengal town of Bhopur for fifteen dollars monthly; there he met the Bauls of Bengal, singing street musicians with whom he performed and traveled. Back in the United States he intensified his immersion in Indian music while earning a living on guitar in groups whose repertoire spanned Motown covers, punk, and blues. His first major opportunity arrived in 1991 when Triloka issued the debut Footprints, which featured jazz and world music innovator Don Cherry. Fronting the Pagan Love Orchestra, Uttal sustained his focus on spiritually charged, Indian-inflected material with the 1993 album Monkey, which reached the Top Ten on the world music charts. He also produced two albums for his teacher Khan—Journey and Garden of Dreams—marking the first occasion the maestro collaborated with a Western orchestra. The 1994 release Beggars and Saints served as Uttal’s homage to the Bauls of Bengal in acknowledgment of his formative period in Bhopur. Three years later Shiva Station appeared, its mixes handled by producer Bill Laswell. Subsequent years were devoted chiefly to live performances with the band rather than new studio work. A retrospective collection drawn from his four Triloka titles surfaced as Spirit Room in July 2000, shortly after the self-released Live Kirtan and Pagan Remixes, which paired live yoga-studio chanting with three reworked Pagan Love Orchestra pieces. That EP was succeeded by the further remix set Guru Brahma/Malkouns, two of whose tracks were reworked by Asian Underground artist Talvin Singh.