Jai Uttal

Jai Uttal (born June 12, 1951) is an American musician. He is a Grammy-nominated singer and “a pioneer in the world music community with his eclectic East-meets-West sound.” He is a “sacred music composer, recording artist, multi-instrumentalist, and ecstatic vocalist, [who] combines influences from India with American rock and jazz to create a stimulating and exotic multicultural fusion that is truly world spirit music.”

Biography

Uttal grew up in New York City and lived in a home filled with music: “He began studying classical piano at the age of seven, and later learned to play old time banjo, harmonica, and guitar.” His father was record label executive Larry Uttal. At the age of 17, Uttal heard Indian music for the first time, which he said, “touched his heart like sounds of home.” At 19, Uttal moved to California and studied under the famous Sarod player, Ali Akbar Khan. He later began “regular pilgrimages to India, living among the Bauls, the wandering street musicians of Bengal, and singing with the kirtan wallahs in the temple of his guru, the highly revered saint, Neem Karoli Baba.” Uttal spent time with many beings of both the Hindu and Buddhist traditions. He became deeply absorbed in the practice of kirtan, the ancient yoga of chanting, or singing to God. This form of prayer became the core to Uttal’s musical and spiritual life.