NEW SONG--EARTH BODY BONES
Current mood: ecstatic
Category: Music

Hi Everyone!

I just completed my new song, Earth Body Bones!

The unique instrument in the beginning is called a Berimbou. It is a long stick with one wire attached and I play it with another small stick and a stone in my hands. It is Brazilian.
Yes, it's me playing it on the track. I got one a couple of days before I recorded the song. It was actually hand- made specifically for me!

The song is about our Mother Earth and the message she is giving us--to wake up, since she is screaming out loud!

I hope you enjoy it.

xo,

Kataka

http://www.katakagara.com

3:40 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

NEW SONG!!! JUMP!
Current mood: blissful
Category: Music

Hi Everyone!

I just completed my new song, Jump!

Actually, I recorded it twice in the last 3 years but it just didn't quite sound the way I heard it in my head.

I finally got it right and finished it this past weekend.

The song really is an invitation to go for it in one's life.

The song is from a time when I really " heard" a transmission from the Multi-verse/Universe/Goddess/Higher Power... This song is a culmination of the message that was downloaded to me.


I hope you enjoy it.

xo,

Kataka

http://www.katakagara.com

4:41 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

DELVE LYRICS
Current mood: accomplished
Category: Music

I believe the song speaks for itself...


Delve


The door is open, only I can choose

to make the story, a fable or truth.

The door is open, only I can choose

to turn and close it, or walk on through.


This murky, memory seems exactly like a dream.

This sleepy, long journey I hear Neptune calling me.


He says, delve, delve, delve deep, change the story line.

Twist and hold the arms behind the back of time.

Row, row, your boat down your life stream.

Twist and turn, you will wonder and learn that your life truly is a dream.


The door is moving, never turning back.

I'll leave this mystery, deep in the past.

The door is moving, never turning back.

I'll create presence at long last.


I've discovered the reason within the rhyme.

Forget the past and you will find...


Delve, delve, delve deep, change the story line.

Twist and hold the arms behind the back of time.

Row, row, your boat down your life stream.

Twist and turn, you will wonder and learn that your life truly is a dream.


The door is closed now and I've got the key.

I've gained the knowledge on my journey.

The door is closed now and I've got the key.

I have the power to change the story.

11:41 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Sleep Now, Sweet Beauty --The message behind it...
Current mood: enlightened
Category: Music

Hello everyone-

Kataka Gara here. Working hard on my website, http://www.katakagara.com.
I hope you love it.

I recently recorded the song, "Sleep Now, Sweet Beauty" in March of 2008.
It was a lot of fun to sing 4 part harmony, play Didgeridoo and The Dulcimer within the song.
Believe it or not, I wrote the song about 10 or 12 years ago. It was initially written about dreaming and astral traveling, as you will hear from the lyrics.

As I re-worked the song while recording it with Tone (my producer), I came to realize it is actually about waking up, becoming enlightened.

I like to write in prose but I am a literal-minded woman and always want to communicate my message directly in my music.

The definition of "being asleep" is that when someone is not awake or enlightened, they are simply asleep, not really "present" to the reality of what is happening around them. They are not really aware.

However, when one has dreams that give one messages, these messages can be realizations to get closer to "waking up".
As some of us know, we are in a dream in what we think is reality.

The lyrics, "remembering faint glimpse dreams" and "the dreams I have give me life," is about getting those hints or messages to help us wake up to enlightenment. We had to be asleep first before we can wake up.

When one becomes still within their life, when we are not running around doing a million things, watching TV to get distracted or making up stories in our minds, we become alive. We become present.
Hence the lyrics, "Be gone all of my darkest days in the stillness I'm alive."

The questioning from the mind comes when the mind tries to figure out just what exactly is happening when we get those realizations: "Do I journey through my consciousness and discover my thoughts unseen or do I carry back from forgotten times the wisdom of the free?"

That's actually a nice way of putting it, because usually people's minds simply ignore the little gap in space and time when things happen...when portals of realization open up. Usually the mind just says, "What the fuck?" and moves on to the next story or TV show or chore that needs to get done, etc.

The waking up comes when things slow down in the world: "The sun goes out, deep breath and sign, the moon comes up, I see the Light."

I will go deeper with this part too. (My definitions always run deeper than most folks know and I always have a deeper spiritual or political meaning in my lyrics).

Warning, this part won't make most people feel very good...
The sun can also be construed as the son (the male icon, named jesus), going out, leaving this current unawakened world, since I have come to believe that jesus is simply an icon made up to represent the ball of fire that warms our planet daily, called the sun. And folks, there is no actual proof that jesus--as we know the story--ever existed. We all know the bible was rewritten anyway.

See http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/

And the moon coming up defines the dawning of a new time, the divine feminine that is growing rapidly in this world and awakening it. Since the Moon represents the Feminine Divine, when it comes up, we see the light. The light is to wake up and realize the truth.

What is the truth?

Wake up and find out.

Love and Light,
Kataka

2:31 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

MY MEDITATION MUSIC: Svayam Yoga, Featuring Kataka
Current mood: inspired
Category: Music

Please listen to my new song!

Well, actually, it’s not exactly a brand new song. This was actually done in San Francisco back in 2006 with a very good producer friend of mine, Ra.
I finally got a copy of it this week!

YES, IT TOOK AWHILE!

Ra does production and DJing all over the world-- from India to the USA and beyond!

He is a wonderful, sensitive and very insightful artist and producer. It is always a privilege to work with him whenever I am up in San Francisco.

Here’s his website: www.myspace.com/turiyasounds

Enjoy!

Warmth,
Kataka

www.katakagara.com

3:02 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Interview with Kataka Gara about Reiki and Musical Healing
Current mood: happy
Category: Blogging

This was an article written by Martha Lopez. She interviewed me for a TV Show several months ago and I recently found the article she wrote after the interview on her blogsite. I hope to get the live interview too. Check it out either at her blog or below.
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http://marthalopez.wordpress.com/2007/11/14/19/
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Kataka Gara: Healing Through Music
By: Martha Lopez

Sometimes life gives you a breath of fresh air, and that’s exactly what you get with Kataka Gara. Master healer, singer, and musician—whose presence radiates a cup of healing java as soon as she walks into a room.

Although a Reiki (pronounced "rake-key") master and healer for over 23 years, Kataka’s true passion began to unfold when she discovered that energy transmission was achievable through music. Sounds, she attains, "have long been known to possess the power to heal". As eccentric as Kataka’s thinking may sound, the concept of ’healing sounds’ is not as far fetched as one may think.

Scientific research around the globe has proven the effectiveness of sounds as a therapeutic tool in treating many of today’s common ailments. In fact, this unconventional approach to healing stems from a very conventional basic principle: resonance1. Remember the first law of thermodynamics? Well, if one accepts the first law of thermodynamics, one must also accept the basic principle of resonance. For if energy cannot be created or destroyed; but changed from one form to another—then does it not become only logical to believe that this energy must radiate, live, and broadcast in some way?

The basic principle of resonance affirms that this way is through vibration, and that every item; including various parts of our bodies create sound. Thus, an overworked or overstressed body can be compared to a guitar with a loose string or a piano out of tune.

This is where Kataka Gara comes in. By combining her knowledge and experience with healing and her musical talent (she can play over 30 different globally unique instruments), Kataka Gara is able to channel energy from her music into our bodies. Her instruments, voice, and learned knowledge from her healing practices become her tools. Like a doctor who knows what tools he will utilize for any given surgery, Kataka also recognizes which of her tools she will need for her healings.

Kataka admits that she is constantly aware of the energy around her. Of energy received, as well as energy given off by others; as exhausting as the continuous flow of receiving and transmitting energy sounds, Kataka contends that her healings only serve to further enhance her own energy. Healings; however, she says "can only achieve their full potential when the receiver willingly opens their mind and heart" to the mending.

Kataka Gara seeks a purpose within this planet that will allow her to fill others with "beauty, grace, and joy through her musical healings". She passionately continues to craft musical sounds with her voice and array of instruments, leading her to the creation of her newest compilation which can already be heard through her website (www.katakagara.com). Make sure to browse through her site or attend one of her many workshops or performances whenever you’re in the mood for a cup of healing java.

3:31 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

MY VIDEOS!!!!!
Current mood: cheerful
Category: Music

YEA!
Check out these videos from the Conscious life expo. On Feb 10th, 2008 in the LAX Hilton Hotel Lobby. A wonderful guy named Yvon shot them and sent them to me.

You’ll love them!


KEEP IN MIND, MYSPACE DOES NOT ALLOW REVVER TO HAVE LINKS ON THEIR SITE.
SO MAKE SURE TO DELETE THE SPACE BETWEEN THE "REV" AND THE "VER" ON REVVER IN THE LINKS BELOW. YOU MAY NEED TO CUT/PASTE THE LINK INTO A NEW BROWSER.

http://rev ver.com/watch/705872

http://rev ver.com/watch/706006

http://rev ver.com/watch/705959

http://rev ver.com/watch/706035

Send these to your friends too!

revver

1:45 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Connection with the Divine
Current mood: grateful
Category: Music

Last Saturday, February 16th, 2008, I performed with Ariella at Goda Yoga in Culver City for the Me, Myself and I Do Event, hosted by The RAY.

Ariella and I were the "Sacred Musicians" and played various instruments while sending Reiki energy out to the group of wonderful women attending.

We played drums, dulcimer, shakers, guitar and sang. At the end, we did a beautiful ritual where I gave everyone a didgeridoo heart chakra healing while Ariella played the large crystal bowl that reverberated throughout the room!

It was a tremendous opening in all of our souls and it created a deep presence that mesmerized all of us in the wonderment of the world and how lucky we are to have connections with like-minded women.

I received a gift from the Divine that evening, and it created a connection with my music so deep within me, that I realized why music comes to me so easily and abundantly.
My realization was that I am only here to make music to connect to the Divine. That is it. There is actually no other reason for me to be on this planet, except to remember and learn that I am here to connect with the Divine and my "tools' are my music. My communication devices are my instruments, my voice, my song writing and my performances.
It has inspired me to daily renew my connection to the higher powers in order to touch those who need to hear my music and re-member how to heal themselves from self-perceived broken-ness.
It feels wonderful to connect on such a deep and profound level with my music and it makes me ever grateful.

4:49 PM - 2 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Shows!
Current mood: happy
Category: Music

Wow! I've been so busy! I've been performing and not even letting anyone know!
I did this AMAZING show with Ariella last Sunday, February 10th, 2008 at the LAX Hilton.
We were asked by the manager, to perform at the last minute in the lobby of the Hilton for the Conscious Life Expo 2008.

We performed for almost 3 hours, playing many instruments!

I hauled my 7 foot marimba to the Hilton and filled the high-ceilings with the lush warmth of musical marimba sounds. Ariella accompanied me on the marimba too—it was her first time ever playing the marimba and she did great!

She also played the djembes, various shakers and tambourines, while singing beautiful Spanish and Hebrew songs. I played djembe, didgeridoo, dulcimer, and the mbira.
We saw many, many friends and people got up and danced as we performed. It was great! Stay tuned for a video, as many people taped us and photographed us!

4:48 PM - 2 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

In The Studio
Current mood: artistic
Category: Music

Hello everyone-

First, I want to thank all the hundreds of people who have been sending me wonderful positive emails, saying how my music has touched and healed them in many positive ways. I thank and bless all of you for all the positive energy that has been being sent to me, as I send it back to you.

I have been in the studio lately, making many new songs. I've been working with
a producer here in Los Angeles, named John Keller. He's been around the block in regards to the music world for a while. He co-wrote the song sung by Vanessa Williams and Brian McKnight called, "Love Is…"

It's been very enjoyable working with John over the last few months, as he is superbly easy-going and is a wonderful arranger with great musical ideas.
He's a great 12-string guitar player too.

I'll be working with him for the next couple of months, creating more songs for you to listen to.
John recorded my "Swirling Drums and Didge" track, where I played the Djembe and recorded several tracks of the Didgeridoo.

And I hope you enjoy my new version of Jump! It's more of a ballad sound.
I did the piano work and all the backing vocals besides the lead vocals. Enjoy and stay tuned!

Warmth,
Kataka

4:20 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment