| About Yoji Ananda | "Yoji Ananda & the Inquisitive Cobra," a yoga chant CD driven by Sanskrit and Gurmukhi mantras, as well as a sprinkling of English, was released in January 2011. As a belly dancer, Yoji (a.k.a. Yolanda Navarra Fleming) initially set out to create a body of music to play in her classes. But a strange thing happened instead. Her knowledge of mantra yoga came through in the first recording session, and every writing and recording session thereafter until she had an hour of music. That’s when Yoji’s brother, the Inquisitive Cobra (a.k.a. Johnny Navarra), came in to add world percussion instruments like darabouka and clay pot, as well as konnokol vocals. The original melodies written by Yoji are rich with a variety of cultural textures, not only Eastern, but African and Brazilian, as well as American jazz. Since the album's release, Yoji has been orchestrating yoga classes with her 12-string Yamaha guitar and Raagini electronic tanpura as a solo, and playing kirtans throughout NJ and NY, with her band, Tribal Groove. She is currently working on her second and third upcoming releases. “I believe mantra music has the power to infuse peace into the chaos of everyday life,” says the New Jersey native. “Creating it has had a major impact on everything I do. I’ve come to use mantra as a coping mechanism for dealing with life’s indecencies, and want to help other people do the same. World peace, anyone?” |
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