With a mission to bring spiritual teachings into music, Brazilian artist, Chandra Lacombe, weaves the wisdom of the Eastern Traditions together with the spirituality and mythology of the South American Medicine Path. Approaching music as an alive spirit, Chandra’s music touches the soul through the powerful healing frequency of the heart.
“ ‘Jaya’ is the call and expression of celebration in hindi. It means to grant victory to the divine. May light be victorious over darkness. May we celebrate existence and may we celebrate this rising potential that actually can benefit and overcome our weaknesses.” – Chandra Lacombe
The soft and calm feeling which permeates throughout Chandra’s music creates an immediate relaxation and enchantment for those that listen with an open heart. His unique falsetto voice sings Eastern mantras, hymns in Portuguese and Circle-Songs in English language, in a wide tonal range of several octaves. Chandra Lacombe is a complete musician that, first being a percussionist, has chosen the Kalimba, an African percussion instrument, as his main compositional instrument, using it more like a piano rather as the intentional traditional percussive language of the Kalimba. Therefor Chandra developed a unique technique using all of his fingers (instead of using only his thumbs), opening up a new world of possibilities for soloing and phrasing.
Growing up in Brazil, Chandra started to play drums and percussion instruments around the age of 12. He went through the traditional Samba school education and began soon to immerse in the Brazilian art and music movement.
His awakened interest in spirituality and yoga led him in early age from the Age of Aquarius style communities to the Bhagwan Sri Rajneesh movement as well as it’s fusion of modern western psychology and therapy and eastern traditions of Sufism, Zen Buddhism and Hinduism
”I found it a very interesting approach. It was also like some kind of anarchy, or counter culture attitude, that I was playing out against the conditioned patterns found in society.”
It is probably the same open approach and curiosity that led Chandra to explore and combine eastern and western musical traditions using them even in an almost therapeutical context in his worldwide concerts and workshops.
Recording and releasing music since the early 90s, Chandra has released over ten albums, including `Musica das Esferas´ 1992, ’Terra à Vista’ 1994 and ‘Matutu’ 2000 with his band Udiyana Bandha. These recordings are thought after progressiv rock inspired fusion-jazz albums with a Yogi attitude.
Collaboration with yet another Brazilian master musician `Carioca´ included the releases of ‘Meeting in the Forest’, ‘Shanti Alegria’ and ’Celebration’, by now all classics in the worldwide spiritual community.
Chandra Lacombe has released several albums under his own name, some of them in collaboration with some of the most outstanding musicians from the European spiritual Musical Scene such as Txai Fernando, Kailash Kokopelli, Maneesh de Moor, Satyadev Barman or Sigmund Vatvedt.
`Fusäo Divina´is Chandra Lacombes Brazilian working band with whom he has released the album ”Curruagem” and ”Namaskar” with Txai Fernando while his latest release ”Estrela do Amor/Star of Love” is a collaboration with some excellent traditional players form Mother India. These recordings, among others, are great examples for Chandra Lacombe’s intuitive and deeply integrated styles and mixes of traditional indian mantras, Brazilian hymns and folk songs in Portuguese language and a modern beat that elevates listeners to move their hearts and feet and rise their voices to sing along.
“Through my music I try to touch the hearts of people to kindle that flame of devotion in their hearts. This is my own way of serving my purpose in life… Inspiring people to feel closer to their souls and lead them to merge with that inner source of truth. I feel sometimes my music is a source of soul nourishment… It’s a soulful commitment that I have, music and my spiritual journey. My music comes as a messenger for my own insights on spirituality and how it unfolds in my life.” – Chandra Lacombe
‘Jaya’, produced by Txai Fernando and Nils Olav, is a fusion between all those different traditions. With the majority of the album’s songs focusing on mantras in Sanskrit language, from the spiritual tradition of Hinduism. These are powerful ancient chants that calm and clear the mind with its healing vibration so we can enter into a deep state of meditation.
“In my heart I feel ‘Jaya’ is an album that is capable to translate my own devotional relationship with these aspects of my spiritual path. It’s time for us to understand that all religions point to the same and one core truth. Which is consciousness. Which is truth. That is the victory that we are celebrating with this album. The oneness. The unity.” – Chandra Lacombe
