Bands

Western Baul bands have repertoires made up mostly of music composed to lyrics written by Lee Lozowick—a body of work totaling nearly five-hundred songs. Some of the songs are more clearly about spiritual principles, but many seem to address ordinary life experience and can be understood on both mundane and more subtle levels. “As above, so below.” Regardless of the lyrical content, the music is a vehicle for relationship and communion which is an aspect of Western Baul practice. However, it is often appreciated by audiences as a simple joy in the midst of everyday life, without spiritual underpinnings. Although five of the six musical projects listed here are no longer active, the music lives on and communicates vibrantly through sound and video recordings. A few song tracks from each band are included.

Liars, Gods, and Beggars

The LGB Band played from 1985-1999. Their original rock and roll took Western Baul music into the street and engaged the attention of audiences from all walks of life. The band played gigs in some of the roughest and smokiest bars throughout Arizona and sang about issues that were challenging to the conventional mindset. LGB music and spontaneous performance touched an inner chord which evoked an array of underworld and upperworld responses, and an appreciation for the taste of freedom that the music conveyed. The band toured within parts of the U.S. and in Europe beginning in 1987. LGB released a dozen cassettes/CDs and an anthology.

All There Is To Say

Out Of Our Hands

Don't Know How

Shri

Shri Blues Band was formed in 1993 and played its last gigs in 2017. The band played in the U.S. and toured in Europe each summer for the last twenty-one of those years. Their blues seemed to touch people where they lived, kindling an openness to the human condition and to the depth of longing and love. Shri performances communicated an underlying mood of being uplifted in the midst of struggle. The longest running Western Baul musical project, with the fluid involvement of a variety of musicians, the band drew more followers as it continued to tour and be booked at venues of all sizes and types in different countries. Shri released a total of nineteen cassettes/CDs including an anthology.

Hooked By Your Eyes

My Dream

Ready

Attila The Hunza

Attila the Hunza played together for approximately seven years, from 1998 until 2005. The band, fronted by two female vocalists, was known for its appeal to a younger crowd and for its more audacious performance art with costuming and the acting out of songs. Their animated performance enlivened audiences and tended to magnify the communication of the lyrics, sometimes through satire. Attila combined theatrical performance with music about the state of our inner affairs and the outer affairs of the world. The band released four CDs and made one tour of Europe.

Calcutta Nights

Surprise

Denise Allen Band

The Denise Allen Band (2003-2019) plays dynamic pop-rock that uses sophisticated composition and arrangements to convey a wide range of emotion and style. More hard-driving blues and rock ballads are woven with tender love songs, enhancing the underlying impactful communication of the lyrics. Denise Allen Band music is soulful and energetic, infectious and irresistibly danceable. The songs can be a reminder about the innate joy that is dormant, waiting to be activated and circulated in our being. The band released six CDs of music, played half a dozen European tours, and gigged regularly in Arizona for a number of years.

Me

Freedom

Lee Lozowick Project

The Lee Lozowick Project (2004-2009) was based on music that was specifically composed to suit Lee’s vocal style. Three studio albums and two live albums feature Lee as a singer who communicates the inexplicable teaching through his being and his lyrics. Somehow Lee’s unique style gets beneath the armor of listeners with lyrics that dive deeply into the dilemma and mystery of life. The LLP band, comprised mostly of Europeans, toured Europe for several years in the 2000s. A variation of the band played a tour with Bauls from India in Kolkata in 2008, despite Lee’s deteriorating health. A notable feature of the Project’s live shows was its tribe-like and changing on-stage configuration of band members and musical guests, including instrumental soloists and backing vocalists who contributed distinctive ingredients to the group performance. The original lyrical content of the Lee Lozowick Project songs is an intimate and rigorous expression of Lee’s realization.

Survival

Philosophize

Small Change

Small Change (2012-present) is a musical duo which currently plays in Arizona and whose members participated in earlier Western Baul musical projects. It has the specific intention to perform songs composed to Lee Lozowick’s lyrics by Western Baul bands that are no longer in existence. The songs can be experienced as music that momentarily brings the soul to life, but also as the literal expression of the timeless teaching itself. The music and performance continue to invoke an influence that has the potential to be received at levels that can open us to the Divine more deeply. The repertoire of Small Change includes songs of all of the above-mentioned bands as well as some originals, with an emphasis on songs that more directly communicate the teaching. The duo has released two CDs.

Just A Moment

One Thing 2.0

Other Performance Art Projects

There are other musicians who have initiated performance art projects rooted in practice of the Western Baul path. Some have been inspired to write and perform their own music as a vehicle for the expression of their work with the teaching. These include the band Manny from France and Michael Menager from Australia. Iliria Nueva from Germany performs traditional European folk music.