Marje Wagner - Chant To Ganesha & Other Jazz Prayers (2023)

Jazz Vocalist Marje Wagner sings her original melodies and arrangements of ancient Sanskrit chants, accompanied by an international fusion band of jazz and Hindustani musicians.

After decades of interpreting the GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK, Marje was inspired by Alice Coltrane to compose new melodies for SANSKRIT CHANTS, which expanded her meditation practice of chanting these healing prayers.

The result is a new album -- CHANT TO GANESHA & OTHER JAZZ PRAYERS, where Marje sings, chants, and improvises with her band featuring tabla, vibraphone, bansuri flute, tenor sax and upright bass. Called "sumptuous and voluptuous and haunting" by Yoga master Cathy Calderon, the music reaches across genres to heal and stimulate listeners.

A veteran of the New York jazz scene, Marje Wagner was a featured vocalist at The Blue Note Jazz Club and at Birdland. Her ensemble credits include Carnegie Hall, where she sang with Kirk Nurock's Natural Sound Ensemble, and Town Hall with the Barry Harris Jazz Choir.

Marje has appeared at the JAZZ AND ROSES festival, co-hosted by WBGO Jazz Radio at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, and has been a regular featured vocalist with the Swing Street Big Band led by trumpeter Barry Bryson.

Her album YOU'D BE SO NICE TO COME HOME TO showcases her arrangements of standards with Allen Farnham on piano, Drew Gress on bass, Gianpaolo Biaggi on drums and Jeff Lederer on alto sax and flute.

Marje received international acclaim in France, where she sang and played piano at the Memphis Melody Jazz Club and L’Agnelis in Paris, Le Smart Club in Nice, and led a Paris-based jazz band at the Bozouls Jazz Festival.

A new development emerged when Marje led a multi-cultural KIRTAN (call and response singing) to honor Dr. Martin Luther King in the sanctuary of Brooklyn's Old First Reformed Church, and subsequently led KIRTAN at Integral Yoga Institute and at Shambhala Yoga and Dance.