Naamleela Free Jones
Born in 1980, Naamleela is the youngest daughter of spiritual teacher and artist, Adi Da Samraj. She has lived most of her life on a sacred island hermitage in Fiji. She was raised in the traditional Brahmacharya manner, under the direct guidance of her father. Since the age of five, she was privately schooled as a sacred musician, concentrating in depth in both Western and Indian classical traditions. Her musical training was in the context of an ashram setting devoted to meditation and spiritual practice. Chant and sacred musical offerings were a part of every day life, morning and night. Her purpose was always to create music that drew people out of themselves into communion with a greater divine reality, rather than to perform music to draw attention to herself. In this unique setting, her own musical form and sound developed in depth, without the influence of the modern world.
Showing strong talent at an early age, Naamleela was a precociously gifted pianist and singer, and had already composed her first chants as well as 4 part choral arrangements by the age of 9. At the age of 10, she set up her first music studio under the tutelage of a friend, platinum-selling composer Ray Lynch (Deep Breakfast, Sky of Mind). Early childhood productions included an album of original chants recorded with her sister, and a multi-layered soundtrack of life in the ashram that included live field recordings intertwined with an original score. By the age of 15, she had mastered and performed many of the great works of classical piano, from Chopin and Rachmaninoff to the entire Goldberg Variations by J.S. Bach.
As a teenager, Naamleela began to travel, spending time in sacred hermitages and sanctuaries around the world. She continued to receive musical training from numerous sources and teachers throughout California, New York, Europe, and Hawaii. Most notably she was a student of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and his College of Music in San Rafael, California. During the same time she was exposed for the first time to popular music, falling in love with fusion, electronica, dance and jazz.
Since the age of 17, Naamleela has been self-producing her own CD's, recording and collaborating with world-renowned artists on a wide range of musical albums. Her intention is to evoke beauty, love, and heart contemplation of the Divine in all those who hear and are moved by her music. Her first album, "Hers To Me", was produced in 1997, and consisted of devotional and meditative renditions of Western piano classics. Her seven albums to date include meditative classical piano, jazz fusion, traditional mantric chants, and sacred poetic song. Her first entirely original album, "Eyes in Other Worlds", was produced in 2005 in collaboration with Grammy-nominated producer Damian Taylor (Bjork/ Frou Frou/ The Prodigy).
In 2007, Naamleela went on to complete a master certificate in music production from the Berklee College of Music Online. From then on, she became involved with multimedia productions displaying Adi Da's image-art combined with experimental soundtracks. She collaborated with him in creating and recording original scores for his artistic suites, learning a unique language of interpretation. She has also played in and directed numerous improvisational performance groups of modern music combined with his art.
Naamleela lived closely with her father and spiritual teacher, witnessing and serving his unique work for nearly three decades. She now continues to reside primarily in Fiji. From this contemplative setting, she writes, records, and produces music reflective of a profound depth of sacred and artistic sensitivity.