Hi All,
Have been really busy with practices & rehearsals, but found a few minutes to sneak an entry in regarding the benefit shows I'm playing this weekend. Won't receive any remuneration for these (this is perhaps ironically appropriate given the lousy economy?) gigs, but the causes they're for are ones I'm supportive of anyway, so it's nice to be able to contribute something musical.
The first gig is tonight, actually, at a venue called Encuentro5 in Boston. Mary & the band are playing a handful of songs (there are like 11 acts altogether) to help raise fund$ for a Boston-based group to travel to El Salvador next month to monitor elections.
The second gig is Sunday night at Woburn High School with Odaiko New England. Woburn is another one of the Massachusetts cities with a weird name that doesn't quite get pronounced phonetically - it sounds like Wu-burn. It's a telethon to raise money for a local food shelter. We're playing a 10+ minute song titled "Mahora" (a rough translation of the title is "beautiful place"). A somewhat curious title, since one might accurately refer to the song as a 'testosterone' taiko piece - very aggressive and noisy. It's macho taiko.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Batala Washington
Hi All,
Just wanted to add a couple extra observations about our DC Trip...
Monday the 19th:
We had gone to the Dupont Circle area and came across a ritual purification of the White House (obviously the Secret Service wouldn't be especially keen on this event occurring on-site). A couple people were exhorting the crowd with a vigor reminiscent of old-time preachers, leading everyone in various call-and-response chants and such. There must have been the equivalent of fifty pounds of sage that was smoldering as the event drew to a close. A couple of other drummers started playing, so we chimed in (no pun intended?) with our own equipment, and cobbled together a decent groove.
The more-or-less lead drummer informed us there was going to be a performance by a female Brazilian percussion group later that evening, & gave us the general location - it would be outdoors, so we figured to just follow the sound of the drums.
When we arrived, there was a large group of drummers laying down some very serious grooves; they all wore their drums slung mid- to - low on the hips. Their choreography didn't have some of the big, sweeping features of some styles of Taiko drumming; nonetheless the members played through the rhythms with fluid arm movements, and overall a remarkable blend of grace and power, non-stop, over the course of their lengthy performance. The nearly 50-member group was very together-sounding, and could stop-and-restart with a different rhythm pattern on a dime. Most impressive.
http://www.batalawashington.com/
The group also has a Facebook page - if you're on Facebook, become a fan so you can receive updates, etc.
Wednesday the 21st:
The big drive back to Boston.
Thanks to Google Maps, we are equipped with a different route, which skirts NYC and thus is quicker. We effortlessly get through Maryland & Delaware....
then....
we miss a redirection to get on 295 in New Jersey.
Fie on Google Maps!!!
Our involuntary detour took us into Pennsylvania and we soon became ensnared in the early stages of Philadelphia's rush hour. Everyone not driving consulted the Atlas and GPS Nav System to try and figure out how & where to transition back on course. We eventually figured it out, and after a roundabout, three-up, four-down, five-to-go series of exits, connecting roads and a toll gate or two, we got back on track and from there it was smooth sailing.
Well, driving. ; )
Just wanted to add a couple extra observations about our DC Trip...
Monday the 19th:
We had gone to the Dupont Circle area and came across a ritual purification of the White House (obviously the Secret Service wouldn't be especially keen on this event occurring on-site). A couple people were exhorting the crowd with a vigor reminiscent of old-time preachers, leading everyone in various call-and-response chants and such. There must have been the equivalent of fifty pounds of sage that was smoldering as the event drew to a close. A couple of other drummers started playing, so we chimed in (no pun intended?) with our own equipment, and cobbled together a decent groove.
The more-or-less lead drummer informed us there was going to be a performance by a female Brazilian percussion group later that evening, & gave us the general location - it would be outdoors, so we figured to just follow the sound of the drums.
When we arrived, there was a large group of drummers laying down some very serious grooves; they all wore their drums slung mid- to - low on the hips. Their choreography didn't have some of the big, sweeping features of some styles of Taiko drumming; nonetheless the members played through the rhythms with fluid arm movements, and overall a remarkable blend of grace and power, non-stop, over the course of their lengthy performance. The nearly 50-member group was very together-sounding, and could stop-and-restart with a different rhythm pattern on a dime. Most impressive.
http://www.batalawashington.com/
The group also has a Facebook page - if you're on Facebook, become a fan so you can receive updates, etc.
Wednesday the 21st:
The big drive back to Boston.
Thanks to Google Maps, we are equipped with a different route, which skirts NYC and thus is quicker. We effortlessly get through Maryland & Delaware....
then....
we miss a redirection to get on 295 in New Jersey.
Fie on Google Maps!!!
Our involuntary detour took us into Pennsylvania and we soon became ensnared in the early stages of Philadelphia's rush hour. Everyone not driving consulted the Atlas and GPS Nav System to try and figure out how & where to transition back on course. We eventually figured it out, and after a roundabout, three-up, four-down, five-to-go series of exits, connecting roads and a toll gate or two, we got back on track and from there it was smooth sailing.
Well, driving. ; )
Monday, February 2, 2009
Inauguration Day, Part 2
Picking up from where I left off, we exited the cafe and began to make our way towards Dupont Circle, where a Drum Parade was scheduled for 2:00 pm, starting with a jam session before going mobile. However, it was taking us a long time to get there, and it was already after 2....
and we needed a bathroom break.
Fortunately, Karen knew another friend in DC, who kindly allowed us to stop in for a few minutes. I'm not sure Karen's friend was prepared for a scruffy, bedraggled, taiko-playing interloper (that would be me, dear reader) plus Greg & Karen, invading her refined home. However, our hostess and her guests graciously welcomed us and gave us a chance to take a nature break, warm up a little and refuel with some tasty comestibles. The break also gave us a chance to figure out where we could intercept and join the drum parade.
Refreshed and ready to rock'n'roll, we bade farewell to our cheerful hostess and set off armed with drums, cowbell, and bachi. Paused at an intersection, we could hear the sound of the drums approaching...and the parade soon came to a stop where we were waiting. This was the second of three jam sessions, and we quickly joined in. The parade was somewhat smaller than I expected (though the absence of the Batala Washington group hurt their numbers - more on the Batala group in my next post), but people were drumming enthusiastically.
I've got to mention this amazing apparatus....at first sight it looked like a bizarre Rube Goldberg contraption. I'm still not sure exactly how it was constructed; it seemed rather like a custom hybrid of wheelbarrow, bicycle and antenna. ( ! ) Truly, though, it was a clever construct, one that Mickey Hart (long-serving drummer for The Grateful Dead) would be proud of: hanging off of it, mainly on the sides and in the rear, were a variety of tom-toms & other drums plus a few percussion odds'n'ends. 3 or 4 different people played these various drum surfaces, while perhaps 16-18 others were banging on a diverse mix of drumming surfaces & percussion. One person even seemed to be playing a small saucepan with a drumstick!
It was during this jam that the bachi I was using for the cowbell - already frayed from aggressive use - began to not only fray further, but literally disintegrate. My gloves and forearms were getting showered with splintering bachi bits; thinking back, it's a small wonder that I didn't suffer any eye damage - any of these could easily have ricocheted towards my face! I gave up on the cowbell at that point and played Karen's uchiwa instead.
Our fellow drummers were mostly enthusiastic, and it was an enjoyable parade to be part of. Though I have to admit that the behavior & general disposition of a few of the random people who were drumming along suggested theirs might've been a chemically-aided form of merry-making ...
By the time we finished with the 3rd & final jam near the African-American Civil War Memorial, we were really tired & cold again. The lead players of the group were most appreciative of our contributions to the parade & jam sessions; we were just happy to be drumming, and it was a lot of fun to be part of. By now further disheveled, we stopped at an Ethiopian Restaurant for a dinner of delicious beef, lamb, veggies & spicy sauces, all scooped up in that spongy sort of bread. A nice conclusion to a truly momentous day in American History - and We Were There!!
and we needed a bathroom break.
Fortunately, Karen knew another friend in DC, who kindly allowed us to stop in for a few minutes. I'm not sure Karen's friend was prepared for a scruffy, bedraggled, taiko-playing interloper (that would be me, dear reader) plus Greg & Karen, invading her refined home. However, our hostess and her guests graciously welcomed us and gave us a chance to take a nature break, warm up a little and refuel with some tasty comestibles. The break also gave us a chance to figure out where we could intercept and join the drum parade.
Refreshed and ready to rock'n'roll, we bade farewell to our cheerful hostess and set off armed with drums, cowbell, and bachi. Paused at an intersection, we could hear the sound of the drums approaching...and the parade soon came to a stop where we were waiting. This was the second of three jam sessions, and we quickly joined in. The parade was somewhat smaller than I expected (though the absence of the Batala Washington group hurt their numbers - more on the Batala group in my next post), but people were drumming enthusiastically.
I've got to mention this amazing apparatus....at first sight it looked like a bizarre Rube Goldberg contraption. I'm still not sure exactly how it was constructed; it seemed rather like a custom hybrid of wheelbarrow, bicycle and antenna. ( ! ) Truly, though, it was a clever construct, one that Mickey Hart (long-serving drummer for The Grateful Dead) would be proud of: hanging off of it, mainly on the sides and in the rear, were a variety of tom-toms & other drums plus a few percussion odds'n'ends. 3 or 4 different people played these various drum surfaces, while perhaps 16-18 others were banging on a diverse mix of drumming surfaces & percussion. One person even seemed to be playing a small saucepan with a drumstick!
It was during this jam that the bachi I was using for the cowbell - already frayed from aggressive use - began to not only fray further, but literally disintegrate. My gloves and forearms were getting showered with splintering bachi bits; thinking back, it's a small wonder that I didn't suffer any eye damage - any of these could easily have ricocheted towards my face! I gave up on the cowbell at that point and played Karen's uchiwa instead.
Our fellow drummers were mostly enthusiastic, and it was an enjoyable parade to be part of. Though I have to admit that the behavior & general disposition of a few of the random people who were drumming along suggested theirs might've been a chemically-aided form of merry-making ...
By the time we finished with the 3rd & final jam near the African-American Civil War Memorial, we were really tired & cold again. The lead players of the group were most appreciative of our contributions to the parade & jam sessions; we were just happy to be drumming, and it was a lot of fun to be part of. By now further disheveled, we stopped at an Ethiopian Restaurant for a dinner of delicious beef, lamb, veggies & spicy sauces, all scooped up in that spongy sort of bread. A nice conclusion to a truly momentous day in American History - and We Were There!!
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