The Rapunzel All-Stars…
…is a rotating improvisational ensemble hosted by me on sporatic Wednesdays at Milwaukee’s Jazz Estate. The music is extremely unpredicable as there are no charts, songs, or rehearsals. It’s been an interesting adventure, for sure.
I’ve scheduled shows for February 4, 11, and 18, 2009.
February 4th will feature the following musicians: Roman Edirisinghe (guitars/percussion), Andy Aeros Kaiser (bass), Steve Nelson-Raney (piano/sax), and John Sparrow (drums/percussion).
$3 cover fee.
Where?
Jazz Estate
2423 N Murray Ave
Milwaukee WI 53211
414.964.9924
jazzestate.com
Until Last Night
- Until last night, I had been ashamed of the choices that the people of the United States made politically.
- Until last night, it was impossible for me to travel overseas and not feel sheepish whenever conversations gravitated toward U.S. politics.
- Until last night, I honestly believed that the people of this country were slaves to obsolete belief systems.
- Until last night, I had lost faith in the political process of the U.S.A.
- Until last night, I thought it improbable that an African American would get elected president in my lifetime.
- Until last night, I had never known what it was to feel pride in an elected official.
This is the first time in my life I can proudly declare a sense of nationalistic pride, that we, the people of the United States of America, elected a president who embodies our values, hopes and goals.
I have no illusions about the challenges ahead. I just believe that my generation and many others have finally declared, “Yes We Can!”
Radiohead Remix
I spent a bit of spare time remixing Radiohead’s Reckoner, off their latest album In Rainbows. It’s got a bit of a latin feel, and I rerecorded the guitar, bass, and drums for the song, retaining only Thom Yorke’s voice, and the original keyboard and string arrangements. The BPM is the same (104.3), and the form and structure of the song is otherwise unchanged.
If this remix gets enough votes, Radiohead will actually listen to it, which is rather exciting! Please listen to my remix and vote!
Smoke Eyed at La Carbonería
I’ve finally posted some videos that I took at a flamenco bar called La Carbonería, in Sevilla, over six months ago. This event took place after all the official performances had finished: a guy walked into the bar carrying a guitar; I’m guessing he was a gypsy, even though he lacked the stereotypical long hair. The musicians left over from earlier performances all joined him in a smaller alcove, and the resulting late-night session is what I managed to catch on my camera. What is undocumented is that after many of the other musicians left, he (the dark complexioned guy on the right with the brown jacket and short hair) looked at me and insistently demanded me to sing a song. I replied that I didn’t know flamenco, that I was a foreigner, but he didn’t buy it. Eventually I relented, asked him for his guitar and proceeded to sing and play a song. It wasn’t flamenco by any stretch (it was an East Indian tune called Ghoom Charakhana), but my delivery made him eat his foot. I wasn’t sure what he was after in challenging an amateur (at flamenco) to perform, but I hope he learned the error of his ways. In the end I didn’t return to the establishment for some time, hoping to avoid a similar scenario. Subsequent to this event was when I started my official flamenco lessons.