Guitar chart handlettered by Alicia Bay Laurel in 2002.
A couple of days ago I posted my Hawaiian Hanukkah song, Festival of Light, on , and already five podcasters have included it in their shows.
I will continue to add to this list as more podcasters play it.
Festival of Light is sweet and sincere rather than humorous, a Hawaiian -inspired folk song combining Hawaiian elements (aloha, ocean) with Hannukah elements (the eight nights surrounding the new moon preceeding the winter solstice, family gathering, candles of ). I performed two vocal tracks and two guitar tracks (one Hawaiian slack key, one in standard tuning).
Story Behind the Song
Rick Asher Keefer, a producer-recording engineer whose winning Hawaiian CDs include those by reknowned Hawaiian artists , , and , created Old Hawaiian Christmas, a compilation holiday CD, in 2001, and asked me to write and perform (probably the first ever) Hawaiian Hannukah song.
The CD (and this song) continues to get airplay in Hawaii every December to this day. Rick engineered and helped me produce my first two CDs at his studio, Seawest, in Pahoa, Hawaii, in 2000 and 2001.
Tonight I visited Yukotopia Dead Heads Land Night Club where its fifteenth anniversary party is in full swing, featuring Sandy Rothman, a masterful multi-instrumental player from Berkeley who had played at the grand opening and the tenth anniversary festivities as well.
Sandy played in several bands with , and sings with the same kind of friendly, slightly sardonic, laid-back delivery for which the Dead are known. The three other players live in Tokyo. Lots of joy emanated from the stage during their sets and the audience loved them, too.
After Sandy and the Anniversary Band played their acoustic sets, the Warlocks played a couple of electric Grateful Dead sets and the audience danced.
Everyone in the room at least swayed in their seats to the band, but most were full on dancing.
Yuko and I enjoyed our dinner at a sushi diner just down the street from the club, with this cool, super slow conveyer belt that circled three sushi chefs who constantly replenished it with dishes of sushi.
Each dish cost $1. Not everything in Tokyo is expensive, it turns out.
My favorite vocalists of late all sing in romance languages.
They are already legends, but if you haven rsquo;t heard them yet, get thee to iTunes and check them out. You don rsquo;t need to know Spanish, French, Italian or Portuguese, although, if you do, it will no doubt enhance your thrall.
From Brazil, dig (pronounced Hosa Passos), a soprano whose hip, creative phrasing enhances the cool ldquo;beach samba rdquo; style of Brazilian pop standards.
When I first heard her, I realized I rsquo;m more accustomed to hearing this music performed in an alto range, and Rosa rsquo;s high, vibrato-less voice gives even 1960 rsquo;s Jobim chestnuts a fresh youthfulness.
From Peru, gives voice to an African-American community in a country without Caribbean frontage. Rich with complex rhythms and responsive chorus, Susana rsquo;s music takes you right to the emotional and spiritual center of her mysterious and earthy world.
From Mexico and Minnesota, combines a degree in opera singing, a bloodline of the majestic women of the ithmus of Tehuantepec, and a cool New Jersey saxophonist boyfriend to create traditional Mexican music with soaring vocals, hip arrangements, and sometimes political rants.
From Mexico, Montreal, and lots of road time in between, grew up traveling with singing parents on a school bus, and began gigging at age 13. In Montreal she partnered with Yves Desrosiers, a monster guitarist and brilliant producer, to create two emotionally urgent yet surreal CDs.
From Asti, near the French border of Italy, comes a dapper, older attorney turned singer/songwriter named . With a gruff voice, fabulous jazz piano chops and eerily retro band arrangements, Conte creates the most gorgeous, profound and hilarious poetry imaginable. Be sure, when you purchase one of his CDs, to get one with English translations of the lyrics in the liner notes.
The Blums at their 40th anniversary party. They met in college, honeymooned in the Peace Corps, and are living happily ever after.
When I met Gloria and Barry Blum in the 70 rsquo;s, they already were performing with a klezmer (Jewish party music) band they had founded called .
When I heard them play at in San Francisco, they blew off the roof.
A year before the Blum rsquo;s daughter, Katie, left the nest, eventually to get her degree in social work, the Blums moved to Kailua-Kona, on the island of Hawaii, leaving their beloved band behind. was thrilled to have Barry as their only orthopedic surgeon, and the Blums were thrilled to trade their Mill Valley digs for a spacious, airy home on a hillside with a huge view of the ocean.
Soon they began looking for band members.
This time their band didn rsquo;t just play lots of wedding gigs. Gloria and Barry assumed leadership of Congregation Kona Beth Shalom, and they began performing Jewish wedding ceremonies in addition to the music.
The band recorded a wonderful CD called , the title track being a minor key, up-tempo send-up of . On the cover is a blurb from me: ldquo;Gloria Blum is the Janis Joplin of klezmer. rdquo;
became a kick ass congregation, producing Karen Breier's that garnered , and adopting a torah (Old Testament scroll in Hebrew) that had belonged to a Czech congregation massacred during the Holocaust.
.
Gloria rsquo;s gift to humankind, a method of teaching appropriate behavior, self-esteem and social skills to mentally disabled teenagers, inspired her to create a resource curriculum guide, , and also a communicaton card game, , enjoyable by any group of people. Last year I drew a card back picture exactly to Gloria rsquo;s specifications, and re-designed the graphics for the box.
That rsquo;s Barry playing his bass balalaika, and Gloria beside him, singing with her arms upraised in joy.
When people think of Hawaii, they don rsquo;t often think of cowboys, but, in some parts of Hawaii, cattle ranching is still a way of life. Mind you, these are cowboys who proudly hula and make feather bands for their hats.
These are the people who created .
The cattle pastures of Hawaii overlook the ocean and enjoy a perpetually balmy climate. I figure this is where you reincarnate if you were a very good cow last time.
Hawaiian cowboys are called ldquo;paniolos, rdquo; a Hawaiian-ized word originally meaning Espanolo, or people who speak Spanish. The first cattle were given to Hawaiian chiefs by visiting tall ships, and they roamed the islands destroying everything in their path, until the Hawaiians imported people with cattle controlling skills to put an end to that. The first cowboys came from Argentina, speaking Spanish, and bringing guitars, Spanish open tunings, roping and riding, and the Brazilian tipo, a tiny four-stringed instrument the Hawaiians adopted as the ukulele (jumping flea).
Last night I spent three happy hours in in Waimea, Hawaii, the heart of the vast , listening to the great and his band. Braddah Smitty rsquo;s very Hawaiian family includes his uncle , the father of modern slack key guitar, and Gabby rsquo;s famous guitarist sons and . Braddah Smitty resembles his uncle, and sounds just like him when he sings Gabby rsquo;s hits Hi rsquo;ilawe and Moonlight Lady, but his talent is unique.
His rich baritone soars like an opera star rsquo;s, but without the pomp. Braddah Smitty is all about having fun. The whole room has no choice but to join him.
An member of the audience performs a masculine hula to Smitty rsquo;s music. Several others, including my friend Lynn, got up and danced when they heard songs to which they knew the choreography. In hula, there is only one correct choreography to each song, so that dancers from disparate locations should all be able to move in unison.
He is also all about heart. He graciously invites in whoever wants to play along. Among those sitting in on this occasion was the ancient and legendary , depicted in an enormous bronze riding horseback and roping a cow, that stands in the parking lot outside Tante rsquo;s Bar and Grill.
His wife, Auntie Doris Purdy, played ukulele and performed a stately hula from her chair. Her daughter played guitar, and a couple of young local guys sat in on guitar and ukulele and sang.
I rsquo;d kanikapila rsquo;d (jammed) with Braddah Smitty a few years ago at the birthday party of Edie Bikle, and the owner of , a scrumptuous gift store in nearby Honoka rsquo;a, and he remembered that I played slack key, so he invited me to play some songs during the break between the sets.
Edie and her boyfriend Tony, both present and clearly having a wonderful time, egged me on, and so did , novelist, comedienne, former Green Party candidate, Waimea resident with her own horse ranch and my friend for over thirty years, whose idea it was to come to Tante rsquo;s in the first place. So, I played two slack key pieces over one hundred years old, and sang and played two original slack key songs, Auntie Clara and , all of which I recorded in 2001 on a CD of the same name. Edie carries it in her store.
At the end of the show, the audience rose as one and joined hands in a circle, something I rsquo;ve never seen happen in a bar. We all sang Hawaii Aloha, the unofficial national anthem, swaying and harmonizing together. Then that trickster Braddah Smitty sang the Hokey Pokey, and we all got really silly dancing that.
After that, people were hugging and kissing each other Good Night and Aloha, and heading out into the mist.
I met Noriko at . She told me she played , and I asked when and where I could come hear her play.
When I found out it would be the following Friday at (pronounced zeck-you) Sushi and Grill in the South Lake Mall in Pasadena, I called my friends and happily reserved a table for twelve. We all had a wonderful time.
The ensemble was, as follows:
In the lavender kimono, Michiko Yoshino (professional name, Bando Hiro Michiya), a traditional Japanese dancer, who sang some songs with the shamisen trio at the beginning of the set.
In the peach kimono, Takako Osumi (Kineya Yasuyo), shamisen player.
In the yellow kimono, Hideko Kamei (Kineya Kichi Kazu), shamisen player.
In the blue kimono, Noriko Britton (Kineya Roku Kensho), shamisen player.
Sometimes the songs were instrumental only and sometimes the women sang while they played. These were not songs for dance performance, but rather just for listening, Noriko explained to us later. Mari told me that Noriko lived across the street from her parents since before her birth, and she had encouraged Mari to learn music.
ldquo;I was lousy at the koto, rdquo; she grinned. Mari rsquo;s destiny clearly lay in the visual arts and in a world more bohemian than traditional, although she is beautifully bi-lingual.
Zeque rsquo;s appetizer specialty is a sort of giant sushi called a Mount Fuji, with three layers of rice and your choice of any three sushi toppings, two as fillings and one on top.
One of these arrived with slices of avocado ornamenting the sides.
Just as we were all leaving, I saw the trio heading for the parking lot with their instruments and ran after them to photograph them one more time. So sweetly did they turn and smile.
July 8, 2006. The legendary from New Orleans played a set at on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and I was in the front row, laughing, dancing, clapping my hands and taking pictures.
Hundreds of Hollywood hipsters jammed the aisles of the record store, loving the music.
Each player solo rsquo;d beautifully, the shout choruses at the end of each song thrilled us, and three of the players sang as only old jazz musicians can sing.
During the last song of the set, ( ldquo;Saints, rdquo; of course) the store staff distributed Mardi Gras beads, horns and bells, and the four horn players lead us in a second line, dancing around the store.
After the set, the store held a charity auction to raise money for the , which was originally founded by the .
I bought one of the band rsquo;s CDs. I asked trumpet player/vocalist John Brunious, which was their most recent recording. He said, ldquo;This is what you want (pointing to ), but THIS is what you need.
rdquo; THIS turned out to be , a two-CD set of a remastered 1964 recording with an earlier line-up of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, featuring a 66 year old woman pianist/vocalist named Sweet Emma Barrett. Sweet, indeed!
I gave John a copy of , and hoped he rsquo;d enjoy Floozy Tune, my trad jazz original that opens the CD.
He was kind enough to write down the names of the players so I could share them with you on this post.
Amoeba Music rsquo;s wild success as an independent record store stems from the party atmosphere, the great concerts, the vast, yet well organized, array of new CDs and DVDs as well as cheap used CDs and videos, their purchasing department, which buys lots of used items, as well as new, but relatively unknown, indie CDs like mine, the amazing decor, and the knowledgable staff. They have only three stores (Berkeley, Haight Ashbury, and Hollywood), all in locations with very large creative communities.
They are not shy about their politics, either. On the outside of the Hollywood store hangs a huge yellow banner reading, ldquo;Give Peace a Chance. rdquo;
Woo hoo!
My first two CDs are now fully up on iTunes, meaning that now you can buy just one song if you like, for 99 cents mdash;or the whole CD, minus the packaging, for $9.99. Apple iTunes lets you listen to a minute of each song before you buy.
However at you get TWO minutes of each song mdash;at least on the page. They have promised they rsquo;d get around to posting samples of every song on eventually. When I first posted the two CDs in 2001, CD Baby was only offering samples of four songs per CD.
Now they offer samples of ALL the songs, as you will see on their page for . On CD Baby, what you buy is the physical CD, with all its glorious artwork and liner notes.
As Thom Yorke, front man of exulted, ldquo;Now THIS is what we call a music festival!
rdquo;
Sarah van Schagen of , reported on , a 4 day, 24-hour-on music festival enjoyed by 80,000 celebrants at a farm in Tennessee, complete with bio-diesel generators and a solar powered stage, performers arriving in bio-diesel-powered vehicles, two professional recycling groups handling the trash and recycling, environmentally correct campgrounds, locally grown organic food for sale in resusable dishes, lots of sustainability education opportunities, and, by all accounts, lots of peace and love.
It rsquo;s the realization of the Vision born at the first Woodstock.
, long an environmental activist, headlined as well.
ldquo;I rsquo;m a musician, rdquo; Raitt said, ldquo;but I live [on this planet] and breathe this air, and I eat this food, and I don rsquo;t wanna contribute in my lifestyle to not making things better. rdquo; She named sustainability ldquo;the issue of our time, rdquo; and offered hope to the large crowd of listeners. ldquo;The seeds of change are really already creating a groundswell of movement for protecting the environment and switching to a different way of looking at our place in the world and on our planet, rdquo; she said.
Singing is a combination of playing an instrument and storytelling, two of my other favorite activities.
Singing focusses the mind in a manner similar to archery. If your mind wanders, you miss the mark and go off key or out of rhythm.
Singing conjures feelings and is therefore useful for releasing negative emotions (like singing the blues), as well manifesting courage when I feel fearful or passion when I feel apathetic.
Singing comes in handy to entertain children and sometimes adults.
People who sing together enjoy musical and social harmony.
I can practice my instrument while driving my car or checking my email.
Don rsquo;t have to check my instrument with baggage or stow it in the overhead.
I have a very good reason not to smoke or eat stuff that gives me sore throats.
I love a whole bunch of songs, some of which I wrote.
There is no end to the possibilities for development of the voice, and if I forget that, I only have to listen to .
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